HMD Global, the home of Nokia phones has entered into a new partnership with Jumia Kenya as the official distributor of all Nokia products under Jumia Mall. Jumia Mall is a new curated category on Jumia that allows customers to easily identify the official distributors of leading brands on the site.
Jumia Mall according to Jumia Kenya CEO Sam Chappatte ‘’..allows customers to shop from the official suppliers if they choose to. And for brands to differentiate their official suppliers from the wider marketplace.’’ HMD Global was among the more than 50 brands that have entered into a partnership with Jumia to list on Jumia Mall.
HMD (Nokia) Senior Business Manager, East Africa, Gopher Ogembo said the new partnership will now allow them to have more control on their products in the market.
‘’The advantage of having Jumia Mall is that it is specific to our brand and that will allow us to have targeted campaigns and offers’’
‘’The new category also gives the consumer a peace of mind that that the brand is behind this, so it’s authentic and also provides a level of trust, it provides a stamp of approval,’’ he said.
HMD will stock all its previous and new devices it is planning to launch in the market including feature phones like the newly launched Nokia 105 (2019). HMD will also be selling its accessories which it admits has always been a challenge.
“The new Jumia Mall channel is a great milestone in Jumia’s transformation into a brand-focused platform, guaranteeing top service and quality. We at Nokia are excited to pioneer these changes together with Jumia teams across Africa.” he added.
HMD hopes the new partnership with Jumia will also help strengthen its online presence in the Kenyan market even as it struggles to gain a chunk of the Kenyan phone market. So far, the company has launched more than 22 devices in the market. During a recent interview, I had with Gerald Muthwale, HMD’s Kenya Technical Account Manager, he told me they have recorded key successes since they started selling their new Android devices in Kenya.
Gerald noted that they are bidding to become the number one smartphone brand in the Kenyan market.
‘’We are at a place where we’re fighting to gain. We’re not fighting to retain customers, we want to gain more customers’’
‘’Rather than pump devices in the market, where you have a particular price segment, we listen to our customers, make sure our devices are competitively priced so that the user knows whatever it is they are getting from us is quality’’ Gerald told me during our interview.
Other brands that will list on the Jumia Mall include ASUS, BLU smartphones, Hisense among others.
Featured Image: HMD Global Senior Business Manager, East Africa, Gopher Ogembo during the Jumia Mall Launch event.
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