MURDER OF JUMIA DELIVERY MAN AND UBER DRIVER: HOW CAN WE GUARANTEE THE SAFETY OF DELIVERY MEN?

First it was the gruesome murder of a Jumia Delivery salesman in Port-Harcourt. Next, a few days ago, the senseless killing of an Uber Driver in Lagos. Both killings had one thing in common- lazy young men wanted to take advantage of goods and services being provided by the online retailers without paying for it. The easiest way for them to do so in their weird calculations was to kill the men contracted to deliver those services to the end consumer. The question this poses is- Should pay on delivery be scrapped? Will scrapping it better guarantee the safety of the delivery men? How can their safety be better guaranteed? Pay on delivery is currently an accepted mode of payment in Nigeria due to various issues like lack of trust of consumers in online retailers and weak legal protection for consumers. However, until trust is built and consumers gain adequate confidence in online retailers to ‘deliver’ their own part of the bargain(no pun intended), scrapping pay on delivery may not be an option. E-commerce companies will have to vamp security for their delivery men to discourage and reduce incidents of armed robbery and assault According to a CNN.com report, being a delivery man is one of the riskiest jobs in America. About 25 percent of delivery men are victims of robberies and assaults. It is therefore very imperative for delivery men and their companies or those they deliver for, take appropriate measures to protect them. First, e-commerce companies and delivery companies if the e-commerce companies are outsourcing, need to set clear rules and procedures for all delivery drivers. Some of the things they could do include-  Ensure that phone numbers of customers are functional and verifiable. Do away with pay as delivery as much as possible. However due to the ‘lack of trust’ in the Nigerian online retail market, it may be difficult to scrap that now. Never deliver after dark. If you absolutely need to ensure the person pays with a card. Print the rules for delivery on your take out menus, so customers know them. Uniforms looks mart but drivers should be encouraged to use street clothes, instead of uniforms distinguishing them as delivery persons to a devious predator Encourage drivers to have as little cash as possible on them Deliveries of products above a certain amount should be discouraged except it has been paid online Don’t deliver after dark. Don’t enter the houses of the recipient too. Ensure all of your drivers have cell phones or a way of communicating with you, or the authorities, in the event of an emergency.

Nigeria has the 7th biggest mobile subscription in Africa, Chinese smartphones top sales in Africa - Study

Nigeria is now the 7^th country with the largest mobile subscription. This means, more people are using phones to stay connected. Nigeria’s biggest online retailer, Jumia, revealed this in its second white paper on African Mobile Trends 2016 released on 25^th May 2016. Egypt  is ranked 11^th and South Africa is 14^th, all within the top 15 of the top countries in the world for number of mobile subscriptions

The study also shows that Asian brands are leading the pack in smartphone sales in Africa. Chinese brand Infinix is the biggest smartphone seller on Jumia in Nigeria, Kenya, Morocco, Ivory Coast and Egypt. Other big sellers are Samsung and Xtouch in Egypt, InnJoo and Wiko in Kenya, Samsung in Morocco, Itel and Samsung in Ivory Coast and InnJoo in Nigeria. Even offline, Samsung remains the top smartphone brand sold in those 5 markets, monopolizing more than 50% of each market.

So for those of you who yab ‘chinco’ phones as being 2^nd class, you need to think again.  It seems they have brought variety and diversity thus making smart phones affordable in Africa. 

Jumia has begun its mobile week but will we be able to buy? 3 reasons why Jumia mobile week might not be as reloaded as it should

Jumia started its 7 day mobile week yesterday and they tout some of the best phones, tablets and tech gadgets at mouth-watering prices. I mean i saw my Infinix Note 2 being sold for N42,000 and i’m like arrrrrrgh! Should have waited for this, right? Wrong. Most online retail tech companies hold mobile week sales in order to entice buyers and I’m sure Jumia would have made massive sales last year. This year however might not be so rosy for the online retail company. Here’s why-

Price of tomatoes

Seems unlikely but yes you read correctly. The fact that tomatoes now cost practically one for a N100 may affect the sales of online retail giant. Tomatoes are now like gold and people are saving money just to buy tomatoes. So instead of using N26, 000 to buy an Infinix hot note 3, i might as well just buy a basket of tomatoes. #justsaying

Purchasing power has dropped

People who would have been able to buy phones at higher prices last year may be unable to buy them at lower prices this year. The reason is simple enough. Purchasing power has dropped. There have been job cuts, salary slashes, pocket-money slashes and even sugar-daddy money slashes lol!. The effect of the economy is telling on every one. So when i am even barely able to feed, pray tell, where will i get the money to buy a new phone from except i absolutely need it?

Exchange rate

Ahan! The almighty exchange rate. With the dollar exchanging for N348 to a dollar and the pound for N495 to a pound at the Black Market rate, this might just be the spoiler. This time last year, the exchange rate was almost twice as low. Now with the increase and uncertainty, prices of gadgets are skyrocketing and so also are people’s reluctance to buy gadgets at such rates when they could be saving.

It may be a hard sell for Jumia but again, maybe that’s not for me to say because Nigerians love to spend and will still patronise Jumia anyway