DHL Express has announced the availability of the innovative mobile and desktop platform in 14 additional countries across the region
This increases the reach of the platform across sub-Saharan Africa to 34 countries.
Hennie Heymans, CEO of DHL Express Sub Saharan Africa, said that user uptake on the DHL Africa eShop app has been remarkable over the last five months, not only from the number of downloads but just as importantly, from an order perspective.
“This is why we’re excited to launch DHL Africa eShop in Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Chad, Ethiopia, Guinea, Lesotho, Liberia, Mali, Namibia, Niger, Sudan, and Togo,” he added.
“DHL adopted a phased approach for the rollout of the platform on the continent, with the initial launch implemented in 11 countries to test the market’s reaction. Within the first seven weeks, the response from the consumer market was so impressive, that the second phase was initiated – which added nine more countries to the list. Now we are once again able to build on that momentum, with the biggest single rollout phase so far,” he stated.
The app offers African consumers access to international retailers on an easy-to-use, fast and convenient platform. It also enables many global brands to connect to the captive African market.
The eShop enables African customers to shop directly from more than 200 US and UK-based online retailers, with purchases delivered to their doorstep by DHL Express. This solution was developed in partnership with Link Commerce – the Africa Mall division.
He added that while Africa’s ecommerce market is still lagging behind the rest of the world in terms of annual turnover, it may well make significant steps to catch up in the near future.
“A report by Statista reveals that e-commerce in Africa was valued at US$16.5bn in 2017. McKinsey added to this calculation by predicting that this value could potentially reach US$75bn by 2025,” he concluded.
