Running from December 11th to 28th, 2024, this holiday campaign is set to reward shoppers who use the new “Pay with PalmPay” feature on Jumia with cash prizes.

Every purchase made using the direct payment method automatically enters participants into a draw, giving them a chance to win exciting cash rewards while enjoying the seamless shopping and payment process.

A Strategic Partnership to Enhance Digital Payments

The integration of the “Pay with PalmPay Wallet” feature on Jumia marks a major milestone in the partnership between the two industry leaders.

Speaking at the media announcement, Mr. Chika Nwosu, managing director of PalmPay, highlighted the broader mission driving this collaboration:

“We are thrilled to join forces with Jumia to redefine convenience for shoppers. At PalmPay, our mission has always been to drive economic empowerment through accessible and user-friendly financial services. This partnership is a natural step forward in achieving that goal.”

Beyond the holidays, this partnership with Jumia is a signal of bigger things to come.

Mr. Chika added: “This is more than just about payments—it’s about creating value for our customers. We are excited about the opportunities this partnership will unlock in 2025, including campaigns and innovative initiatives that will further transform the online shopping landscape.”

Sunil Natraj, CEO of Jumia Nigeria, highlighted the shared vision between both companies, stating: “At Jumia, we are dedicated to creating value for our customers by ensuring a convenient, reliable, and secure shopping experience. This partnership with PalmPay strengthens our commitment to enhancing the digital payments within our platform. By integrating PalmPay, we are providing more options for customers to access affordable and quality goods with the convenience of cashless transactions.”

How to Join the Holiday Fun

Participating in the campaign is simple. When shopping on Jumia, select the “Pay with PalmPay” option at checkout, and your entry into the draw is automatic. It’s that easy!

Bonus Entry: Share a screenshot of your purchase on X (formerly Twitter) using the hashtag #PalmPayXJumia to increase your chances of winning.

Additional winners will be selected from participants engaging with the campaign on Twitter.

Whether you are shopping for gifts, or gadgets this festive season, PalmPay and Jumia are making sure your experience is not only seamless but also rewarding.

To learn more about the campaign, stay tuned to the official  X accounts (formerly Twitter) of @palmpay_ng and @JumiaNigeria for updates, announcements, and more chances to win.

These programs are designed to incentivise customer loyalty and provide exclusive discounts, rewards and personalised offers.

With the rise of digital technology, many stores have partnered with apps that offer cashback for simply snapping till slips. This digital integration allows for easier access to discounts and personalised offers.

In a challenging economic world apps that allows you to snap and save on groceries, downloading such apps can be incredibly helpful in managing your expenses.

App marketplaces have become key tools for users seeking to simplify their daily tasks

By leveraging cutting-edge technology and strategic partnerships, apps such as HUAWEI AppGallery, one of the top 3 app marketplaces globally, have made it possible for users to receive cashback directly into their accounts –  making their purchases even more rewarding.

Users can explore a multitude of participating retailers and brands, capturing receipts or product barcodes to unlock exclusive cashback offers.

This innovative approach not only enhances the shopping experience but also encourages users to discover new products, brands, and experiences while enjoying tangible financial benefits.

With its series of snap n save apps, HUAWEI AppGallery is empowering users to maximise convenience and savings, redefining how they engage with the world around them.

Introducing the SnapnSave and SavvySaver: Must have apps to download this winter

SnapnSave  is an app that gives you cash back when you shop in-store. No paper coupons, no cards and no loyalty points. Just real cash back on items that you buy every day, leaving you with more to spend on specific things you want.

SnapnSave has partnered with top South African brands who pay consumers cash back just for buying products.

To happily snap and save, simply need to download the app, view and book the coupons you want on the app, buy your groceries as per normal, keep your till slips and lastly snap a photo of your till slip using the SnapnSave app.

Consumers can proceed to check their SnapnSave wallet, where you can cash out directly to any bank account including Absa, Capitec, Standard Bank, FNB and Nedbank.

The SnapnSave app is not linked to any specific retailers, meaning you can shop almost anywhere. This includes grocery stores such as Checkers SA, Shoprite SA, Pick n Pay, Spar and Woolworths. Pharmacies such as Dis-chem, Clicks and independents stores and home and clothing stores such as Edgars, Jet, Mr Price, Hyper stores like Game and Makro, specialty stores including Food Lovers Market, forecourt sores at Engen, Shell, Total and fast-food outlets including KFC, McDonalds and Burger King.

For those who love the Cinema, you’ll be happy to know that Ster Kinekor and NuMetro enable you to SnapnSave too.

Similarly, to SnapnSave, the SavvySaver app uses your till slips to help you earn free cashback and rewards. All you are required to do is download the app, sign up and begin to scan as many slips as you can. 

You can redeem your points to earn cashback, purchase vouchers, make charitable donations or buy airtime. What’s more, you can earn extra points through featured brands, special offers and friend referrals.

Walk into any store, including Boxer, Jumbo and OK or shop via online platforms such as Takealot, Woolworths and PnP ASAP. Need to stop at a forecourt to fill up on petrol and buy essentials? No problem, the SavvySaver app also allows you to snap and scan your till slips from any South African petrol station.

Promising horizons: Unlocking boundless potential

In the future, you’re more likely to witness more apps that allow you to save on your purchases. If you’re wondering why there is an increase in this initiative, read more below:

There is a need for increased foot traffic. Cashback apps often have a large user base. By partnering with respective apps, stores attract new customers who are interested in earning cashback rewards which leads to increased foot traffic and potential sales.

Data and insights are important. Partnering with apps provides stores with valuable data and insight into customer shopping behaviour.

They analyse the data to understand customer preferences, purchase patterns and trends. This information can help stores make informed decisions regarding inventory, marketing strategies and promotions.

Next up is marketing and promotions. Apps usually have a significant online presence and marketing reach. Through partnership, stores can benefit from exposure to a wider audience through app promotions, email marketing, social media campaigns and targeted advertisements.

Of course, there is a great need for competitive advantage. In a competitive retail landscape, offering cashback incentives through partnerships with apps give stores unique strengths and qualities that enable them to outperform others in the market. It differentiates retailers and creates an added incentive for customers to choose any store for their shopping needs.

Lastly, partnering with cashback apps aligns with the ongoing trend of digital transformation in the retail industry.

It allows stores to embrace technology and adapt to changing consumer preferences. By integrating with these apps, stores can provide a seamless and convenient shopping experience for customers.

Need to save on all your purchases this winter? Wait no longer, head over to HUAWEI AppGallery and discover more apps that can help you with major discounts which will make your shopping worthwhile.

This is hardly surprising when you consider that online shopping or e-commerce, as it is more popularly known, is a fairly recent phenomenon, one that is still catching on here in Nigeria but undoubtedly growing in leaps and bounds.

Indeed, e-commerce, or at the very least, the structured version of it that we experience today, is barely a decade old in Nigeria. More on this later.

The predilection to readily embrace an opportunity to see, touch or experience a product (a classic case of what you see is what you get) before parting with hard-earned money is deeply ingrained here. This is undeniably tied to the skepticism and natural sense of caution an average Nigerian possesses, particularly in situations that involve spending money. Another important factor is a chance to haggle over price and the satisfaction of walking away with a perceived good deal, especially when the buyer succeeds in convincing the seller to shift ground. This is not to rule out the warm, human interaction that shopping in such traditional retail formats engender.

Perhaps, this is why open-air markets, corner shops or mom and pop stores remain popular and have continued to command a dominant share of retail spending in Nigeria and many other African countries.

The foregoing finds expression in a recent study by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Specifically, the report, published in June 2022, submits that more than 600,000 small shops and open-air markets dominate the retail landscape in Nigeria, accounting for an overwhelming 97% of national sales of food, beverages, and personal care products.

The study adds that these traditional retailers consist of small kiosks and open-air markets. Even more eye-opening is the fact that the report reveals that the dominance has remained, despite the considerable challenges posed to traditional retail by the expansion of modern retail, the nascent rise of e-commerce and changes in consumer behaviour accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Titled ‘The Future of Traditional Retail in Africa’, the report holds that despite the advance in supermarkets, convenience stores, and other modern formats, including e-commerce, African consumers on average continue to buy more than 70% of their food, beverages, and personal care products from the continent’s more than 2.5 million small, independent shops.

In addition to some of the earlier listed factors which encourage traditional shopping, the BCG study highlighted other prevailing reasons.

‘‘Several factors make traditional retailers remarkably resilient. Small shops offer the proximity, flexibility, and convenient operating hours needed to serve their communities. They also often allow customers with limited incomes to purchase small quantities on credit,’’ the report suggests.

The BCG report is bolstered by another research conducted by the Oxford Business Group which attests to the power of traditional retail.

The study noted that Nigerian shopping is still heavily dominated by the world of neighbourhood stores, street vendors and open markets. Although the study predicts that this will change with time, it insists that traditional retailers will continue to dominate for the following reasons.

‘‘One is taste: even of those who can afford to shop in malls or supermarkets, many prefer more traditional ways. Another is a tendency to shop frequently rather than stock up. And deficient public transport means that malls are not very accessible to those without cars. Yet another edge may be cost-related, as pointed out to the local Business Day in April 2012 by sector analyst Cedric Bra. Using informal labour, often selling goods bought illegally, and frequently operating unregistered and therefore untaxed, smaller shops can keep costs low. Contrast the modern retailers, which have high fixed costs and visibility, having to obey the rules in respect of tax and sourcing. Taken together, noted Bra, this means that modern grocery retailers’ prices are on average 10-20% higher than those found in unregistered outlets.’’

Nevertheless, one can no longer deny the growing influence of e-commerce or online shopping, as a useful and convenient alternative for a growing band of savvy shoppers. This can be attributed to the rise in internet connectivity, greater exposure among the younger members of the population, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic which brought the power of online shopping to the fore, as well as the ease and convenience that accompanies digital shopping.

Also worth mentioning is the growing awareness and appetite for e-commerce among Nigerian shoppers. A survey conducted by Philip Consulting in 2016 in Lagos, Abuja, Oyo, Delta, Kaduna and Rivers States revealed that at least 51% of respondents sampled still prefer to shop in-store, while 49 preferred online shopping. But between 2014 and 2016, 97% disclosed that they have currently shopped online, at least once per year.

E-commerce is also being embraced by a growing segment of the population because they do not face some of the structural challenges that confront traditional retailers.

One of this is inefficient distribution systems that often force retailers to close their shops for several hours so they can go purchase goods from wholesalers, making it hard to obtain or retain sufficient inventory – a pain-point that tech-driven platforms such as TDiLife, a major FCMG and lifestyle products distribution giant headquartered in Lagos, are helping these small businesses overcome.

Further boosting the popularity of e-commerce is the range of options afforded the shopper. From the comfort of one’s living room, bedroom or office, you can check out an array of products from the biggest brands on the platform of competing players at the click of a few buttons on your device – smartphone or laptop. Also closely related to this is the fact that one can do this at any time of the day.

In other words, e-commerce is a 24-hour operation, one that allows shoppers access to preferred items round the clock, without having to worry if the market is closed or whether the seller is yet to open or has locked up their kiosks to go to church/mosque or attend to other pressing personal issues, as may be the case with traditional retail.

But more importantly, e-commerce has the beneficial attribute of enabling Nigerians live out their price-sensitive proclivities.

Here is the catch. The average Nigerian is a price-conscious freak. We get unusually emotional or irritable at the prospect of being made to pay a higher price when we can avoid it.

In the same way, we are often triumphant, giddy with excitement and fulfilled when we succeed in extracting a discount, a deal, a better price than stated for a product or item.

Certainly, e-commerce is best placed to sate this thrifty appetite

A 2019 GE Shopper Research Study revealed that a growing number of consumers extensively research and compare prices and offers before making major purchases. According to the study, 81% of consumers go online before shopping and spend an average of 79 days gathering information before making a major purchase. Further, the study disclosed that the availability of financing options continues to be a key factor in a shopper’s choice of retailer, with nearly half of all shoppers researching payment options online before visiting a store.

The above aligns with a 2017 Retail Dive Consumer survey.

The findings show that 56% of shoppers say they visit stores — at least occasionally — to first see, touch and feel products before buying them online. Additionally, one-third of shoppers say they make this practice a habit, reporting that they always or frequently go to stores to see or try out items before buying on the web. One in 10 shoppers say they always visit a store to see items they then buy online.

Here in Nigeria, it is common for shoppers to explore and compare prices among the major e-commerce firms before making up their minds, thereby affirming the primacy of price in the decision-making process. But where does product quality stand in the mix? Given a choice, would you sacrifice quality on the altar of cheaper pricing? This is the dilemma that confronts many online shoppers in Nigeria today.

Nevertheless, several studies point to the fact that quality remains key for most consumers, even ahead of price.

This takes us back to the recent emergence of e-commerce and its rise as a tool for price comparison. Hardly can one discuss e-commerce in Nigeria today without a mention of Jumia and Konga, unarguably two of the market leaders, but both of which have only been in operation here for 10 years. Predating this, however, the only other claim Nigeria can lay to anything resembling e-commerce was BuyRight Africa, a platform founded over 13 years ago by Leo Stan Ekeh, one of Africa’s leading techpreneurs and which was way ahead of its time, but reportedly collapsed due to the absence of credit/debit cards at the time, paving the way for the latter-day players.

Still, many would be hard pressed when choosing between price and product quality

But in the view of Durogba Arogundade, an e-commerce researcher based in the UK, the decision ought to be a simple one for shoppers.

‘‘As a Nigerian, I understand the huge attention paid to price. However, a shopper would only be getting the short end of the stick if they prioritized a sweet price at the expense of a low-quality product. It is a decision that often ends badly. The key is finding a balance. This is where brands such as Konga come in, by leveraging their combination of the traditional retail approach represented by strategically located physical stores accessible to the shopper and modern retail, as represented by their online platform. You can never go wrong here as research indicates that many shoppers often visit retail stores when comparing prices before buying online and vice-versa.’’

Arogundade’s submission is further supported by insights gleaned from George Nkem, a self-professed avid online shopper.

‘‘I have been shopping online actively for the past six years. I have experienced all the e-commerce firms we have. Today, I can confidently tell you Konga has the best price. Yes. Things are cheaper at Konga across board. But that is not where it ends for me. Quality is also very important. So, I would rather choose a place where I can get both. So, I often walk into a Konga store most times as it enables me confirm product quality and compare prices with other platforms online before I pay.’’

In conclusion, the controversy surrounding price and quality can be said to have been laid to rest bby findings from the Retail Dive Consumer Survey.

‘‘Because a majority of shoppers are still visiting stores before buying products online, it remains critical for retailers to provide a high-touch in-store experience. Turning physical retail space into showrooms — where customers can try and test products and generally get to know the product better before making the final purchase online — may be the logical next step for retailing,’’ the study asserts.

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Terry Ibinabo, an academic, researcher and varsity lecturer, writes from Abuja