Ethio Telecom Enters E-Commerce with Zemen Gebeya

Ethio telecom is tapping into its vast user base and rolling out trust-enhancing tools as it enters the e-commerce sector with Zemen Gebeya. The new full-fledged ecommerce platform, accessible as a mini app within the telebirr SuperApp, aims to connect product and service providers with consumers across the country, particularly targeting Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

Unveiled today by CEO Frehiwot Tamiru, Zemen Gebeya includes a suite of integrated components such as a merchant portal and mobile application, a dedicated consumer-facing mobile app, a logistics management system, a dispatcher app, and a system administration portal.

For consumers, the platform offers several features aimed at enhancing the online shopping experience. These include home-to-home delivery and an integrated escrow system that aims to foster trust in e-commerce. Payments are held in escrow and released to merchants only after delivery is confirmed, or automatically five days after purchase if no complaints are registered.

Zemen Gebeya currently features 14 product categories, ranging from groceries and home appliances to electronics, cosmetics, furniture, clothing, and even livestock. Vendors with telebirr merchant accounts are automatically granted merchant access. 

All payments are made exclusively through telebirr within the app, with funds deducted from the user’s telebirr balance. Delivery times vary from one to five days depending on location and delivery type. In cities like Addis Ababa, standard deliveries may be completed within a day, and an express option promises delivery within six hours.

Merchants also benefit from a range of digital tools available through the platform. In addition to gaining access to telebirr’s more than 50 million users, Zemen Gebeya gives vendors capabilities such as direct customer engagement, inventory management, marketing and promotional features, and data analytics.

According to Ethio telecom, which was a fully state-owned telecom operator up until two weeks ago, more than 42 businesses as well as logistics service providers have already partnered with the platform and begun operations. 

Several trucks plastered with the Zemen Gebeya Logo were showcased during the launch ceremony, which are set to be part of a growing fleet of delivery vehicles. 

The e-commerce sector in Ethiopia is still in its early stages. Although more than 80 platforms currently operate in the country, many of them as marketplaces, a 2024 report by Shega and iceaddis revealed that 58 percent of these platforms have annual revenue and transaction volumes below 10,000 dollars. 

The report outlined several structural challenges facing the sector, including limited access to debt and equity financing, which hampers investment in critical areas such as non-current assets. High inflation further complicates the ability to source and stock products, while additional obstacles such as delayed payment settlements, lack of consumer trust, cultural barriers, and the absence of electronic receipting systems continue to constrain growth.

Zemen Gebeya joins Ethio Telecom’s expanding portfolio of digital offerings, which also includes Telegebeya, an online retail channel launched in 2022 that enables customers to purchase Ethio Telecom products such as smartphones.