By Dagmawi Demeke
The last part of Dagmawi Demeke‘s, a digital marketing specialist and SEO strategist at Xenon Digital, review of the top three web-based online marketplace providers in Ethiopia examines Jiji Ethiopia.
Jiji is an African online marketplace that provides buyers and sellers with an avenue to meet and exchange goods and services. Headquartered in Nigeria, the online market has projects across countries, including Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, and Tanzania.
In parts one and two of the series, Dagmawi reviewed Qefria and Engocha, pulling data from platforms like SEMRUSH and Similarweb, publicly available tools to track and analyze website traffic.
Dagmawi’s third piece of the series looks at Jiji Ethiopia, whom he bets will be the number one player a few years down the line.
Traffic Overview
Jiji Ethiopia attracts between 100,000 and 140,000 visits per month, with traffic volume data varying across Similarweb and Semrush.
Jiji Ethiopia received approximately 27,600 unique visitors in June 2022. Although Jiji gets nearly as many visits per month as Engocha, the number of unique visitors to the site is three times lower.
Due to the appealing UI/UX design of Jiji. People who are aware of the Ecommerce website visit it regularly. Jiji has the longest visit duration of the three platforms, standing at 13:35 minutes, more than twice that of Qefira and six times that of Engocha.
Related- Review of the Top 3 Online Marketplaces in Ethiopia: Qefira
Almost all of the traffic comes from within the country, with Ethiopia accounting for 96% of the traffic. Most of the keywords driving organic traffic to Jiji are in the property category. Jiji has over 2000 ads for properties that are for rent or sale.
User Experience
For any e-commerce website, navigation should be simple, with obvious category and subcategory names. Keeping the navigation in the same place and using the same style, colors, and fonts across all pages is a practice actively adhered.
Jiji Ethiopia has a simple, focused design with the brand colors incorporated appealingly. Jiji also makes excellent use of its platform, allowing users to shop in ways other than general categories and making great use of the search bar.
The website also recommends a price range for the item you’re listing based on the average price data on the platform. When searching for an item on the website, Jiji offers you the option to sort by recency, price, or recommendation.
Besides that, it has useful filtering options for various categories. If buyers are looking for a house to rent, for example, buyers can filter by size, furnished or unfurnished, facilities, and condition ( newly built, fairly used, or renovated).
Jiji, like Engocha, also has a quality assurance method when you try to publish a listing. First, you must confirm your phone number via an OTP, which is then reviewed. The review process takes anywhere from a few seconds to over 29 hours.
Review of the Top 3 Online Marketplaces in Ethiopia: Engocha
Jiji Ethiopia has a messaging feature that is well designed and can help sellers manage communication within the platform. But not everyone logs into their account every day to check notifications. And Jiji offers no plug-ins for Telegram or WhatsApp.
One of the best features Jiji has that gives it a great advantage over its rivals is the performance tab, which allows sellers to track impressions, visitor count, and phone views and provides other data analytics. You can also follow users on Jiji. It allows you to invite friends via email, WhatsApp, Facebook, and Twitter.
Monetization
Gigi has no native ads; the main monetization method is Google display ads. But unlike Engocha, the platform isn’t cluttered with ads everywhere, and it doesn’t affect the user experience.
If Jiji Ethiopia continues down this path and focuses on advertising on different social media platforms, it has the potential to overtake Qefira as the most popular web-based online marketplace in the country.
____________
Dagmawi Demeke is a digital marketing specialist, SEO strategist, and freelance writer serving both local and international businesses in various sectors. Dagmawi can be reached at [email protected].
Follow us
