DHL Express has acquired a minority stake in Link Commerce; the Uk-based e-commerce firm that helped the logistics company develop its DHL Africa e-shop platform. The acquisition company demonstrates the company’s commitment to growing e-commerce in Africa.
Hennie Heymans, DHL Express sub-saharan Africa CEO said, “acquiring a stake in Link Commerce, the company behind the Mallforafrica.com platform, positions us to realise our ambitions of growing the eShop offering globally, and to work on the scalability of the platform when the opportunity arises.”
He said the new strategy will help DHL expand its white-label turnkey B2B e-commerce platform and provide online shoppers with the ability to shop more and get more at great shipping rates, fast.
Just more than one year on from its initial launch, the DHL Africa eshop continues to see “massive growth in sub-saharan Africa”. He says the DHL Africa eshop has consistently outperformed expectations since its launch.
The platform was developed in partnership with Link Commerce and initially launched in 11 African countries in April 2019.It was an immediate success, gaining around 5 000 subscribers within the first six weeks.
“Today, DHL Africa e-shop is live in 34 countries across sub-saharan Africa with tens of thousands of users across the continent and enables African customers to shop directly from over 200 US- and Uk-based online retailers, with purchases delivered directly to their door, by DHL Express,” explains Heymans.
DHL Africa’s e-shop offers African consumers access to international retailers.
“Online buying behaviours and product mixes have evolved quite significantly since the onset of Covid-19,” he adds.
“Some of the most popular items on the platform now include productivity and communications devices to support remote working, home and kitchen appliances, entertainment gadgets, and health-related products, in addition to the historic orders of fashion and beauty products.
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