Photo courtesy of Deliver
Joom is an international group of e-commerce companies founded in June 2016 in Riga, Latvia. As of the beginning of 2024, Joom has amassed over 400 million users worldwide across iOS, Android, and Web.
The marketplace has 25 million monthly active users and 20 million active buyers, and in 2021, Joom joined the Product Safety Pledge initiative — an agreement to cooperate with the EU Member States to remove dangerous products from its websites. Joom has also become the first non-VLOP (i.e., not a very large online platform, a term referring to platforms with more than 45 million average active monthly recipients) to join the DSA transparency database.
We are sure that Joom will be one of the global titans of e-commerce, and subsequently, we wanted to talk directly with them to learn more about their strategies, plans for the future, and, overall, their unique vision for e-commerce, marketplaces, and B2B.
To do so, we had the amazing opportunity to interview Marina Khanayeva, CEO of JMS (Joom Marketplace Solutions), to learn more about this e-commerce powerhouse group of companies. Let us begin!
In short, we could say that Joom Marketplace is an e-commerce platform and mobile app that sells products from Asia and Europe in the most efficient and easy way possible, thus helping people to save money when shopping online. JMS provides cross-border capabilities of Joom infrastructure and technologies to local marketplaces globally.
But alongside JMS the Joom group of companies also consists of JoomPro, a tech-enabled turnkey solution for B2B importing goods from China - this is the correct wording for JoomPro (today JoomPro is present in the Brazilian market only).
Finally, Joom also has Joom Pulse, a solution for sellers in Brazil that boosts their sales. It helps analyze marketplace categories and products to make better market decisions and increase business profitability. Overall, it is clear that Joom, as a group of companies specializing in e-commerce solutions, has become a powerhouse. But how, when, and why was Joom created?
When and how was Joom founded?
Marina: Joom was founded in 2016 in Riga, Latvia. Founders had this big idea to shake up online shopping using mobile tech. The goal was to cut out the middlemen in global e-commerce and give people direct access to quality products from all over the world.
Why Joom says it is ‘mobile first’?
Marina: At that time, several well-known international marketplaces existed, but they all started with a web version. We chose to begin with a mobile version inspired by trends in China, the most progressive country in terms of internet and mobile phone penetration.
In China, e-commerce accounts for around 50% of general trade, which is unprecedented. It was clear that the world was rapidly shifting to mobile shopping, driven by the growth of social networks.
Our goal was to create an app that not only facilitated shopping but also allowed users to maintain their active social lives online by leaving comments sharing tips. This vision led to the creation of the Joom mobile shopping app.
What makes Joom different from other marketplaces? Please give us a couple of exclusive characteristics and also Joom's main competitive advantage.
Marina: Joom stands out from other marketplaces in several key ways:
What business sectors or product categories are the ones Joom sells the most?
Marina: A significant portion of Joom's audience consists of women, which naturally drives high demand in categories such as fashion and beauty. Our marketplace also shines in home and kitchen items, baby goods, and consumer electronics. While these categories form the heart of what we offer, we're not stopping there—as mentioned before, we've got a wide range of products to meet diverse needs and preferences.
Marina: Joom is an IT company that's all about cutting-edge tech to optimize processes and stay ahead in quality. We've got a team of top developers, ML, and prominent data experts pushing boundaries, and being part of that team is a blast—it's all about innovation and excellence in everything they do.
This driving force behind Joom pushed them to launch B2B services.
Tell us a bit more about B2B services.
The idea of using cutting-edge tech to optimize processes got us thinking: why not bring this same power to B2B clients? That's where JMS comes in, our B2B service for marketplaces and e-commerce platforms I'm leading.
In 2023 Joom opened its HQ in Lisbon, Portugal. It also has offices in China, Hong-Kong, Brazil, the USA and Germany. This configuration has made Joom a global organization that is fully committed to providing customers in the EU with the highest possible quality products. No concessions are given. Top-notch quality is Joom's commitment.
Let’s discuss the quality of Joom products, how Joom handles this, and how you can guarantee a quality level in the marketplace. Do you control the quality of the products placed in Joom by the merchants?
Marina: Quality control at Joom is all about making sure our products are top-notch. This is achieved in several ways: we’ve got strict ‘Know Your Customer’ protocols in place to ensure we only allow trusted sellers onto our platform. We check product quality using a combination of people, processes, and on-site audits.
The people involved can be a dedicated team of 70+ moderators who use AI tools to check pictures, marketing material, safety aspects, and quality history. In addition there are 50+ Key Account Managers who regularly visit and audit our seller's facilities to ensure high standards for product quality are met. To ensure our customers get the best deal (i.e. the lowest price) we streamline, compare and cross-check duplicate products with those on the market.
How does Joom deal with the current EU quality controls and data protection legislation? Please brief us on these two topics.
Marina: Since 2021, Joom has joined and signed two voluntary Product Safety Pledge initiatives — an agreement to cooperate with the EU Member States to remove dangerous products from its websites quickly and efficiently. Joom is fully prepared for updates in EU regulations, including the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) and the Digital Services Act (DSA).
Regulators are wildly focused on making online shopping safer with stricter product safety and consumer protection laws when Chinese cross-border giants are penetrating global markets. Joom meets these minimum standards and establishes new industry standards and processes to safeguard customers.
Could you share more details about JMS, the business unit you're currently heading?
Marina: JMS empowers local marketplaces by enabling cross-border commerce on their platforms. In other words, we integrate an unlimited product catalog into our client’s platform and handle direct delivery to the consumer. All the advantages we've discussed—our wide assortment of unique products from 15+ origins, reliable logistics to 50+ destinations, and cutting-edge technologies—are now available to our B2B clients.
With Chinese cross-border marketplaces aggressively entering various markets, local players have two strategies: build barriers for inbound products or seize the opportunity and move quickly. JMS helps local marketplaces compete with cross-border giants by offering their loyal consumers access to products from around the world.
The future of marketplaces lies in combining local and cross-border supply.
Please explain the difference between Joom Marketplace and Joom Pro.
Marina: Well, Joom is a B2C marketplace, a platform for shopping globally for people like you and me. JoomPro is a B2B cross-border marketplace facilitating wholesale purchases from China. Primarily targeting sellers on local marketplaces, it is currently exclusive to Brazil (https://joom.pro/pt-br), with plans to expand to additional countries in 2025.
What does JoomPro offer to B2B merchants and customers?
Marina: JoomPro is about making B2B cross-border procurement as easy and efficient as possible. We aim to make B2B transactions as simple as B2C. Here’s what JoomPro brings to the table:
JoomPro streamlines the process of sourcing and purchasing products from Asian suppliers, making it smooth and hassle-free. We support bulk ordering, so businesses can buy larger quantities at discounted rates, put them at the local fulfillment center, and sell them locally.
By making cross-border trade more accessible and efficient, JoomProtransforms B2B procurement into a process as straightforward and user-friendly as B2C transactions. I find this service exciting because it helps develop SMEs locally and empowers them with tools like Joom Pulse.
Which one is Joom's main goal for the next five years?
Marina: Over the next five years, Joom has some big plans:
It's an exciting time for us as we aim to grow and innovate in multiple areas!
By focusing on these areas, we aim to become a global leader in e-commerce, making global trade easy and efficient for everyone through cutting-edge technology and comprehensive services.
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