Kenya's Black Friday, the sale and discount shopping event, helped escalate e-commerce in the country, says Jumia.

The African online retail store, Jumia Kenya held its first Black Friday in the East African nation, and offered special deals and discounts of up to 90% across its large assortment of products.

According to a statement over 50% of the visitors accessed the site through a mobile device via Android, Windows or iOS.

Within 24 hours the online retailer reached an all-time peak in sales, seeing an extraordinary tenfold increase in orders, the statement notes.

"The feedback we got from our customers during "Black Friday" was overwhelming. We are so excited to have successfully brought Black Friday to Kenya and provide Kenyans with the best deals they have ever seen," said Parinaz Firozi, managing director of Jumia Kenya.

Customers' favourite deals included fashion products, flat screen TVs, phones and accessories, home appliances and sports equipment.

Firozi added, "Black Friday'' was a success mainly because Jumia delivers anywhere in Kenya and customers have the option to pay cash on delivery with free returns and exchanges of 7 days, our amazing deals are not yet over, there's more, crazier deals this festive season in our Christmas shop that you can't afford to miss."

Black Friday is popular in the US and refers to a retail focused event during, which many stores lower their prices for products, give discounts and special offers on the fourth Friday of November.