Konga.com aspires to be the engine of e-commerce and trade in Africa
Nigeria’s e-commence darling Konga, after raising $25 million series B around two months ago from Naspers & Kinnevik, is now set to launch Konga marketplace in the next few days. This consumer-to-consumer platform will make it easy for people to buy and sell electronics, mobile phones, fashion, groceries, beverages and many more categories of inventories.
Retailers who use the internet will succeed, and those who ignore it will fade-away.
Konga is trying to educate more number of offline merchants to come online by saying, retailers who use the internet will succeed, and those who ignore it will fade-away. Since its launch in 2012, Konga has worked hard to solve the six biggest puzzles of e-commerce for smaller players. The first puzzle is to have a great online storefront that will help local businesses build brand recall. The second puzzle is building strong delivery network. The third puzzle is modern inventory sorting technology equipped warehousing and logistics. The fourth puzzle is achieving wide coverage of order fulfillment. The fifth puzzle small business face is payment gateways issues. The sixth puzzle is using data and analytics to make an informed decision. For example, getting Price & Sales Comparison Reports by city or by item to know what is selling fast.
The company says: “This platform will revolutionize the way buyers and sellers interact, with a model that is more convenient for the seller and more attractive to the buyer. It will create unlimited opportunity for the Nigerian entrepreneur, small business owner or even large business owner; it will serve as the great equalizer/nation builder, boosting employment, trade and powering economic growth and development in Nigeria.
Konga marketplace will cater to the needs of not only big wholesalers/ retailers, but even the roadside/ market traders in Surulere, Alaba, Aba, Onitsha, Kaduna, as well as enterprising individuals across the country with amazing products but no hope of expansion or scaling.”
The marketplace model has been used by all the leading e-commerce companies. Amazon has entered India by launching Amazon.in marketplace. Even local player Flipkart stated a marketplace in April 2013. Using the marketplace route e-commerce companies escape from burning cash for their own inventory while they server large number of user base.
Konga Mall was launched in April last year for select businesses to list their products and services. The company had over 250 testing retail partners who immediately started fulfilling orders under the Fulfillment by Konga framework. The company has announced the platform will now be made available to all traders in Nigeria.
Konga’s value propositions for retailers:
①They get online storefront
②No warehousing hassle
③State of the art delivery & order fulfillment
④Plug and play payment gateway
⑤Insights through data & analytics
⑥Call centre services
⑦E-marketing (newsletters, online advertising, web banners etc)
Maxitech, a computer and electronics dealer based in Lagos, who has benefited from the earlier launched Konga Mall had this to say;
“I have been selling computers for a number of years now in Lagos and to customers in neighboring cities, but I must admit that what Konga.com has been able to do for my business is increase my sales portfolio not only locally but nationwide.
E-commerce in Nigeria is definitely the future and I am happy that Konga is not only growing at a tremendous pace but is also helping Nigerian businesses grow as well.”
Konga Mall is disrupting the way buyers and sellers transact. The marketplace model is more convenient for the seller and more attractive to the buyer. This could create a massive opportunity for the Nigerian SME entrepreneurs.
To be a part of this revolution and receive valuable information, everyone can simply visit http://konga.com/sell to pre-register. Regular information on how to maximize the opportunity, processing and validation will be done on the Konga marketplace in the weeks leading up to the big launch.
