Nigeria’s 1500naira.com, an e-commerce platform that sells all advertised products at a N1,500 flat rate has sold over 5,000 times since launch and works with over 50 vendors on their platform in its mission to make life affordable for everyone in Nigeria.
Founded in 2012, the firm sources for products and services directly from providers, manufacturers or importers to be able to sell them at N1,500. Late last year, the firm was acquired by Shopp.ng.
Speaking to Adejuwon Isola-Osobu co-Founder & CEO, “Prior to starting 1500naira.com, I worked as Lead Business Development at Ruff’n’Tumble a premium Children’s fashion line in Nigeria. I partnered with Tomi, a co-founder and CFO who had worked with EnnovateNigeria a new media agency. We had seen the model with Pound land and 1 dollar shop and we sought to create a Nigerian version. E-commerce was birthing in Nigeria at the time and we adopted it as our medium.”
With over 5,000 items since launch and over 50 vendors from whom they source their inventory, the firm monetises by having margins on each item they sell. Usually around 20% of the price of the item. According to the founder, their pricing sets them apart from most of their competitors as their products are offered at least twice the price on competitor sites which are mainly the increasing e-commerce sites in the country.
1500naira has been bootstrapped for most parts and raised some money from private investors in early 2013 before they got acquired by shopp.ng in late 2013. Isola-Osobu says not having so much funds has meant that they had to try to hack the growth and scaling the business was a major challenge but he as hopes for e-commerce in Nigeria.
“E-commerce will continue to grow as technology adoption and online payment infrastructure improves. In coming years, a significant chunk of transactions especially with upwardly mobile people will be completed online,” Isola-Osobu says. “Nigerians are doing a lot of business online with market leaders Jumia and Konga completing thousands of orders daily.”
Isola-Osobu says that 1500naira.com has not come to an end. This year’s aim is to increase it’s market share significantly and become a dominant player in its category. 1500naira.com has integrated Cash Envoy on its platform and recently integrated visa into their platform which means they can now receive payments from most Nigerian Card holders.