Nigeria’s e-commerce market is currently valued at around $13 billion (N4.1 trillion), and according to experts, it could rise to about $50 billion over the next decade. Over the last 7 year, the Nigerian e-commerce industry has been growing with different e-commerce companies launching, including Jumia.com.ng, Konga.com, Jiji.ng, Yudala.com, Payporte.com and recently Decorhub.ng.
TechMoran met with Gbemisola Oke, founder of DecorhubNG to find out what she is doing differently with her startup.
Tell us about yourself, your educational background?
Im Gbemisola Oke, the managing director and founder of DecorhubNG. I am a Covenant University graduate with a bachelors degree in Estate management.
What is DecorhubNG all about and what service is it offering?
DecorhubNG is an online destination for home shopping in Nigeria. We offer products across categories like furniture, home décor, furnishings, kitchen & dining, Housekeeping, and home appliances. The aim behind DecorhubNG is to provide a curated destination for home solutions, helping our customers easily create well-furnished and beautiful homes.
Our homes are an expression of our individuality, and when it comes to shopping for home furnishings each customer has varying style and budget. We built DecorhubNG to conveniently cater to each customers needs and prefers by offering a vast selection of products across all price points.
Can you tell us how DecorhubNG works?
DecorhubNG is a managed marketplace working closely with several merchant partners to showcase their products to customers across Nigeria. We also have some products that we stock in house to meet up with demand. We work like any other ecommerce site a customer places an order and we deliver to their door step or our pick up locations.
What convinced you to start DecorhubNG?
Mostly by personal experiences of shopping brick and mortar store for home goods; that lead me to the point where I thought it was time to create a platform that unifies brings convenience to the home goods shopper by bringing several home stores to one site.
What are the daily challenges you face running your startup?
There are a number of challenges any business will face on a daily basic however it becomes more of an issue when in a startup. For instance erratic power supply, the present fuel scarcity as well as expensive logistics to certain areas. In spite of the challenges listed, this are not enough to deter us from achieving our goals an organization.
How difficult was raising capital for your start up?
The business was launched without taking any outside capital. Since inception till date, DecorhubNG has grown out of its own cash flow.
Who are your biggest competitors?
Over the past few years, there have been several companies that offer similar service to ours springing up. However, the beauty of the Nigerian market is that its very big.
What is your start-ups unique selling point and how do you make profit?
Our unique selling point is customer focused, we believe in giving our customers a wonderful buying experience. Everything we do revolves around our customers, providing them with hundreds of products and options per category, equipping them with detailed information about a product before purchase, we even went further to having a blog and print magazine focused on providing relevant information and DIYs to our customers. We make profit from the sale of goods on our platform as well as commissions from our merchants.
How has the market responded to your service?
The market response to our services has been incredible. We have gotten several referrals from customers as well as repeat customers. We have experienced about 30% monthly growth in our customer base.
What are your long-term goals for DecorhubNG?
Our long-term goal is to be the largest online retailer for home products in Africa.
Words of advice for young and aspiring entrepreneurs who dream of having a startup like yours?
Always start a business you are passionate and excited about, because that is what gets you through tough times and keeps you creative.
Finally, do you think the Government and private investors are doing enough to support startups in Nigeria and what else do you think needs to be done?
Personally, dont think the government is doing enough to support startups. There is a lack of basic information, infrastructures and financing for startups seeking funding. The government needs to create sustainable platforms to support entrepreneurs, provide easy access to informations that can assist business. Also, the conditions from some private investors are sometimes almost impossible.