Do not panic if you are an e-commerce merchant: Temu will develop this industry and make it mainstream so that everyone will understand in Nigeria that the web is a market. Yes, Nigeria is entering the real ecommerce age because a company which has the resources to develop the industry is in town. Many years ago, I wrote, asking Amazon to come, in a piece titled “Why Nigeria, Africa Needs Amazon”.
Magically, we have even a better company: “Chinese e-commerce giant company Temu, known for its low pricing, has soared to the top of Nigeria’s Google Play Store and Apple App Store, becoming the country’s most downloaded app with over 500 million Android downloads. Temu’s millions of downloads come after the company entered the Nigerian e-commerce market last month. This move is expected to shake up the existing landscape and offer consumers a new shopping experience focused on affordability and convenience.”
Covid was evil but it also normalized online education, remote work and many things which before covid were were not acceptable via the web. Temu will normalize buying things online and everyone will benefit in Nigeria. They will lose tons of money, and over time strategize, but while the party is on, it will teach Nigerians how to shop online.
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No company in the world can run a nationwide ecommerce playbook in Nigeria due to lack of logistics. So, as Temu brings people to the web, regional-, category-focused strategies will open up opportunities for innovative merchants.
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