Many years ago, I described a scene I had noted as a secondary school student in my village market. In the piece which was published in the Harvard Business Review, I explained how market women gathered around a truck, pooling resources together to get big discounts on foodstuffs by buying in bulk.
In China, someone has reduced the friction of that congregation with an app, making it easier for people to come together to buy things at scale for huge discounts. The platform is one of the most fascinating apps in the world right now, I had noted in 2018. The app is called Pinduoduo.
Pinduoduo is disrupting markets and growing fast in China where it was invented. Its model is exciting: you want to buy 10 cups of rice. Certainly, a bag of rice offers deep discount over just buying the 10 cups. To get that discount, you put a bag of rice in your wish list, and then invite friends to take a look.
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Once you have gotten the number of people that would enable you buy a bag of rice, you have a deal. And then you would go and buy that bag of rice and everyone will share. At the end, because of the volume discount, you might have saved up to 90% on the 10 cups of rice.
Still waiting for a real Nigerian version of this app, not just for the cities but also for villages!
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Comment 1: Ndubuisi Ekekwe this is a great thinking
I am also thinking for a while of a legitimate business model for Nigeria entrepreneurs can be, look out for a money-spinning App(business) that has not yet gone global but growing rapidly, copy it hook line and sinker, and find suitable local adaptation to it, organize it around local products or services. Gbam you have a business and if you can look for the original inventors and pitch it as an appropriate international arm, sell and cash out big.
There is a German company that does this very welll (I will check and revert with their name)
Comment 2: Thank you, Ndubuisi Ekekwe, for sharing your insights and fostering such important discussions.
Your reflections on the power of collective buying and the potential impact of technology like Pinduoduo in a Nigerian context resonate deeply with me.
The concept of Pinduoduo represents more than just economic efficiency; it’s about fostering a sense of community, leveraging social networks, and empowering individuals to access goods they might not afford otherwise. Your observation about the absence of such a platform in Nigeria opens up a stimulating discussion.
Understanding that every market has unique complexities requires careful analysis of local needs, socio-economic climate, and technological landscape to introduce an app similar to Pinduoduo successfully. This includes access to smartphones and the internet and encompasses the prevalent payment systems and the general digital literacy of the populace.
Here’s hoping that innovators and entrepreneurs in Nigeria pick up on this and explore the potential of creating a local version of this platform that could significantly benefit both urban and rural communities.
My Response: It is a great idea which I think some bold founders could attack at scale, focusing on people who already know themselves in churches, mosques, offices, etc
Comment 3: Ndubuisi – Prof – The age old ‘Co-operative Consumer’ model becomes an App.
Only question is why did it take so long for someone to do the translation.
Would have been nice if it went directly to dApp.
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