We all enjoy the convenience of having our choice goods delivered to our doorsteps at a reasonable delivery cost. In some special cases, delivery may be free. And done fast enough for that matter. There are days when going out there to search for a desired product may prove challenging. Or you don’t have the luxury of time to do so; or perhaps you wish to be spared the stress. Good online shopping sites in Nigeria (and elsewhere) have come to the rescue, to relieve you and me.
A 24- to 48-hour hour open window to get your order is not bad at all, particularly fresh produce. Not only that, you will be extremely happy to see that your order is delivered in good condition, no spoilage or faults. Also, if neither the product cost, nor the delivery price goes through the roof, affordability is a plus indeed. Not forgetting ‘variety is the spice of life’ – one should be able to choose from a range of offers for the same type of product.
Those are offerings of a responsible and dependable online shopping site, and we have them right here in Nigeria. So which e-commerce sites are the reliable go-to platforms to get what you want quickly without putting a deep hole in your pocket? Here we go, let’s sample the following top 10 highly recommended online shopping sites in Nigeria and their selling points.
Jumia Nigeria
Jumia is undoubtedly the largest online shopping site in Nigeria and Africa; created to cater for the African market. Since its inception in 2012, the e-commerce store has grown in leaps and bounds. From merely having a presence in Nigeria, Jumia is now established in at least 11 African countries.
According to the webretailer.com site, the number of visitors on the Jumia site averages 23 million hits per month. What makes Jumia so unique?
To begin with, the e-commerce site is a winner when it comes to VARIETY. Thousands of wholesalers and retailers have their online stores registered with Jumia. The product details, store owner, pictures, cost of delivery per location, estimated delivery time are clearly shown. It is remarkably easy and fast to search for any product on the Jumia site. And that one product search presents you with several dealers and offers with a reasonable range of prices and quality. From the cheap to the expensive, you have them on the site. From local traders to foreign ones, they are available.
There is also the 3 to 7 days return policy once a customer is dissatisfied with the product for genuine reasons; and the money will be fully refunded.
Jumia has also integrated a whole range of services to satisfy consumers. The site has:
- Jumia Food to cater for food delivery from a large collection of merchants
- Jumia Travel to service travelers’ needs, including booking flights and hotels
- JumiaPay and JumiaOne are available to help customers to pay for utility bills, airtime, and other service payments around town easily.
The company has numerous warehouses, pickup and drop-off locations, supported with fairly responsive customer service. It also has a large assembly of delivery agents who move around town with virtually every available form of vehicle – from motorbikes to tricycles to buses to trucks.
Also Read- Top 10 Online Business Opportunities in Nigeria 2024
Konga
Launched in 2012 in Lagos, Konga started out as a retailer of its own stock goods (first party retail). But soon enough, the company welcomed other retailers to establish their online stores on the ‘Konga Mall’ website as from 2013. Konga was a contemporary of Jumia, both of them being launched around the same time and naturally became rivals.
By January 2015, Konga had become the most visited site in Nigeria – with several thousands of third-party retailers listed on it.
Konga was an early adopter of cashless electronic payments from multiple Nigerian banks, with the launch of KongaPay in 2015. The Konga Mall was thereafter expanded to Konga Marketplace with even more sellers, better price comparisons and massive returns in profit.
Konga has a well established logistics network, and you are guaranteed to receive your orders within 1 to 3 days. The company has allowed a good number of reliable courier services to work with them and their sellers. There is also a 7-day return policy for goods that fall short of the customer’s expectation. The retail giant also allows customers to do in-store purchases in its physical retail stores. The customer service is meaningful and quite fast.
Today, Konga has diversified into other customer-focused subsidiaries such as:
- Konga Food
- KongaPay
- Konga Travel
- Konga Drinks
- KongaHealth
- Konga Logistics, and
- Konga Groceries.
PayPorte
You cannot possibly miss the exclusive fashion shopping site named Payporte if you are an online shopper in Nigeria. The popular fashion platform was launched in 2017. It has since extended its operations beyond Nigeria into the UK, USA, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and China.
The Payporte site retails both its own fashion label and other brands to men and women; offering:
- designer clothes
- Shoes
- Bags
- Cosmetics
- Jewelry
- underwear and
- sunglasses.
Payporte became extremely popular after the launch of its ‘Payporte 1K Store’ program in 2015. Through that initiative, affordable clothes costing N2000 and below were offered to the public over the next few years. It was a massive sales magnet. However, it is not clear whether the Payporte 1k Store is still being offered to people as of the current year.
SLOT.ng
Established in 1998, SLOT is one of the biggest online (and offline) retailers of durable mobile and household electronic devices in Nigeria. The renowned store has an extensive network of physical stores across Nigeria (over 60 stores) and is still expanding.
Not only that, SLOT sells products manufactured by over 30 global electronic brands. The price range of its goods start from cheaper, customer-friendly tags to the more expensive ones. The store handles both door-to-door delivery and in-store sales without hitches.
To make it easier for consumers to buy its products, SLOT gives a choice of whether to pay on delivery, in-store payment by cash, or use electronic payment channels (such as Naira debit/credit cards or bank transfer). Additionally, you can buy a phone or gadget on credit and spread the payment across 3 to 6 months.
For added advantage, there is after-sales support and technical assistance, and at least one year warranty covering your device. The customer service is also commendable.
Some of the products on sale by SLOT.ng include:
- mobile phones and tablets
- Laptops
- phone and computer accessories
- power banks
- Inverters
- solar panels
- LED TV
- deep freezers
- microwave ovens
- electric irons
- Fans
- deep fryers and more.
Kara Nigeria
Kara Nigeria is the online shopping site belonging to Royal Coast Technologies Limited. It was set up in 2012 (as Tracxn Technologies Limited, whose name was later changed). Kara Nigeria is now a foremost retailer of electronic and technology products for both homes and offices. Its vast product range includes:
- laptops
- mobile phones
- printers
- computer networking hardware and software (including servers)
- security gadgets
- scanners
- generators
- refrigerators
- cameras
- inverters
- solar panels
- office furniture
- children’s store
- health products and more.
Kara Nigeria has fairly responsive customer service. It also runs a ‘buy now, pay later’ credit program to buy a device and spread the payment over a few months. Not only that, you have the option of payment at the point of delivery or through electronic channels (debit/credit cards or bank transfer).
Printivo
Printivo online store is a Nigerian website dedicated to the product branding, design and print industry. Besides their own proprietary designs, this unique Nigerian print web marketplace even allows others to create and upload their designs.
On behalf of such partner creators, Printivo will handle the actual printing and shipment of the branded goods to the customer. The designer/retailer earns 15% on each sale made on his/her store on the Printivo platform. That way, registered store owners and designers do not need to have any physical equipment to produce or transport branded goods.
Some of the branded products on offer by Printivo include:
- Mugs
- A5 flyers
- Stickers
- Business cards
- Posters
- Banners
- ID cards
- Brochures
- Paper bags
- T-shirts
- Greeting cards and more.
Jiji Nigeria
Jiji Nigeria is a branch of Jiji Africa, a Pan African online marketplace for buyers and sellers to meet, interact and make transactions. Founded in 2014, Jiji was set up as a classified adverts listing site. It has at least 3 million or more adverts in several categories. They range from electronics, mobile phones, real estate, cars, agricultural produce, services, to jobs and more.
Jiji Africa has recorded almost 10 million visitors per month since 2014, while Jiji.ng recorded about 1.2 million visitors as of 2022. Jiji Africa also acquired a popular car retail company, Cars45 in 2021; and one of its top rivals, OLX in 2019.
At present, the mother website Jiji Africa has established its presence in at least 6 African countries. Namely Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, Ethiopia. The site also offers a mobile version of its website in each country.
Supermart
Supermart is an online shopping service and supermarket set up in 2014 by two former top executives of Jumia Nigeria. It boasts of super fast delivery service, able to deliver your ordered goods within less than 5 hours any day of the week. Supermart has succeeded in bringing together a collection of over 70,000 products from partner brands. Again, it partners with at least 20 supermarkets. Namely Spar Nigeria, 9 to 7 by Save Mart, Park n Shop, Medplus, Nars, Mega Plaza, The Fish Shop, Office R Us, and more). The site has a wide coverage across Lagos.
However, it does not allow payment on delivery; only electronic payment.
Pricepally
Pricepally is an online grocery store set up in 2019, that offers access to farm-fresh foods and groceries. It is organized as a proudly Nigerian online food cooperative network. Which means Pricepally helps you to team up with other buyers to buy fresh produce and groceries from the market in bulk, then share it. Ultimately you get your food items as fresh as possible and at cheaper prices – almost 25% lower than what is usually obtainable.
Pricepally handles the transportation and delivery from the farmers, traders and wholesalers, to the end-consumers. Its areas of coverage at present are Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt, with the vision to expand to other African markets. It promises to deliver your goods in less than 48 hours. The website also has a mobile version.
FoodCo
FoodCo was set up way back in 1982 in Ibadan – the third largest indigenously-owned chain of supermarkets in Nigeria. The superstore incorporates a bakery, entertainment unit, manufacturing unit, and restaurant in each of its outlets across Lagos and Ibadan. And in 2020, it opened up its online store. The online shopping site assures you of the same-day delivery of your orders, possibly within a few hours.
FoodCo offers an amazingly huge variety of foods, groceries and household items. Accordingly, the store’s major subsidiaries include:
- FoodCo Supermarket
- FoodCo Fast Food
- FoodCo Manufacturing (Sunfresh bread, water, ice cream)
- FoodCo Arcade
There is an additional WhatsApp channel linked to the site for placing orders. The shopping site only accepts electronic payments (bank transfer and debit/credit card) and would not allow payment on delivery.
