Wabi, an eCommerce ecosystem has unveiled a platform that presently allows over 10,000 retailers to do transactions, with 95% women.
Speaking at the launch at the Nigeria Bottling Company in Mushin, Country Manager, Wabi Nigeria Omolara Adagunodo said: “Wabi2b is a brainchild of the Coca-Cola Company but the benefits are not limited to coca cola. We aim to digitise route-to-market for all FMCG companies. Most importantly, we want to help our retail partners including the small shops on the streets who are selling FMCG products.”
He explained that the women are the main focus because they are the ones that need help in being digitised first. “When we think back to the COVID era, people were too scared to go visit stores to shop. As such, it was convenient for them to shop online. This puts small grocery shops at a great disadvantage. They were not online and because of this, they lost to businesses who had the capability to be online and sell/buy products,” he added.
Wabi2b the B2B arm of the business, is a marketplace that allows all wholesalers and distributors in the FMCG space to sell their products directly to retailers and traditional stores.
A McKinsey report titled “Africa’s growing giant: Nigeria’s new retail economy” estimates that from 2008 to 2020, there is a $40 billion growth opportunity in food and consumer goods in Nigeria.
According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), at least 142 million people work in the retail sector in developing countries. Retail employment accounts for an average of 10 to 15 percent of the job market in any given country.
Considering that the retail industry is vital to Nigeria’s economy, the opportunities would be doubled down by bringing the traditional stores online.