Konga.com, Nigeria’s foremost online business founded in 2012, has a mission to become the engine of commerce and trade in Africa. Konga has self-fulfil business model initiative to assist other sellers in Nigeria. Kunle Oguneye, Konga’s marketing director, with over 1,000 direct and indirect employees, tells BusinessDay that the self-fulfill initiative is to empower other sellers to effectively reach more customers, more effectively. He believes that online shops will continue to grow because of Nigeria’s poor infrastructure, as operators have only scratched the surface of e-commerce, given the population of Nigerians on internet. Excerpt:
Could you tell me more about Konga.com?
Konga was founded in July 2012. The founder has a vision that Africa’s socio-economic malaise can be transformed if we start trading among ourselves. What trading can do for the whole continent is that it can stimulate economic activity.
It can also foster peace. It is highly unlikely for two people to fight if they are doing business with each other. Much more if the business can encourage employment and economic growth. In its business, Konga realized that it cannot warehouse every product it has in its Website. Though we have a massive warehouse in Isolo but we can’t replicate that all over the country. In the last one year we have a business model where about 20 percent of the products on our Website are owned by us. And the 80 percent of other products are third party sellers. A seller of any product can come and list with us free. They however warehouse their products and when the order comes through our Website, we send it to the seller with the buyer’s address.
When the transaction is done, the seller decides on how to deliver the product which we call Self fulfill. Under the concept, the seller could have interaction with the consumer. This is because the volume of business is too much that Konga cannot handle it alone. The other sellers can use our services to deliver if they choose. Today we have thousands of free registered sellers on the platform and the number continues to increase.
The Konga platform has helped many of them to transact volumes of business. Today the sellers are selling to many people in far away cities against their hitherto sales in their shops. Konga has given sellers maximum reach. Seller’s deals are monitored and recorded in the Website which is an advantage.
This is a wonderful initiative that I believe has empowered sellers, but where do you make your money to run Konga.
It is through commissions on each sale from the seller. On the seller’s arrangement, the price is set by the seller. The seller does not necessarily have to have stores but the seller could have warehouse to store the goods. It is important to say that Konga prices are cheap because we have direct link to manufacturers. The third party sometimes has direct relationship with manufacturers. Prices at Konga.com come cheap also because many of the sellers don’t have to own shops, buy diesel/ petrol, pay authorities and all the logistics of owning shops. Because of the unpaid costs, they can reduce their prices on items purchased on Konga.
How do you monitor the registered sellers on your platform to ensure quality?
If sellers list certain brands for sale on the Konga.com Website, they may need to send us samples of those products, receipts to prove that they sourced it from original manufacturer, pictures and testimonials. These are on certain brands.
At the end, if there is any report from buyers that what was exactly purchased was not what was delivered to them or advertised on the Website, we can sanction the merchant. We accept returns in spite of the challenges inherent in it. This includes tearing the package which reduces the value among others.
Apart from the sellers’ initiative, what are the other features that stand you out from competition?
There is relentless pursuit of excellence within the organization. We are a local committed organization to serve consumers better. We also ensure that we get the product to the customer as quickly as possible. We are constantly working against the challenges we face.
Just recently, we started air freighting between cities, this is to ensure that packages arrive sooner, avoiding the complexities of bad roads. We have a focus of being a one stop shop so that the consumers can find everything they are looking for in a store; we sell cement, livestock, gravel, cars, clothes, phones, shoes and home appliances etc. We have a wider range of products than competition.
We are not only selling to the retail market but to whole sale. We are making it easy for schools, hospitals and institutions that make bulk purchases. Not only that our goal is to stimulate the local economy. Very soon we will see arts and crafts designers in Konga.com platform. We have also mobile App where you can see prices and discounts.
How have you fared so far in your goal of becoming an engine of commerce in Africa?
We are forging ahead. But the challenges of Nigerian landscape are significant which cannot be under-estimated which include the biggest challenge of transporting goods from one point to another. But beyond that, we have a wonderful Website which is attracting traffic. We are communicating our value proposition to Nigerians and they are embracing it.
How long does it take you to deliver ordered goods?
We commit between 1-5 days depending on location. But Nigerians have expectation of same day delivery as done abroad, but the issue of transportation and associated challenges are factors. Again if it is beyond the within limit time of delivery, the customer can cancel the orders and their money is refunded immediately the order is cancelled.
With Konga.com signing on some shops on its platform, what forecast then do you have for brick and mortar shops?
Brick and mortar will always be there. The online shop is a complement. It is like telephone as a means of communication which is good but at the end we still want to see each other. E-commerce is another channel of commerce which allows a distanced person to enjoy the same experience with consumer at the center. Online business is a generational thing. People below a certain age have grown up with the internet and they are comfortable buying but certain people still want to touch and feel. The young population embraces it.
Culled from BusinessDay Online
