ALERZO: Creating Market Plug For Nigeria’s Informal Retailers

E-commerce in recent years has provided the digital infrastructure for commerce to thrive in Nigeria. Today, many Nigerians are leveraging the time and cost saving benefits of online shopping. The e-commerce sector holds so much potential for the Nigerian economy and Alerzo operates where it matters: the informal retail sector.

In Nigeria, the informal sector makes up 50% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), making it the major source of economic growth, productivity, and competitiveness. It is estimated that 90% of Nigeria’s retail market transactions happen in the informal channels, and the food and consumer goods retail market is estimated to be over $40bn. Alerzo, bringing an innovative approach to the B2B business model, is connecting this crucial sector to manufacturers, thus eliminating age-long barriers.

“Our mission is to empower these informal retailers through our ecosystem of digital products, so they are equipped to run profitable and sustainable businesses. We strongly believe that technology has the potential to transform the way informal retailers conduct their businesses, by using it to facilitate – with just a click of a button – fast and easy access to a wide assortment of consumer products at zero delivery cost to the retailers,” said Alerzo CEO, Adewale Opaleye.

He explained that Alerzo has created an environment where informal retailers no longer have to deal with most of the issues that impinge on their profitability and ease of doing business, thereby changing the landscape for them one delivery at a time. With its delivery services, retailers save time, energy, and resources that they would have otherwise expended in restocking.

“With our digital platform, retailers are now saving money on cost of products because it’s cheaper on Alerzo versus the open markets – and on delivery fees (free delivery on Alerzo). These savings, in turn, provide the needed boosts for their businesses and widen their profit margins. These are in addition to the help in inventory management, guaranteed product quality, time savings, effortless delivery and so on that they get on that platform,” he said.

Founded in 2019 in Ibadan, Alerzo has continued to grow and expand into most of the states in the South-West, and more recently, North West Central.