Getting online has become an utmost necessity for businesses these days. Tradift was launched in January to help businesses and organisations do just that. Considering that COVID-19 was confirmed in Nigeria about a month later, it could not have launched at a better time.
Tradift was founded by Jeffrey Chidi. The startup allows users to create websites on its platform through customizable themes and a website builder tool that is available on the platform.
Since it launched in January, about 2,512 traders have created accounts and obtained digital presence for their businesses. The startup’s customer base has continued to grow since then.
Tradift overview
Tradift is an eCommerce platform for businesses that want to be able to sell to customers in and outside Nigeria. At the basic price of N2,000 monthly, traders get an online store and blog, a free .com.ng domain name for the business, and can accept credit card payments for products on the site. It charges 1.5% on each transaction recorded by the business.
For the price of N4,999, the business can have up to 250 products on the website and add 1 staff account to monitor activities. Besides the cost, 1.5% is charged on every transaction that the business carries out on the platform.
Businesses with the standard plan which is offered at N7,999 can have an unlimited number of products and 4 staff accounts to manage the activities on the site. There is no additional charge on the transactions that businesses with this plan carry out.
Tradift premium plan, which costs businesses N18,999 monthly, allows the business to add 15 staff accounts and no percentage of the transaction fee is charged.
To make it possible for users to sell to international clients, logistics company, Sendbox Nigeria, has integrated its services with that of Tradift. According to CEO of Tradift, Jeffrey Chidi, “the traders fund their Sendbox wallet and the delivery amount is deducted from the wallet each time that trader wants to send a product from his business to a customer.”
Supported countries and payment methods on Tradift
Paypal, and Razorpay are currently used by traders that are not in Nigeria to receive payments from customers. Within the country, Paystack, Bank transfer, and pay on delivery are other payment methods used by traders on Tradift.
Traders use the platform to sell within and outside their locality. Currently, Sendbox is the only shipping partner that handles logistics for traders on the eCommerce platform. It has international users in the United States, South Africa, and Ghana but it does not have delivery services in place for them yet.
Competition
For its target traders who want to sell in Nigeria, Flutterwave, Jumia, and Konga are major competition. Flutterwave just launched its online store for traders.
Flutterwave does not require traders to pay a monthly fee for their online store for now. Jumia charges a commission on the sales made and other services it renders to traders in its marketplace.
For Tradift that charges a monthly fee and commission on transactions in some cases, this could be a major challenge. But with 60% of registered users opting to retain its services, the startup might be altogether unbothered by this.
The feature of having a website easily built is also an added advantage because of all its competitors only Flutterwave offers that same functionality as a result of its collaboration with Wix. Read more about that below.
Suggested read: Flutterwave Launches Online Store for SMEs in 15 African Countries, Says it has no Plan to Become Jumia
Flutterwave intends to work with Sendy in Kenya to cater to Kenyan traders, and with Sendbox in Nigeria while Jumia uses its own Jumia Logistics. Konga uses its own Kxpress Logistics and other delivery service providers.
While Tradift means an additional market for Sendbox, the eCommerce platform needs additional logistics providers before it can make the promise of international product delivery available to customers of its traders in other countries.
Considering that Flutterwave will still charge traders for hosting and running their eCommerce business on its platform in addition to commission on payments, and Tradift currently providing international shipping, using Tradift to build a digital presence for an ecommerce business might be a good option.
Technext Newsletter
Get the best of Africa’s daily tech to your inbox – first thing every morning.
Join the community now!
