We’ve all been there; we see a nice pair of shoes on the internet and we go ‘Oooh!’, but when we get to the store they aren’t available. Well, no more! We did some research and found out which items are the most popular in e-commerce currently and also predicted which ones will do well in 2024.
There are dozens of e-commerce platforms in Nigeria with an assortment of items being sold. We decided to mainly focus on Jumia, Konga and Jiji. We sifted through the data they provide to find the most popular products in each category. Here are a few :
Table des matières
1. Clothing
According to Nigeria, clothing is their number 1 product category in Nigeria today. When you look closely, you will realize that clothing has many more subcategories that contribute to its sales volume. They include tops, blouses, shirts and t-shirts, jeans, skirts, dresses, churidars, etc. Jumia leads the pack with a total revenue of over N200 million in 2016 from these subcategories alone.
2. Shoes
Nigerians love shoes! This explains why there are so many shoe stores popping up everywhere these days. In Nigeria today, you will find everything from casual shoes to heels and even skateboards for sale online. We chose running as our representative category which is very popular with Jumia selling over 27 million pairs last year alone.
3. Electronics and appliances
This was a surprise to me personally because until recently, I considered mobile phones to be the most important electronic product purchased in Nigeria Online today, but it is actually televisions that take the cake. Televisions and home appliances, in general, account for a total of N77 million in sales in Jumia, Konga and Jiji in 2016.
4. Helmet
Headphones are among the cheapest items to sell online, with most sellers selling them at a profit margin of around 10% (including shipping). You can see why they’re so popular, right? Nigeria today sees more than 15 million units sold each year in these 3 markets. If you want to take advantage of this trend, enjoy our latest article on best-selling audio items here.
5. Books
This one wasn’t difficult to predict because reading is something that easily translates into e-commerce phenomena as we experienced in China with their « Singles Day » sales event. Jumia leads the books category with an annual sale of over N80 million in Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya.
6. Beauty and personal care
It’s no surprise that personal care products are trending this year with a total sales volume of over N30 million across the three markets we looked at in 2016. The key beauty product and #1 selling item is crème fraîche which alone accounts for over N15 million in annual sales on Jiji alone! This shows how important it is to know your audience when planning your ecommerce strategy.
7. Home Furniture
If you are wondering which products will sell best online in 2024, experts have predicted that furniture will be among the best-selling items in Nigeria’s e-commerce marketplaces. Well, from the looks of it, Jiji is leading this product category with a total sales volume of over N60 million in 2016. This trend is not surprising as the cost of housing and decoration is in steady rise for some time now across Nigeria and this only makes sense if we see an increase in online stores dealing with home decor and stores…
8. Laptops and Computers
When it comes to tech gadgets, Nigeria is a tech-savvy country with a large percentage of the population using laptops for school and business purposes. As of 2016, Konga has a total sales volume in this category of over N150 million surpassing Jumia by over N50 million. There is every reason why you should take advantage of this trend if you are planning to start an online business in Nigeria today.
9. Musical instrument
This was another one I didn’t expect to see so high on the list, but looking at the numbers alone you can see why it’s not a stretch that this trend will take hold soon. Across Konga, Jiji and Jumia Nigeria, musical instruments now represent 10 million naira in annual sales. If you want to take advantage of this category now before it explodes later, check out our new article which gives valuable tips on how top-selling brands are doing just that.
10. Sports & Fitness
There are over 3 million people training and following the sport in Nigeria today, so it was a logical addition to the list. The key product here is sports shoes which alone account for over N8 million in sales on Jiji and Konga combined. Besides fitness and gym equipment, sports accessories such as watches are also in good demand in the three markets we examined.
Conclusion
As you can see, e-commerce is exploding across Africa with no signs of slowing down anytime soon. This article gives you an idea of what products might sell best online in Nigeria tomorrow (and beyond), but remember that trends change quickly. What’s hot today could be gone tomorrow as new trends emerge to take their place…
