Many Nigerian brands sell well through Instagram and WhatsApp. Customers see a post, send a message, agree a price and pay by transfer. It works, until the volume makes every order a conversation and your team spends the day answering the same questions instead of packing orders.
When DMs are enough
If you sell a handful of products to people who already know you, a WhatsApp Business catalogue may be all you need for now. If you haven’t yet proved people want the product, don’t build a store first: a simple landing page can test demand for far less.
Signs you have outgrown your DMs
- The same questions about price, size and delivery fill your inbox every day
- Someone has to check every transfer screenshot against the bank account
- Orders are tracked in chats and notebooks, and some get missed
- Customers can’t see what is in stock without asking
- You run ads but can’t tell which ones led to a sale
- Selling depends on whoever is holding the phone
What an online store changes
A store answers the questions customers would otherwise ask in a DM, on the product page: what it is, how much it costs, whether it is in stock in their size, how they will receive it and what happens if there is a problem. Then it takes payment and turns it into an order your team can fulfil without chasing anyone.
The same sale, with a store behind it
- FindFrom your post or adThe customer opens the product page
- DecideNo DM neededPrice, stock for their size and delivery to their area, on the page
- PayConfirmed by the providerCard, transfer or USSD, verified before the order is marked paid
- ReceiveUpdates sent for youConfirmation and delivery updates without anyone typing them
Payments you don’t have to check
With a payment provider such as Paystack or Flutterwave connected, an order is marked paid only once the provider confirms it. Bank transfers are confirmed automatically, so nobody has to compare screenshots with the bank app, and a customer whose payment fails can try again without losing their cart.
Keep the chat your customers like
A store doesn’t have to replace WhatsApp. Many customers will still want to ask a question before they buy. A good store makes that conversation lead back to checkout: a WhatsApp button on each product page opens a chat with the product already named, and your team can send the customer back to the same product to pay. Order and delivery updates can be sent on WhatsApp too, through the WhatsApp Business Platform, to customers who agree to receive them.
What a store costs
Our online stores start from ₦850,000, and most standard stores fall between ₦850k and ₦1.5m. Read how much an e-commerce website costs in Nigeria for every level and what moves the price.
If the store itself is fine and the problem is the work behind each order, automating that work may help more than a new storefront. See business automation, or tell us how you sell today and we’ll tell you which applies.