Nigeria hosts the largest population in Africa, including a sizeable pressurised middle class. This makes it an attractive market for consumer electronic and durable brands, yet only a handful of companies from the rest of the world have succeeded when they’ve entered this complex and dynamic market.
One of the major challenges organizations face as they enter the Nigerian market is a lack of reliable consumer insights and market data – in turn, this leads to sub-optimal sales, marketing and merchandising strategies.
One of the major issues that companies face is that there’s a lack of reliable, structured, up-to-date information about Nigeria’s diverse retail market. It is hard for companies to source insight into market dynamics across a vast country with a complicated retail environment.
Companies cannot easily get answers to questions such as which brands are stocked and where; which are recommended by staff; and which channels to market are the most efficient and effective ways to reach the customer.
What’s more, the Nigerian market has changed considerably since the start of the COVID-19 crisis in 2020.
Trends like the accelerated adoption of ecommerce, higher inflation, and a volatile exchange rate have all dramatically reshaped the structure of the middle class, how retail channels operate and the behaviour of the Nigerian consumer.
Many companies are still basing their strategies on research and insights that date back to before the pandemic.
Businesses need access to robust market insights to recognise sales opportunities and optimise their strategies and tactics for promotional planning, pricing, sales opportunities across channels and categories.
In Nigeria’s case, its difficult to stay on top of developments, digest data, detect the signals from the noise, and make the right decisions.
GfK has kicked off a new research programme in Nigeria with the goal of closing some of these information gaps and casting more light on a poorly understood market.
The GfK Retail Landscape survey is underway, gathering information on around 13,000 technical and durable goods stores across the nine major cities in Nigeria. Data will be validated through street-by-street observations and store manager interviews.
GfK will also apply its Share of Recommendation quantitative framework to identify brand recommendation levels and measure performance on key drivers of recommendation by measuring which brands shoppers request, and which brands the retailers recommend.
This will help brands to understand why store representatives recommend some brands over others, how they compare to their competitors, and what consumers are shopping for.
The right data and analytics are key to driving successful channel, marketing, and merchandising strategies.
Our experience in Africa and robust methodologies mean we can offer a structured view of what the latest developments in the Nigerian technical goods market are, equipping brands with the insights they need to win in a complicated and volatile market.
By Ozarh Kajee, Business Development Director: Market Intelligence at GfK Africa