E Dey Shop

Our retail management system enables informal SMEs get an online store and generate leads via our product discovery chatbot on WhatsApp.

Our chatbot enables potential buyers to search for items based on their location. They then have the option to contact the merchant, visit the store, order for pickup, or order for delivery. 

Although the informal sector accounts for over 66% of total employment in Africa, most informal businesses lack the know-how or funds required to build an online presence. For the informal businesses that are able to build an online presence, they struggle to make sales. The traditional e-commerce experience does not meet the unique needs of buyers and sellers, who require social proof and trust to complete an online transaction. If informal businesses build a digital marketing strategy which encourages buyers to shop online, they could experience 2.8 times higher revenue growth rate.

We've built a social commerce platform that simplifies the process of building an online presence while fostering social connections and trust. The platform currently consists of 2 products: 

- A retail app that enables retailers to build an online store, generate leads from Google and our WhatsApp bot, manage their products, customers, orders, and sales records from one place.

- A Whatsapp bot that lets shoppers find products and services near them and make payments via an escrow service. The bot identifies search queries and locations within the messages it receives. For example, a shopper can send “where can I find Burgers in Lagos” or “Dry Cleaners in Nairobi.” The bot replies with offerings from registered Edeyshop retailers. Shoppers can chat directly with vendors within WhatsApp to verify product details and build a connection. Once a sale agreement is made, the buyer can pay via an Escrow service to ensure they receive the product as described by the vendor. 

Our solution serves SME merchant in African countries. We've worked with over 300 merchants in the last 6 months to understand their unique pain-points, requirements, and goals. We have a Telegram group where we receive feedback, discuss, and iterate with merchants daily.

The solution addresses their needs because it's easy to set-up and manage, automatically giving merchants access to shoppers using our WhatsApp bot and searching on Google. 

We expose informal SME retailers to online networks that can boost their business success, increase prosperity, and create jobs. 

We're taking advantage of the ubiquity of WhatsApp in our target countries to deliver a familiar and convenient shopping experience, providing an effective way for merchants to reach shoppers. Our solution is different from our competitors below because of its focus on informal SMEs. 

Jumia: Issues with poor logistics infrastructure, high operational costs, and weak product demand have prevented the traditional e-commerce model from thriving in Africa. Edeyshop's focus on informal retailers, local product discovery for shoppers and distributed retailers (who own inventory and enable pickup and short-distance deliveries) will deliver a suitable product for shoppers. 

Facebook: Facebook recently launched Shops to introduce social commerce within their family of apps (Whatsapp, Instagram, and Facebook). While their scale makes them a formidable competitor, Edeyshop's focus on informal SMEs and our understanding of local nuances give us an edge. We have the opportunity to launch first and capture markets that Facebook will not focus on. 

Web and Mobile Apps: We have built web and mobile apps to reach merchants and their customers. 

Chatbot: Our AI-enabled chatbot uses Natural Language Processing to understand shoppers requests and find the right merchants for their needs. 

Web and Mobile apps have become very popular over the last 15 years. 

AI chatbots have been growing in popularity over the last 5 years. Here's a product demo of our WhatsApp bot: https://api.whatsapp.com/send?...

Fostering trust and social connections between informal retailers and shoppers will create a feedback loop and network effect that both strengthens the Edeyshop network and increases revenues for our vendors. In the long-term, this will lead to increased jobs and revenues for informal SMEs.

We expect to reach over 20,000 merchants within the next year by partnering with local markets and shopping malls. In 5 years, our goal is to reach 5 million merchants across Africa and enable over $1B in sales. 

The core barrier is understanding the nuances of each market we hope to expand to. In our experience, it take a few months of experimentation to build a model that effectively meets the needs of a market.

Partnering with local companies who have the required experience and expertise. 

4 full-time staff

In 2019, Doyin and I built a payment tool that enabled SME retailers to accept in-store payments via QR code. During the customer discovery process, we added an online store feature because it was our most requested feature. 

The online store became the most popular part of the app and we pivoted from the payments business. As we kept researching, we found large e-Commerce groups on WhatsApp and Telegram. Many of these groups have over 50,000 members. They thrive because they are inexpensive to use and foster social interaction between the members. 

However, shoppers in these groups often worry about fraudulent retailers and poor user experience. By understanding the pros and cons of these commerce groups, we have built a suitable product for their shopping and sales needs.

Merchants can sign-up for free and can pay a $5 monthly fee to reach more shoppers on our platform.

We charge a 2% transaction fee for our escrow services.

In the short-term, we plan to raise investment capital to boost growth. In the long-term, our revenues from merchants and escrow services will cover the company's costs. 

We are a Nigerian company with global ambitions. With E Dey Shop, we have the chance to solve a local problem and export that solution to the rest of the world. 

To do this, we need the right mix of talent, advisors, capital, and network. MIT Solve will provide us with immeasurable support and tools to make our vision a reality.

Our solution enables SMEs, typically run by families or small teams, to access resources that enable them sell online.