There’s a new name in e-commerce in Africa – and, having set up last month in Kenya and Nigeria, pan-African business-to-business marketplace Zandaux.com this week announced its launch in South Africa at an event held in Johannesburg.
Its stated ambition to become the ‘Alibaba of Africa’ will see the e-commerce platform, which connects buyers and sellers across the continent, arrive in Egypt at the end of February, giving it a foothold in the continent’s four key markets before expanding to the rest of Africa.
According to ITWeb Africa, the Zandaux business model is a “one Africa, one market” approach, enabling businesses and merchants across all sectors to offer their services and products to customers in any part of the continent.
Zandaux CEO and founder Franck Obambi Ngatse is quoted as saying: “The platform is designed to provide a direct link between suppliers and customers, regardless of their geolocation; increase sales efficiency; and expose customers to a variety of suppliers, products and services which were previously beyond their reach, while saving costs in trading transactions.”
Seventy per cent of the company’s African market is small businesses, which often do not have the money to reach their target audience. Companies pay a 3% commission on each item purchased on the platform. While courier and delivery services will be handled directly by the merchants’ third-party courier partners, Zandaux facilitates a channel of communication between the buyer and seller.
Zandaux has done a lot of groundwork on the site, including marketing and signing up local businesses. Emerging technologies − such as artificial intelligence and machine learning – are being used to support user experience and security. Zandaux uses third-party payment services but aims to build its own payment infrastructure.
It's a – potentially – very big market but still challenging; Jumia, Copia, HoBeei and Konga.com are among likely competitors, according to ITWeb Africa.