Mr. Price, the South African clothing retailer, announced their exit sometime this week, and it's understandable and long-awaited news. The company which sells mostly low-end fashion mentioned volatility as their raison d'etre, which anyone could easily believe.

Understandably, retail markets in Nigeria and Sub-saharan Africa are complex Ecos, which requires enough tweaking to navigate.
What's not surprising is that clothing retailers exiting and closing stores has been a trend all over the world, and not too long ago, Woolworth, another South African company, folded up. Only a matter of time before PEP thinks of doing the same after shutting down several stores in the country.

I'd be surprised if anyone at the fanciful offices of MR Price isn't aware of the root causes. Also, to note, over 90 percent of their sales are in South Africa, which is their haven.
My two cents, literally.

Consumer changing habits
It's not just Nigeria or Africa; buying habits are changing rapidly, especially in retail. People are shopping online more than ever before.
Over the last three years, more than a dozen clothing retailers have either shut down or downsized in the US and Europe.
It's a trend that's going to continue as more people get hooked to the internet.
Anyone familiar with Macy's, Gap, and forever 21 wouldn't be startled, and not long ago, the American luxury fashion retailer Neiman Marcus filed for bankruptcy.

Last year MRP left Australia in an attempt to focus on South Africa and Nigeria. I guess the pandemic didn't help that as well.
While Nigeria and the rest of Africa don't have such a robust internet economy where you have Amazon, Ali Express, and Asos, there's a system of fragmented retailers. The latter are mostly using Instagram and Jiji to pilot their affairs.

Stiff competition from the minnows.

It used to be that Nigerians shopped from the local markets where baiting is the norm by adamant traders eager to sell even if it's their first and last sales of the day.

The bearing has changed now, and the smaller retailers scattered on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, or WhatsApp are making a killing from clothing; after all, they are all in the business of importing like MRP.
If you live in a typical African city, there's a chance that a friend or someone closer to a friend is selling some cheap knock-offs, either from Turkey, India, or China. Why would anyone induce stress by walking into a shop instead of patronizing a friend that sells a Gucci or Burberry replicas, especially in the age of social status signaling?

Moreover, these smaller fishes in the vast ocean create a network of reciprocity, and it goes like this: If I buy clothing from you, you are more likely to order a cake from me, something so good that you can't get from MR Price.
Not to mention that they offer free exchanges and payment in installments.

Nigeria and the rest of Africa might not have the infrastructural capabilities for advanced e-commerce operations. Still, the democratized and decentralized system operated by different, though smaller retailers must be something rewarding.

In the past few days, I have patronized four different people on different platforms, and it doesn't feel any different than using the likes of Amazon.
I hope MR Price can survive the next decade or plan on restrategizing or staying at home( I mean South Africa), and that's not going to cut it as consumer behaviors keep changing.
Let's not forget internet penetration is overgrowing.

https://ogpar.is/2-reasons-mr-price-is-exiting-nigeria

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