₦airaland Forum

Instinctively, we humans tend to find a common ground to describe something we have never seen before or do not quite understand in association with similar things we have been exposed to or experienced. This behaviour leads us into categorization, segmentation and utmostly, labels.

Over the past few months since launch, we have had a whole lot of people describe us as so many things. E-commerce store? Online Supermarket? even a grocery store?
We then realized that this was a problem with our messaging. We realized that maybe we haven’t been really clear about who we are, what we do and why we do it. Which is the point of this article, so let’s get right into it�.

Who We Are
Tradr is an online shopping platform built to connect buyers to expert shoppers across local markets all over Nigeria. Think of Uber — but for shopping.

What We Do
We hire and train people to be personal shoppers, list them on our platform and get them to connect with users(buyers) on the platform to take their orders and help them maximize their spending budgets. These transactions can take place either on our mobile app or website. Upon receipt of your orders, your personal shopper gets to work (usually they are stationed in the market or closely around it).

Why We Do It
Tradr was borne out of a need to provide the everyday Nigerian the luxury of more time and the convenience of their home and phones. We realized that people spend a large portion of their time and daily lives planning and carrying out mundane tasks like shopping, so we decided to help bridge that gap so they can spend more time doing what they love, being with who they care about and going where means the most to them. We are on a mission to help people create better memories and lead better lives.
Honestly, just leave the mundane task of visiting Nigerian markets to us.

Who Benefits From What We Do?
The benefits derived from Tradr is tripartite; Buyers benefit, Shoppers gain, Market men/women profit.
Buyers: Users of the Tradr platform are described as “buyers” because they actually carry out purchasing(buying) action on Tradr. Buyers benefit from real-time market prices for goods to be purchased. For example, a basket of Tomatoes could cost 40,000 on the day of enquiry and 2 days later when the buyer decides to make payment, prices have dropped to 35,000.
Another benefit buyers get to enjoy is the power of negotiation. Ideally, most people visit the market themselves not because they like to, but because they believe only themselves can get the maximum buy for their hard-earned money. Tradr shoppers give you this experience because they are expert negotiators and are well versed with the markets they’re present in. Fun fact, you can jump in on the haggling via video call if you want to. Sweet!
And thirdly, Tradr buyers enjoy proper packaging and fast delivery of their items. Foodstuff is properly cleaned before being package and shipped to their respective owners.
Shoppers: Receiving the orders of buyers on the other end of our application are expert shoppers stationed in different markets across Lagos for now. These shoppers earn a 10% commission fee on any transaction carried out during the day. Shoppers do not have to bother about cleaning, packaging or delivery of items as we have collection centres in each market where bought items are handed over to the market supervisor for quality checks and rating. This enables them to have more time to carry out multiple purchases daily. A shopper could make as little as 20,000 Naira daily and way over 100,000 on pretty good days.
There is also another set of shoppers we have called “community reps” who are primarily active sales agents in their communities of residence. They connect with people in their communities, collate their orders for foodstuff, forward the collated orders to the market supervisor who arranges for these items to be bought in bulk and then dispatched to their respective owners on select days of the week. This program is called the “community bazaar”.
Market Traders: Tradr brings to the market man/woman purchases in volume and at a daily frequency. On an average, a Tradr shopper will perform at least 3 transactions daily in sum not less than 50,000 per transaction, multiply that by hundreds of shoppers we would have in the nearest future and you can see the potentials of market men and women restocking quicker than they used to.

Markets We Currently Operate
As at the time of writing this article, Tradr is currently present in 4 major markets in Lagos state.
Lagos Island market (Balogun, Mandilas, Tradefair) — Fashion items, Baby items, General self-care items.
Mile 12 market — Foodstuff
Alaba International market — Electronics and Electrical parts
Ladipo spare parts market — Automobile spare parts.
We look to expanding into more markets within and outside of Lagos before the year runs out.

So why Whatsapp, not your app?
The Tradr app is currently in open beta with major bug fixes still being done by our in-house developers and so in order to conveniently service our customers, we had to start with a platform that’s closest to them which is Whatsapp.
We’ll be migrating away from Whatsapp in the coming weeks anyways, so watch out for announcements on our Instagram and Facebook pages.

In conclusion, Tradr Nigeria is a platform connecting buyers to personal shoppers across the nation. We are evolving and every new day brings us further clarity about who we are and what we do. For now, let’s refer to ourselves as “A broker for personal shoppers and buyers”. We’l let you know when that changes.

See you in the next article.

Stay winning!

Experience, is the best teacher.

Whoever that timeless word of wisdom came from deserves several posthumous awards. Because nothing could be ever truer than those golden words.

And since we would want to learn from our past experiences as we move forward as a company, we have decided to document all of our activities each month in a roundup. Expect it to get better as we grow.

In these monthly pieces, we’d write about new app features, upgrades, new markets, what Tradr Tribers are saying, what to expect in the new month and more.

We hope you enjoy reminiscing with us even as we hope these updates draw you closer, that you hold us accountable, and you love Tradr more with every read.

So, let’s begin with July 2021. Keep scrolling�

Finally, a Stable Version�
Mid-July, after months of beta testing, learning and iterating, we finally came out of Beta.
We couldn’t have done it without our early testers and their numerous feedback. We say a big thank you to you all.

And a Even Fresher Look
We also got to redesign our website to suit our current positioning. This new website also includes call to action buttons for direct-from-web transactions.

This simply means you can also request a shopper directly from our website too as we hope to include iOS users and those with incompatible android versions or lower storage.

Take a look at the new design at www.tradr.ng

Product Updates
• We hit a record of 100 users.
• We also successfully established our presence in two markets — Mile12 and Lagos Island. Expect us to add new markets in the new month.

Insights and Analytics
• 53% of Tradr App users use a Samsung device.
• We had over 12 completed orders in July.
• Our website visits increased by 32% this month.
• We hit 100 followers on Instagram, 200 page likes on Facebook, 4 Linkedin followers and 4 Youtube subscribers.
• Our email list surpassed 100 subscribers.

What are We Bringing in August?
In the new month, we are:
• Going to keep adding more markets and more shoppers to our network.
• Bringing newer feature, fresher UI and a complete in-app experience.
• We are setting up better customer care and enquiry for our users.
• Expect a smoother onboarding process.

We are very excited about the new month and we just can’t wait to unfold all the goodies we have in store for you.

Tradr is growing, and we are glad to have you on our side as we grow!

Follow Tradr on Instagram, subscribe to our youtube channel and if you want to ask us anything, provide feedback or even suggest a product feature, please email us at tradr.ng@gmail.com.

See you in August!

Tradr is a lightweight Android app (less than 12mb) that helps you shop anything from local markets in Nigeria from the convenience of your home/office/the beach.

What does that mean? Expert bargainers and shoppers are at your disposal to help you purchase your food items, electronics, clothes etc from every major market across the country all from the tap of a finger.

Think of Uber or Bolt, but this time - for shopping.

We built Tradr because we realised that Nigerian markets can be a hassle for the everyday shopper, from transportation to dealing with touts disguised as sellers, messy markets, tricky sellers, the physical and mental energy it saps and time wasted…..It’s too much. Tradr gives you a simple interface for navigating the world of online shopping.

What is Tradrs' benefit?
You don’t have to spend priceless time and energy carrying out task as mundane as visiting the market, leave it to Tradr. We handle the boring stuff for you while you get to enjoy more time being with and doing what you love.

In addition, Tradr also works on the web, which means you necessarily do not have to download the app to carry out a transaction.

How to buy from local markets with Tradr:
• On Tradr, you can request a shopper and make your shopping list.
• Monitor and track your shopper in real time.
• Receive live updates about prices of items.
• Fast, easy, seamless payment process.
• Receive your goods in eco-friendly packaging in record time.

Smooth App Usage and Onboarding Process:
Once you download the app, create a profile, link your bank card for payment and proceed to chat with a shopper. Easy peasy!

All your transactions and personal details are passcode protected and can only be viewed by you.

Coverage
• Lagos island( Balogun, Mandilas, idomuta)
• Mile 12 international market

We are currently expanding our services across major markets all over the country.

Download the Tradr App now, visit [url]/downloadtradr[/url]