When e-commerce first gained popularity in Nigeria, it was treated as a nice-to-have, an experimental extension of a business, not the backbone. Fast forward to 2025, and the game has shifted completely. For many forward-thinking entrepreneurs, e-commerce is no longer just a digital storefront, it’s their entire market engine, a way to overcome the limitations of traditional business, maximize reach, and build sustainable revenue, even in tough economic times.

Let’s talk about the reality, the cost of running a physical brick-and-mortar store in Nigeria is higher than ever today. Rent is expensive, electricity is unreliable and it costs an arm and leg, foot traffic is unpredictable especially in non-retail locations. This is particularly a challenge in heavy product sectors like auto-mobile, industrial machines, furniture, and so on, where traditional showrooms struggle to display more than a few dozen items at once. How many styles and product models or designs can you really stock in one showroom before space and cost become constraints? Now, compare that with a flexible e-commerce store front, where thousands of items can be displayed virtually. With AI tools today, you can go an extra mile to give a visual display of one item in several colours or modifications.

The internet is an interesting new era, and services-based businesses are not left out of the different sectors cashing out in this digital economy. Payment solution brands like Paystack co-founded by Shola Akinlade and Ezra Olubi (acquired by Stripe in 2020) and Flutterwave founded by Olugbenga Agboola, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, and Adeleke Adekoya have already shown us what it means to build African businesses with global reach. Both fintech giants are providing payment solutions to online businesses, removing payment limitations experienced by e-commerce businesses, thereby enabling thousands of them across the continent. They share a common goal of pushing economic growth and digital inclusion by providing a robust payment infrastructure, which benefits the sector by streamlining transactions and expanding access of financial services to businesses online.

Take the example of the furniture industry with businesses like Winnyz Furniture, Top60 Furnishings, Vava Furniture, ZR Tales, all e-commerce furniture brands that sell locally made furniture on their websites. Vava Furniture owned by Michael Tawadrous and ZR Tales, by Oluwaseun Omotoso, took further initiative by selling on major e-commerce platforms like Jumia. These companies doubled down on online visibility and digital distribution by leveraging on existing e-commerce giants which put them ahead of the market. ZR Tales, the youngest of them, boasts of thousands of SKUs in their catalog across all online platforms, a number that would be almost impossible to display in a physical space. It is not surprising to see the growth rate in revenue the business has attained in a couple of years compared to other businesses in the same category that have existed before the brand. The importance of having an online market that can scale globally cannot be overemphasized, it doesn’t begin to compare to a physical location.

Another business taking advantage of modernization is ThriveAgric. This company is taking agriculture beyond farm gates, using digital tools to connect investors, buyers, and farmers in a seamless online ecosystem. The CEO, Uka Eje, a social impact leader is using technology to solve Africa’s agriculture challenges, by building systems around the food, agricultural and technological sectors aimed at solving the daily challenges in the society.

And let’s not forget international platforms like Amazon or Etsy, where several Nigerian creators are selling everything from handmade crafts to digital art, reaching buyers they would never have found from a shopfront in Surulere or Wuse.
E-commerce is not just a trend, but a necessity and a lifestyle. It’s about asking:
How do I reach 10,000 people on a daily basis, not 10?
How do I show a catalog of 500 products without renting three showrooms?
How do I manage inventory without owning every piece of it?

As economies continue to tighten and physical capital becomes harder to raise, we’ll see more entrepreneurs leaning into agile, tech-driven business models. The smartest ones are already ahead, especially with the new AI innovations, building back-end systems, digital storefronts, and remote supply chains. They are tapping into the sheer power of the internet to grow beyond borders and in many ways, they will still be relevant. Global commerce is borderless. Customers are no longer restricted to stores they can walk into, they are too busy to find the time. Nigerian entrepreneurs who recognize this early changes are those building digital-first furniture brands and fintech platforms, they are the ones who will not just survive, but lead in the next decade of African enterprise.

Yes, the infrastructure is still catching up compared to how it is in the developed countries, but the demand is already here, and the tools to meet it have never been more accessible.

It’s time to stop seeing e-commerce as Plan B, for smart Nigerian businesses, it’s clearly Plan A.