Do you want to know how you can distribute your product in Nigeria? There’s a simple way to get product distributors anywhere in Nigeria. It’s the secret successful brands have used to dominate the market and spread across the country. And you too can use the same method to grow your business.

If you are an importer, brand owner or a manufacturer, you can start distributing your products to increase sales across Nigeria. There may be demand for your product in places you have never known or heard across the country.

Sometimes, you may not even have the resources to get your products there. Or the brand advantage to spend heavily on advertising. But you can distribute your product to every part of Nigeria without stress.

Although, the challenge is usually how to get started. Some companies have tried online advertising to get distributors, but that doesn’t yield the best result always. Most of who may get are people who are interested but lack the experience or financial requirement to start distributing your product.

What you need is distributors who have both experience and the financial ability to represent your product in their local market. This kind of partners is what would help grow your product in every market.

Starting to Distribute Your Product

The first thing you need to understand when you want to start distributing your product across the country is, who are your target customers. Your target customers would help you understand what kind of markets you should be interested in.

High end products may not require distributors, and so you don’t have to use this method. But low end products means that your customers are at the lower end of the demand curve. They are the common people who probably have primary access only to local markets as well.

And Nigeria has many of these markets all over the country. If you have the statistics of these markets you will agree with me that until you start distributing your product in these markets you cannot grow your business in Nigeria.

This goes for foreign brands as well. Any product that’s not available in the markets doesn’t have access to the right consumers, unless it’s a high end product.

Your Local Market Statistics

I don’t have all the information about every market in the country but I recently stumbled on that of Ariaria market in Aba, Abia state. Just because this market is not in Lagos would make many investors overlook it. What if I tell you that this market has 37,000 shops and over 1 million traders, would you believe me?

Moreover, Ariaria is not even the biggest market in the eastern part of Nigeria. Onitsha main market is an acclaimed winner with an international status. If Ariaria has over 1 million traders, how many do you think Onitsha main market would have?

Now, let’s go down to Lagos, where we have several large markets like Balogun market, Alaba international market, Trade fair market, Ladipo spare parts market, and others. These markets are by no means small.

But I’m not just showing you market statistics to boost their image. I want you to see how vast their reach can get. If they are big it’s because large number of people are patronizing them. That makes them a market to target with your product.

List of 20 Top Markets In Nigeria

Ariaria market 37,000 shop complex in Aba, Abia state

In order to give you an idea of these markets, here is the list of just the top 20 of them in no particular order. We have Market in every state in Nigeria, all the 774,000 local government areas in the country, and virtually every village one can think of.

So, there’s market for your product everywhere in Nigeria. These top 20 of them is just a sneak view of what’s out there.

1. Zaki Biam Yam Market – Benue
2. Aleshinloye Market – Ibadan
3. Onyingbo (White sand) – Lagos
4. Alade Market, Ikeja – Lagos
5. Mile 12 Market – Lagos
6. Computer Village – Lagos
7. Bodija Market, Ibadan – Oyo State
8. Nnewi Nkwo Market – Anambra State
9. Newmarket, Aba – Abia State
10. Jos Main Market – Plateau State
11. Oil Mill Market – Port-Harcourt
12. Oja-Oba/Orita Merin Market, Ibadan – Oyo State
13. Ogbete Main Market – Enugu State
14. Kurmi Market – Kano
15. Idumota Market – Lagos State
16. Alaba International Market – Lagos
17. Ariaria International market, Aba – Abia State
18. Balogun Market – Lagos
19. Oshodi Market – Lagos
20. Onitsha Main Market – Anambra

Know-How to Distribute Your Product

It’s not enough to identify all these markets for distributing your product in Nigeria, you should also know how best to penetrate these markets. As I have mention earlier, there are disadvantages of just advertising online for distributors.

It attracts a lot of interest from those who are incapable of managing your product in their respective markets. You don’t want to waste your efforts on strategies that doesn’t produce better results.

And you should know that not everyone who shows interest to distribute your product has the experience and capacity to do so. There are people who are just so good at what they do. They have built success in their field of business that you are just going to tap all that blessing to grow your own business.

Imagine having 10,000 other people in 10,000 different locations selling your product. What kind of sales do you expect to see each day? The beauty of distributing your products across the country is that you are reaching everyone who needs your product, making it easily accessible to them to make the choice to buy from you.

Nigeria’s largest electronics market: Alaba International In Lagos state

Who’s A Product Distributor?

One way to understand a product distributor is to learn about franchising. They are one and the same marketing strategy. A product distributor buys the Franchise to sell your products in a particular market or city.

Although, this arrangement doesn’t always take the form of franchising but it’s noting different from it. Because a product distributor is empowered to represent the interest of your product in that area. He or she buys from you in a large quantity and sells to small retailer who are located everywhere your customers are found.

A distributor buys your products in large quantity, warehouses it at his or her own cost, sell to retailers who can’t afford to buy in large volumes, who in turn retails to consumers as they request for it.

There’s so much benefits for your business distributing your product this way. The only requirement to tap into this form of marketing is to have a product you control in the country, even if you are not the original manufacturer.

Tips To Distribute Your Product

If you seek the benefits of distributing your product in Nigeria, you need to know how best to do it. I’m not expecting you to know everything you have to do right, but there are basic plan you need to put in place.

There are 37 states in Nigeria, including FCT, with 774,000 local government area, while communities and villages not countable. You can have your product reaching every state, local government area, communities and villages. Imagine how massive the market would be.

I’m showing you the secret of product marketing for billionaire entrepreneur. And don’t think it cost so much to achieve this. Even if it does, there are ways you can do it to make it less burdensome on your finances.

#1: Hire A Marketing Company

The first step here is to hire a product marketing company. I’m going to be very direct on the kind of product marketing company you should hire. Because there are many companies in the product marketing arena and their strategies differ as well.

The company I would recommend is one with experience in market insertion. In case you don’t know how market insertion works, let me explain in simple terms.

These kind of product marketers recruit capable distributors and retailers to distribute your product. They can also help plan your marketing program to help push the products faster into the hands of new consumers.

That is the kind of product marketer you need. They help make your product easily accessible to consumers, and recruit for you big distributors who has both the experience and the capacity to represent your product in their market.

#2: Make Your Offer Exclusive

This part is very important. If you want serious minded distributors, you have to make the offer exclusive. Nobody would like to invest so much in your product if it’s too competitive. It’s the exclusivity that would encourage them to stake their finance on your product.

An exclusive offer makes the distributors feel they are an important partners in your business. It gives them some monopoly in their respective markets. That’s also why they can buy in large quantity because they feel responsible for the product supply in their assigned market.

If your offer doesn’t include this kind of exclusivity, then it’s not enticing enough. You may still get some distributors, but may not be the experienced and capable ones. It takes a huge value proposition to entice serious and capable distributors to join your network of product partners.

One good way to offer exclusive distribution to your partners is to segment your market either according to states or cities. Design your distribution plan in a way the distributors will know how the market is shared among distributors. And stake your integrity to maintain this exclusivity without fail.

#3: Target Experienced Distributors

In distributing your product, don’t just sign up anyone who says they want to start distributing your product. There are distributors I call road side distributors. These are people who has no experience in business but have money to buy products and stock.

The type of distributors you have can either impact positively on your sales growth or frustrate it. The best bet is to go after distributors with track record of achievements in their respective markets. And if they are new or aspiring distributors, ensure they possess the zeal and passion for the business.

These experienced distributors have already gained some relationship with fast growing retailers who they can introduce your product to. They have some experience in the market and knows how to move any product faster to the consumer.

Avoid recruiting inexperienced distributors. That’s why you need to hire a marketing company to do this one for you. Don’t waste your money on advertisements for distributors, rather spend that advert budget on promoting your products to the consumer and directing them to the stores near them.

The popular Ikeja computer village in Lagos State

#4: Set Standard Relationship

You don’t want your distributors to feel like they are on their own. That can discourage them or make them feel less interested in pushing your product. Think of your distributors as your partners. They are your marketing partners that should be brought closer to every plan you are making about your product.

Create an easy communication channel to reach all the distributors in real time concerning distributing your product. Update them on promos, incentives, commission increase or decrease, and other measures aimed at marketing your product.

Also, don’t ignore their complains and concerns about your product. Use them as channel to get feedback about your product. And hear what they think about how well you are compensating them for their efforts.

Most importantly, make them feel they are too important to your business. People like to be valued and appreciated. If you appreciate the value your distributors bring to your business, they will be happy to do more.

Conclusion

Any product that’s not built around a network of distributing partners won’t grow fast in Nigeria. Tthe Nigerian market is still built around local markets, like in the calendar of the Igbo market days of (eke, orie, afor and nkwo). The Igbos go to different markets based on assigned market days to buy and sell.

That same structure is what’s being used today but a bit different from the past. Everyday, millions of Nigerians go to these different markets to buy or sell. And no matter how the markets transform, they will still be the congregating point for buyer’s and sellers.

Finally, use experienced product marketers to grow your distributing partners for your product. It’s not cheap but it’s worth it at long run. However, you can take one market at a time for cost consideration, until you have covered every market in the country.

Do you know the fastest selling products in Nigeria are brand products? These products are already household names and are in high demand daily everywhere in Nigeria. Do you know you can become a brand product distributor to anyone of the brand products in your city or state?

There is huge profit advantage selling brand products. The demand is higher than non brand products. They already have loyal customers who patronize those brands daily. While you as the Distributor will enjoy their market exclusivity and profit taking

Although, this article is written to help Nigerians both home and abroad tap into he huge potentials of brand products distribution, existing brands can also find distribution opportunities for their products through ideas shared in this post.

Let me explain this, the same way interested dealers find products to distribute, brand owners can also find good distributors for their products.

Product Distributor Model

If you want to make money as a distributor in Nigeria, go for brand products. Most major dealers are big time marketers in their respective cities. The represent large brands in their markets.

There are several brand products in Nigeria that anyone can become a Distributor. Although the cost of starting can be high, but it pays off over time.

What you need is to find the right brand product in the niche you want to play. For example, there are several brand products in baby diaper business. The same thing applies to all other brand products.

In the beverage industry also, we have Nestle, Bournvita, Ovaltine, and others. These companies produce similar products and compete against each other. Their market is huge and they all struggle for market dominance.

Finding brand products to distribute may take some time but it’s not impossible. Sometimes, you may find the product but didn’t have the money. While some other time you may have the money but not find the right product.

So, learn to be patient till the right brand product meets your money.

Brand Product Distributor Market Niche

If you want to go into brand products distribution business, you need to define your market niche. Don’t just distribute any brand product. Choose the niche you want to play.

It’s important. It’s not just so you can be in one particular niche. It helps to bring you more business in the future. Sometimes, competing brands would prefer giving their products to same distributors as their competing brands.

This strategy is used mostly by upcoming brands. They lack the marketing power to build their own network. So they leverage on existing networks. You can become a darling for such new brand products. And it’s usually cheaper to take up their products than that of big brands.

Different Brand Product Distributor Niches

Here are the some of the product niches you can startup as a brand product Distributor.

1. Beverages
2. Drinks
3. Baby Diapers
4. Baby creams
5. Car batteries
6. Car spare parts
7. Designer perfumes
8. Brand phones
9. Laptops
10. Soaps and detergents
11. Toothpaste
12. Cooking oil
13. Engine oil
14. Electronics

This list is inexhaustible. You can add those you know of. Although the challenge with brand product distribution is that they may not be open for new distributors to come in.

But don’t also think no opening will exist among the big brands. Even if they are taken, some also become available later if the original holder is no longer in business or the company is expanding or restructuring their distribution network for more efficiency.

How Brands Pick Distributors

If you have been involved in managing brand products, you will realize that most of the work is not done by TV, radio and newspaper advertisements. The real work is done using market insertion strategy.

Even before the big brands start advertising their products on TV, radio and newspapers, they have built a distribution network nationwide. These network is what makes their products available and accessible throughout all the markets in Nigeria.

Do you sometimes wonder how these products become available and accessible everywhere in a short time? Yes, it’s not just because they are big brands. Any small brand can use the same methods and grow its small brand to big brand overnight. It’s not magic but it works faster than using radio, TV or newspaper adverts.

In fact, the only reason big brands even advertise on TV, radio and newspapers is because their products is already everywhere. And they know it.

Challenges of Product Distributors

The big brands needs distributors to sell their products everywhere in Nigeria. If you know how big the Nigerian market is, you will agree that no one brand possess the huge financial muscle to finance, manage and control their products and money in these markets successfully.

Those brand who tried in the past either lost the market or lost so much money through corruption that they made fast retreats.

So, the big brand needs the distributors to sell their products in the markets. It’s much easier for brand owners like Nestle to have just 100 major distributors to deal with than trying to deal with every dealer of Nestle products in the country.

These 100 distributors would rather interface with the hundreds of thousands of sub distributors and retailers who sell Nestle products. And that saves Nestle cost of managing and controlling their product distribution.

They are only concerned with delivering their products in containers to their major distributors, and the rest is left for distributors and retailers to handle. And money comes to Nestle in bulk through the distributors. There are no much debtors to deal with as well.

What It Takes To Become A Distributor

To think that becoming a Distributor is quite profitable, the startup is also quite huge. Although, for a start you can begin with smaller or new brands to learn the business. Remember, nobody is really an ‘expert’ in marketing.

But if you can afford the cost, you will need to first register a company. It doesn’t really matter if it’s an enterprise. A business name is what is required to start. Once you have a business name, the next thing is to acquire a warehouse.

For a start, it doesn’t have to be big. I recommend you get a spacious office in a popular street in your city. Brands like anything popular, because they want to remain popular. It will also give them an impression that you are a serious business.

Finally, have some good money. Distribution business is a money business. That’s the reason the brands are counting on you. You take up their problems and you get compensated with huge commission. And you need to have enough capital to buy in large quantities.

Cost of Brand Products Distribution

There are no particular cost when it comes to brand products distribution. But the bigger your capital the better you can play. For example, companies like Nestle might require distributors who can purchase products in the hundreds of millions.

While smaller brands like Sunfree baby diapers might just be as low as six million. The bigger the brand the bigger the cost implication.

And if you just think you have the money to get into the big brands, the problem is that most of they are not always available. And when they do, it’s usually hot cake and these brands are careful with new entrants. They prefer experience distributors who have handled bigger brands before.

Action Points

This article is unintentionally short. We cannot actually cover all the aspects of Brand Products Distribution in just a single article. I have also written another article before along this lines. You can read them as well HERE.

However, this article is to further enlighten you on the opportunities in the brand products distribution. And to help you balance your thoughts on what’s possible.

But if you are a small or new brand owner who wants to expand into the market, I have shared little secrets of the big brands. It’s called market insertion. Contact me for more details on how it actually works and how your brand can develop its own market insertion campaign.

But to start your dream in product distribution, get these thoughts below:

Step One: Form a Business

I always advise that any business that requires more than one million to start should be a registered business. Stop doing things off the books. Start as a business. It doesn’t cost much to register business name in Nigeria.

For as low as N15,000 you can register a business name. You can even get it done lower if you go now to CAC office in your state to register a business name yourself. Unless you want to register a limited liability company then you need a professional like lawyer or accountant.

Step Two: Write A Business Plan

The problem with most people about business plan is that they think they may never get to read it again. Think of a business plan as a way of researching your new business idea to enable you discover the potentials and challenges that may arise along the way.

There are things you might discover from writing your business plan that you may never know until you have a plan.

Also, you may not write it yourself but don’t let it just be a document. Business plan contains more information about the business you intend to start than you may ever know. So, get one written for you even if you can’t write it yourself.

Step Three: Choose Your Product Niche

Don’t set out to distribute any product you may find. Have your eyes on particle product niche or niches as your case may be. Never do general merchandise. That’s a strategy for failure. Don’t buy the idea that you can’t put all your eggs in one basket.

Big brands don’t like confused distributors. They are only attracted to specialized distributors. Because brands are specialized too. Every brand product have their niche. They also want their distributors to be niche oriented, so they don’t dilute their brand identity in the market.

And having a niche helps you focus both your energy and resourcing in building a good reputation in an industry. For example, I grew my market insertion Business from promoting baby diapers in the market. Now, I easily attract diaper brands.

Step Four: Start Small With Small Brands

If you are waiting till when you find big brands to distribute you may never start your business. Imagine there are no new brands to distribute, won’t you start your business? Don’t wait, look for a small brand in your niche with good prospect and startup immediately.

Remember, the big brands of today where once small brands of yesterday. They grew big because distributors like you partnered with them to grow their markets nationwide. You too should do the same and reap the dividend as they grow big in the future.

Step Five: Don’t Squander Your Capital

Big brands don’t always play fair. They want to control the market. And that includes controlling the distributors as well. By controlling the distributors they control the distribution and their competitors as well.

So avoid falling for their trap. Avoid squandering your own money because the brand is giving you excess credit facility. They give you this credits to make you cash trap and dependent. And so you think you can use your money to buy properties and grow other businesses.

Don’t fall for this. Once you are trapped in their money they start giving exclusive conditions that limits you from dealing with other similar brands or ever having any stake in competing brands.

Step Six: Learn More Before You Start

If you want to know why Igbo businessmen are more successful than other tribes, it’s because they learn their trade. The same way you attend university to study medicine and become a medical doctor, go and learn trading business.

Don’t take this lightly. And don’t think you are too old to learn trading. Distribution business is trading with large money. If you don’t know how to trade even with small money, how do you intend to succeed with large money.

Find a store that deals largely with brand products and start your internship.

Conclusion

The market is complex and no particular product will dominate forever. The old may die and the new will rise. So, don’t look down on new and small brands. If you don’t know the passion nor the vision behind the brand, don’t call it small or new.

Brand products distribution is not just about trading on products, it’s also helping brands gain market shares in areas where they are low or non existent. You have the brands needs. You are important and equally indispensable.

And if you are a brand owner who think expanding into more markets is a challenge, you can leverage on market insertion to grow your brand overnight. If you need us to help or advise you on your brand products distribution dream, you can reach us on the following contacts: WhatsApp/Call/Text: 08139006120, 07087770518 or email: nedu@myblog.com.ng