Connect with us

General

Nigeria’s Retail & Consumer Landscape Sees Rapid Changes

Published

on

Modern Shopping Consumers

As Nigerian consumers emerge from a restricted living scenario unlike any they have experienced before, there are already big shifts in their consumption dynamics with some behaviours set to never return.

This insight stems from Nielsen research which reveals that 48% of Nigerians feel the pandemic has had a sizeable impact on their lives amidst the COVID-19 pandemic

Nielsen Consumer Insights Lead for West Africa, Abiodun Olawale-Cole comments; “The reality is that the consumer emerging from lockdown is a changed consumer, facing the reality of juggling work and home against the backdrop of a fundamentally altered world, severely constrained finances and a hyper vigilance on health and safety.

“The past few weeks have also seen a significant shift to a homebound mindset where health and safety is a number one priority with a resultant desire to shop from home (online) or close to home. These changes have been exacerbated by restricted shopping in some areas and constraints like supply shortages and delivery/fulfilment challenges.”

A Nielsen Consumer Insights survey shows that this has resulted in fundamentally altered shopping habits with 71% Nigerians shopping less in malls, 70% reducing shopping in hypermarkets and supermarkets and 58% shopping less at tabletops. In addition, 39% of Nigerians say they are shopping more online for food and beverage products.

With a strong shift to home based lifestyle, unsurprisingly 74% of Nigerians also said they are eating out less and more than half claim to now eat more at home, They are also seeking safer banking options with 62% using ATMs less and 51% say they are banking online more.

Product performance

Against this backdrop, there have been significant movements in product selection during lockdown. Essentials such as sanitation & safety products such as hand care, household cleaners and health products/supplements showed good growth as did staples such as pasta, noodles, and coffee.

Nielsen Nigeria MD, Ged Nooy explains; “Consumers are juggling their category basket to cope with the current times. They have learnt to appreciate essentials with the aim of maintaining pantry reserves to ensure an uninterrupted supply and have also gravitated towards simplified product repertoire.”

However, perhaps unsurprisingly, during the same timeframe non-essentials such as soft drinks, candies and biscuits saw steep declines and consumer purchases also shifted away from laundry and self-care. This may be due to the fact that as consumers experienced more financial constraints they have forgone certain groceries and discretionary purchase.

Scenario planning

Looking to the future, as Nigeria transitions into ‘post lockdown’ living Nielsen has created various consumer scenarios that could play out over the next 12-18 months.

Nooy explains; “One of the scenarios we have identified is a ‘Mixed Scenario’, which applies to Nigeria where we are starting to relax certain restrictions in order to reactivate business, while maintaining or implementing additional precautionary measures to guard against further spread of the virus.

“This will create conditions that we have never seen before with consumers who are increasingly concerned about the presence of the virus and catching it. They are also focused on the origin and transparency of products which will see a growth in locally produced and sourced goods.

“Demand for these offerings will also be driven by long term shortages of imported products and their resultant higher price points, which may well further strengthen preference for locally produced products and ensure long-term loyalty.”

Nooy adds that as FMCG manufacturers and retailers reflect, rebuild and reconsider the orientation of their businesses and brands for the future, they will need to predicate their ecosystems and strategies upon a deep understanding of what economies and consumers have endured and how they will emerge.

“The key to success will be anticipating how these lifestyle changes will drive new consumer needs and mindsets and as a result, businesses will need to carefully (re)consider and plan for how to solve and adapt to the future conditions through new and unfolding patterns.”

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

General

Kwara Governor Removes Deputy Chief of Staff, Others in Minor Shake-up

Published

on

AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The Governor of Kwara State, Mr AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, has removed his Deputy Chief of Staff and the Principal Private Secretary.

In a statement on Monday by his Deputy Chief Press Secretary, Mr Mashood AbdulRafiu Agboola, it was disclosed that the Governor also removed all Special Advisers, Advisers, Senior Special Assistants, and Special Assistants in the “minor cabinet shake-up.

It was explained that the action was to extend opportunities to more party members and inject fresh energy into the administration.

Mr AbdulRazaq directed them to hand over all government properties in their custody to the Office of the Secretary to the State Government.

He thanked the affected appointees for selfless service to the state and his administration, wishing them well in their future endeavours.

“His Excellency expresses his gratitude to all the appointees for their priceless service to the state. He wishes them the best in their future endeavours,” the statement noted.

Continue Reading

General

Xenophobia: FG Evacuates More Nigerians as South Africa Protests Loom

Published

on

nigerians in south africa

By Adedapo Adesanya

The federal government has announced that another batch of Nigerians will be evacuated from South Africa on Tuesday as part of ongoing efforts to safeguard citizens ahead of planned anti-immigrant protests in the country.

Anti-immigrant groups in South Africa have set a June 30 deadline for immigrants to leave the country, planning widespread demonstrations on that date and threatening a national shutdown if the country’s government does not take significant action on immigration.

According to the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Kimiebi Ebienfa, an Air Peace aircraft departed Nigeria on Monday and is expected to return to Lagos on Tuesday morning with another group of Nigerians who opted for voluntary evacuation.

The latest operation comes as anti-immigration groups prepare to stage demonstrations from June 30. The government has continued its evacuation programme for Nigerians who have indicated a willingness to return home.

Providing details of the latest flight, Mr Ebienfa said, “Nigeria will resume the evacuation of our nationals from South Africa today.

“Air Peace aircraft will depart Nigeria today, Monday, June 29, 2026, at 3:00 pm and is expected to arrive in South Africa at approximately 9:00 pm local time.

“The return flight is scheduled to depart South Africa at 12:00 midnight and is expected to arrive at Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, on Tuesday morning.”

He added that 271 Nigerians are expected to arrive on the evacuation flight.

President Tinubu approved the voluntary evacuation programme earlier this month to enable Nigerians willing to leave South Africa to return home safely.

Earlier in June, the federal government disclosed that five Air Peace evacuation flights had been approved after more than 500 Nigerians were screened for repatriation. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the flights were intended to ensure that all registered Nigerians who wished to return would be evacuated safely.

Before the latest operation, 328 Nigerians had already been repatriated in two batches. The first flight, which landed on June 11, brought back 262 returnees, while a second batch of 66 arrived in Lagos on June 25.

The evacuation exercise is being coordinated by the Federal Government in partnership with Air Peace and other relevant agencies.

Continue Reading

General

Why Ad Platform Policy Changes Are a Hidden Risk in Every Outsourced Paid Media Relationship

Published

on

white label ppc management

The rules governing digital advertising landscapes are never set in stone. Major platforms like Google, Meta, and TikTok frequently update their privacy frameworks, compliance requirements, and algorithmic bidding logic without giving agencies much time to prepare. When a marketing team decides to delegate its active campaigns to an external production partner, these sudden policy shifts can introduce a major element of vulnerability into the relationship. Integrating a professional white label ppc management structure allows your business to scale production and tap into high-level optimization talent without building a massive internal department. However, if your fulfillment partner is not built to monitor, interpret, and rapidly deploy adjustments in response to changing platform guidelines, your clients risk facing sudden account suspensions or massive spikes in customer acquisition costs.

Decoupling Technical Adaptability from Account Ownership

When an advertising platform changes its rules, the changes need to be made away in the live ad accounts. This is so the ads do not stop working. Sometimes there is a problem when one team thinks another team is taking care of making sure the ads follow the rules. The team that is supposed to make sure everything is working thinks the other team is doing this job. This can cause problems like missing information and ads that do not work. To keep your clients happy, you need a plan that says who is in charge of checking for rule changes, who updates the ad information, and who updates the ad text rules when the advertising platform changes its rules. You need to know who does what so everything runs smoothly. Advertising platforms and ad accounts are important for your clients.

Managing the Financial Fallouts of Compliance Delays

The real-world financial cost of failing to adapt to sudden policy changes can ruin an agency’s reputation and cause high client turnover. If an automated ad platform updates its rules for a specific industry—such as healthcare, real estate, or finance—and your campaign structure fails to adjust within the grace period, entire accounts can be paused overnight. While your backend team works to fix the errors, your client loses valuable inbound leads while their fixed overhead costs remain. Agencies must make sure their fulfillment partners don’t just focus on basic optimization but also maintain a proactive stance toward platform compliance to prevent budget waste and operational downtime.

Maintaining Strategic Alignment Through Platform Shifts

Relying on a partner to manage the daily execution of your paid media means you must remain highly aligned on how macro-level platform changes alter your broader strategy. When networks restrict traditional targeting methods, your backend white label ppc management team must quickly pivot to alternative solutions, such as first-party data loops or contextual targeting systems. If your vendor operates on autopilot without adjusting to these shifts, your campaigns will slowly lose efficiency as the old targeting methods become obsolete. Regular strategy sessions are essential to confirm that your optimization partners are actively adjusting their setups to remain effective beneath the latest network rules.

Building a Resilient Operations Partnership

To do well with ad networks, you need to work together with your partners and be able to change quickly. You also need to be open with each other. Ad agencies can not just set up their paid media. Forget about it. They need to keep an eye on it and make changes when needed. If you work closely with the company that provides your white-label service, you can protect your business from losing money. You should expect this company to tell you about changes to the network rules and to take action. The best partnerships are the ones where people work together all the time and make changes fast. This helps your clients make money consistently from their investments even when the rules of the ad networks change. Modern ad networks are always changing, so you need to be able to change with them to do well. Modern ad networks require a lot of work to navigate successfully.

Continue Reading

Trending