Todara has now an online marketplace where consumers can go to buy and sell books and other education-related contents. The e-commerce platform went live in June, this year.
Todara is a Nigerian startup that allows vendors to list their products online, giving them access to consumers from across Nigeria. The online marketplace has features that make it easy for the shoppers to search and find what they are looking for. These features include a search box, where a buyer can input the name of a given book or topic. Once a consumer has made a selection, they can check out and make payment digitally. The product purchased will then be shipped to the consumer.
Todara was officially launched in 2017 as a general e-commerce store, but the team behind it quickly realized that model was not working, as already there were too many online stores in Nigeria; big ones including Konga and Jumia. Therefore, they decided to re-launch the platform a second time, but this time focusing on a specific niche.
“Our focus on the book business will allow us to build trust with customers and at the same time allow us to build capacity to tackle the challenges facing the e-commerce sector in Africa,” said Olanext Oduntan, the co-founder and CEO of Todara during an interview with a section of the media.
“There is a huge gap left unfilled in the book market. Often lots of people find it difficult to get the books they want as most major bookstores are located in big towns and cities. Many books can’t even be found in the big bookstores.”
Todara is particularly keen on making African authors more discoverable to readers across Nigeria. This business model might make them appealing to book readers are the e-commerce site is exclusively dedicated to books. That could also mean they have a huge catalog of books compared to other online markets that also has everything in it.
“Though they can sell on Jumia or Konga, those two companies are spreading resources on a wide range of product categories, therefore not giving the book market the attention it requires. Our goal is to bring online every bookstore in Nigeria, allowing them to easily list their books online for quick access by customers.”
Check out the Todara online store for books at this link.