From shopping to gifting, e-commerce continues to spread into different niche markets across Africa’s largest economy, Nigeria. In 2014, three young African entrepreneurs pooled their personal savings to raise about one million naira to fund an online shop. This online shop, now known as eTyres Nigeria allows companies and individuals purchase vehicle tyres at the click of a button. Twelve months later, the startup has served several consumers across the country and it keeps getting stronger. Ventures Africa interviewed one of the founders, Olaseni Odukoya, to learn more about etyresnigeria.com.

Ventures Africa(VA): What prompted you to start the business?

Olaseni Odukoya (OO): As I grew older, I thought about how I could impact in Nigeria and met with people who had the same motive as me- Chiebuka Nworah and Godric Echefu. We saw the inconvenience when it comes to buying tyres from roadside dealers. We also saw how stressful and time consuming it was moving from one tyre store to another, in search of a particular tyre brand and size.  In order to make buying tyres exciting and fun, we came up with the idea to have a platform where motorists can order for their tyres online and via  phone. With all this in mind Etyresnigeria.com was born.

VA: How have you been able to woo car owners to trust your platform?

OO: Tyres are the ultimate grudge purchase, they are black boring circles of rubber, and no one wants to part with their hard-earned cash when it comes to tyres. In fact, the vast majority of drivers only replace tyres when the treads must have worn out. It is recommended that you change your tyres once in a year. Where we are having success is in the consumer buying process, putting the empowerment on the consumer’s side. Most people have walked out of a tyre store with new tyres and felt confused or taken advantage of. Our customers can choose their tyres online at midnight, in their pyjamas, from the comfort of their home. They can research them and pick them on price, size, brand & quality. You can then select a suitable time to have them delivered to any location of your choice.

The experience is a lot more palatable and it’s proving successful. These days the savvy online consumers don’t just want to tell you what they want, they want you to predict what they want, that is what we are working towards. Nigerians are not yet used to purchasing tyres online but they are doing a lot more research through search engines, content sites and comparison shopping. If you can make their life easier and they trust your brand to take the next step of purchasing, they will surely come back and tell their friends about their experience.

VA: Has this investment been profitable?

OO: Yes, it has. We have exceeded our projections for the first year and we are already set to break even  this year. Our revenue from sales is over N10 million and we have had about 20% steady increase in customers in our first year.

VA: Do you have any competitors in this space?

OO: For now, we do not have any competitors. Although, we have heard that some people are already making plans to start by the end of this year.

VA: What makes etyresnigeria.com  different from other tyre stores?  

OO: Tyre stores are interesting places, but they do not have enough tyres. There are over 1500 Tyre SKUs in the market (just counting major tyre brands). Even to stock one set of each type, tyre stores would need to have over 6000 tyres in stock. A good tyre store in Nigeria does not stock more than 300 tyres, which means only 20-30 fast moving tyre sizes are in stock. Etyresnigeria.com, on the other hand, being an online portal can accommodate massive variety and best prices. Local tyre dealers just stock fast moving SKUs and try to sell what they have, and then buy what they sell – imposing limitations of their capabilities on customer choice.

We have access to a complete range of tyres across all brands thereby offering a unique proposition where customers can choose from any available option at affordable prices and get them delivered to their doorstep. Etyresnigeria.com allows customers to research compare and review tyres from different tyre brands. Customers can select the best tyre option for their vehicle based on the product brand, size and price. These changes the way tyres are sold in Nigeria – where a local dealer would try to sell the tyres he has in stock, and consumers have to visit ten dealers to get a good deal. Etyresnigeria.com delivers purchases to Lagos with free delivery. These are what differentiate us from the roadside tyre dealer. We don’t just sell tyres, we provide a convenience.

VA: What is the size of Nigeria’s tyre market?

OO: The global tyre market is estimated to be $250 billion while the tyre industry in Nigeria is about $5 billion. The total Nigeria automobile market size is estimated to be 10.5 million units (Car, van & light truck – 7.4 million and Trucks/Trailers – 3.1 million) with a projected growth rate of 3-5% annually. With vehicle importation set to continue and with the emergence of Made-In-Nigeria cars, the tyre industry is expected to hit the $7.5 billion mark before 2018. There are about 150 tyre brands in the Nigerian market with “China” tyres being the dominant players.

VA: Which state contributes the highest number of orders on your site?

OO: Lagos state has the highest number of orders on the site since we only cover Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt.

VA: Are there any government policies that could affect your business?

OO: Yes, taxes and interest rates on bank loans. The government should create an enabling environment for startups to thrive by creating favorable tax laws & providing ZERO interest on SME bank loans. Governance is something entrepreneurs have no control over; all entrepreneurs can do is try to influence government’s policy with respect to enacting favourable business laws. But you must have political clout and massive resources to be able to influence government laws. Now we may not have the political clout or financial muscle to influence government’s policy so the best strategy we use to combating the ever changing policy of the government is to keep a keen eye on government laws and swiftly adjust our business to align with the policies.

VA: What are the future plans or projections of eTyres Nigeria?

OO: In future, tyre retailers will need to develop online offerings to offer multi channels of communication for their customers, however my view is the opportunity in taking the best of the web and web based technology and coupling it with offline assets to develop a lean proposition that delivers a better, lower cost way to serve customers. We hope to keep rendering the best of service to Nigerian motorists. We are in the process of rolling out a network of Etyresnigeria.com authorized fitment centers across Lagos, where customers who have purchased tyres online can have the tyres fitted.

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