Exporting wholesale merchandise to Africa requires an understanding of the needs of the market you are selling to, the ability to supply products at competitive prices, and the logistical ability to deliver the wholesale merchandise in a timely, cost-effective and secure manner. To run a successful wholesale business selling to African stores, you will need to ensure that you can tackle each of the following steps.
Step 1
Research the market. You’ll want to know the tastes of the customers who shop at the stores you’ll be selling to. For example, if you plan to wholesale suits at a store in Lagos, Nigeria, you will need to know what types of suits your customers prefer. In this case, since bankers mostly wear suits in Nigeria, you’ll need to have conservative-style suits from recognizable brands like Tahari, Jones New York, or Calvin Klein. Or, if you’re selling to a store located in a mining town in South Africa, you’ll want to know what kind of clothing local miners are looking for.
Within Africa there are many sub-categories in the consumer market, and it is important to know them. For example, countries located in West and East Africa, such as Ghana, Kenya, Botswana, and Uganda, have been influenced by American and European fashion tastes, and may have sizeable populations that can afford designer brand labels. There is a very strong market for used clothing in Central African countries such as Gabon, Chad and Rwanda.
Behind this is the assumption that you are researching the price points at which the store can sell your clothes, so you know how much you can wholesale them for.
Step 2
You will need to source wholesale products that are suitable for Africa. One mistake that wholesalers and exporters make when dealing with the continent is that they assume that the weather is warm all year round. Actually, there are places like South Africa that experience a winter or have a rapid change in temperature from day to night.
Step 3
To reach potential buyers, you’ll want to use online marketing tools like Google Adwords, Yahoo Pay Per Click, and Facebook Ads, through which you can target specific countries and, with Facebook, even certain demographics. You should also consider using African online and trade publications such as Ghanaweb.com, Nigeriaworld.com, Saweb.co.za and other country and region specific media outlets.
Step 4
Develop relationships with freight forwarders who have experience shipping products to Africa. There are many reputable companies like Express Air Freight, DBSchenker, Grandbelle and others that ship orders on a weekly basis and are therefore able to quote reasonable rates for their customers. Many shippers even ship orders freight collect, which means the recipient can pay for shipping when they receive the order. The advantage of this is that the customer knows that he will only pay the exact cost of shipping and can spread the total payments of his wholesale purchase.