Over 80% of Nigerian shoppers browse on mobile, most pay via bank transfer, and logistics is the number one reason for cart abandonment. Building an e-commerce site in Nigeria that actually sells requires understanding these realities from the start.
Step 1: Choose Your Platform Honestly
This is the most consequential decision. Most people default to WordPress + WooCommerce because it is 'cheaper upfront'. That is true. But if your product catalogue is large, you need custom checkout flows, or performance matters to you — custom code will serve you better and cost less over 24 months.
- WordPress + WooCommerce: Best for simple stores under 200 products with standard checkout
- Shopify: Good for founders who want to manage everything themselves, but recurring USD fees add up in naira
- Custom Next.js: Best for performance, custom logic, and scale — higher upfront cost, lower long-term cost
80%+ of your traffic will be on mobile, mostly on data. A 4MB page that loads in 12 seconds kills conversions. Performance is not optional — it is your number one sales tool. This is why I default to Next.js for e-commerce clients: it is 3–5x faster than equivalent WordPress stores out of the box.
Step 2: Payment Gateway Setup
Paystack is the clear choice for Nigerian e-commerce. Integrate card, bank transfer, and USSD as payment options — Nigerian customers use all three. Bank transfer is increasingly the dominant payment method, especially for high-value purchases. If you disable bank transfer, you are leaving money on the table.
Step 3: Logistics Integration
Delivery is the most painful part of Nigerian e-commerce. Your options are building a custom delivery booking system (expensive), integrating with a logistics API (GIG Logistics, Sendstack, Kwik), or doing it manually via WhatsApp (cheap but does not scale). For a serious store, integrate at least one logistics API for automatic shipment creation and tracking.
Step 4: The Checkout Flow — Get This Right
Nigerian e-commerce checkout has specific requirements. Collect phone number (WhatsApp) as a required field — customers expect order updates on WhatsApp. State-based delivery fee calculation is essential. Offer a 'Pay on Delivery' option even if you do not honour it — its presence alone increases trust. Keep the checkout to two screens maximum.
Step 5: What Actually Drives Sales
- WhatsApp chat button — Nigerian shoppers want to ask questions before buying
- Product videos — short clips convert significantly better than photos alone
- Clear return policy — fear of being scammed is the top purchase barrier
- Social proof — testimonials and customer photos, not stock images
- Delivery time estimate on the product page — not buried in FAQs
What to Budget
- Custom-built store (Next.js): ₦600K – ₦1.8M
- WordPress + WooCommerce setup: ₦200K – ₦500K
- Paystack integration: usually included in build cost
- Logistics API integration: ₦100K – ₦300K additional
- Hosting (custom): ₦30K – ₦100K/year on Vercel or Render