By SUNNY OKIM

Determined to revolutionise the e-Commerce market space in Africa, start-up business, IderaOS is introducing its flagship product, ListBuy; a free eCommerce software platform that enables retailers and individuals to create their oIderaOS launches Listbuy an Ecommerce Software platform with Escrow payment technology and delivery to protect online buyers from Fraud Online, sell virtually anywhere, while accepting all kinds of local payments and e-Commerce delivery to customers.

According to the designer, Quadry Olalekan, Listbuy guarantees that customers get exactly what they ordered as it leverages on the software’s product verification system and escrow service that is built in for every merchant’s store. This way IderaOS makes online selling more secure for customers and merchants.

Olalekan told News Express in a chat earlier today that IderaOS is derived from the Yoruba root word “Idera” which means ease. Ease defines the IderaOS culture and products. With a mantra and vision built around making sales easy for every user. The company seeks to answer the question: “How can we make life easier and better for our customers with our products?” Consequently, affordable, secure and accessible are the three words that set IderaOS apart from others.

Designed for entrepreneurs, in the Medium, Small and Micro Enterprise business (MSME) owners and Droopshippers, etc, ListBuy is an e-commerce platform that helps users sell products with ease. This unique platform enables businesses manage their storefront from one control panel. It allows a user to customise its storefront, display and organise its products, accept a wide range of payment options from buyers and, fulfill orders without the typical delivery hassles that the sector is facing presently.

The IderaOS aims at bringing transparency to the online business sector in Africa and in no distant time become a one-stop shop for starting an online business. It intends to get at least 5,000 businesses up and running and these businesses can keep making money, daily.

IderaOS is the brainchild of Quadry Olalekan an experienced business intelligence and Software Engineer manager who holds a degree in Software Engineering from Johnson and Wales University and MBA from Salve Regina University. In 2019, Quadry alongside his friend and co-founder Ridwan Rasheed established IderaOS.

“We chose to work on this idea because it presents an opportunity to reduce poverty and create prosperity by accelerating the creation and expansion of small businesses,” enthused Quadry who has over 10 years’ experience working with international companies like Accenture and Unicom Engineering.

“During our ideation phase in 2019, we found out that running an online business in Africa is not scalable using platforms that were built for different audiences. It is an expensive exercise that is hardly scalable and does not have the necessary support ecosystem. An e-Commerce business owner needs an ecosystem that will be conducive for them to operate their business anywhere, and this is what IderaOS is providing.

“A one stop-shop for setting up and running your business online while making use of our local marketplace ecosystem and escrow service to increase customer trust, ListBuy is deliberately designed to give the African entrepreneur a niche in the growing global e-commerce industry.”

Ridwan Rasheed is a domain expert, a product (design + ops) specialist and small business consultant with over five years’ experience working with digital agencies specialized in e-commerce and has worked with companies like Facebook and Google on programs that have empowered over 10,000 small businesses in Nigeria.

Running an online business in Africa is not just about building an online eCommerce store on platforms which might work elsewhere in the world for the common reason that Africa does not have a supported ecosystem. An eCommerce business owner needs an ecosystem that will be conducive for them to operate their business anywhere in the world, and this is what ListBuy is providing.

The young company assures clients that ListBuy is a one-stop shop for setting up and running a business online, while making use of the marketplace ecosystem it provides.

According to the desiner, the ListBuy business model offers a “pay as you sell” and “subscription” system making it affordable to use than competition which often comes with expensive subscription plans. To further deepen its numerous advantages, ListBuy provides an interconnected ecosystem that takes care of everything a business needs including local shipping, payment solutions, and inventory management.

Olalekan said IderaOS seek to build a presence across entire countries, but it targets the fastest-growing cities or city clusters—urban centers where per capita income and consumption spending far exceeds the national average. A city-based strategy is essential in Africa, given the rapid pace of urbanisation and the differences in growth rates even among cities within the same country.

Presently IderaOS has its operational base in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital in Nigeria, and Boston and Rhode Island, USA.

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