The rise of vertical commerce in Africa

Over the past few years, there’s been an emerging trend across the African continent which has seen the rise of exciting new digitally-native, vertical brands - otherwise known as vertical commerce. It’s helping to reshape the retail landscape on the continent. Vertical commerce brands are companies that are innovative from the beginning. They are born online, created by entrepreneurs who are taking a completely different look at the way products and services are sold, and turning their existing and traditional retail models on their heads. They are creating new ways of selling everyday items to customers and making the whole consumer experience trendy and ultimately cool. They’re developing powerful digital, direct-to-consumer relationships which are not only good for the customer because it keeps prices low, but it also improves retail margins. Not only that, but these digitally-native, vertical brands are capturing the imagination and the investment of the traditional big players. A great example of this is Dollar Shave Club, a wildly successful vertical commerce brand that was acquired recently by Unilver for one billion dollars. So who will be driving Africa’s next big digitally-native, vertical brand?