OLX Nigeria Clocks Four, Opens New Lagos Office

Online classifieds ads firm, OLX Nigeria has opened new office in Illupeju area of Lagos, which coincided with the platform’s fourth anniversary in the country.

The occasion attracted dignitaries from across Government and private sectors including Mrs. Olusola Senapon Oworu, Lagos State Commissioner for Commerce and Industry represented by Adeyinka Sonugbe, director of ICT in the Ministry.

Speaking on the new office opening, Lola Masha, country manager, OLX (Nigeria) told Nigeria CommunicationsWeek that the offices occupy three floors specifically for meeting rooms, sales department, call-contact centre, among others.

She said, “OLX is growing. Today, the workforce is about 150 including our champs and expanding. The ‘Do It For Me’ model is very attractive, as we are taking away all the headaches involved in selling. We help you take all the phone calls, find buyers and negotiate the price.

“What we have seen is that Nigerian embraced OLX wholeheartedly. Currently, we are in Lagos and Port Harcourt and will soon unveil our office in another city in the country.

In the last four years, “we have been growing; we have improved our processes and much stronger than we were last year. Today, we have sells department. In other words, we are beginning to make money in Nigeria. In the last three years we offered free services, trying to build a robust network and can now beat our chest that we have done well.

Also speaking, Stephen Ballot, chief technology officer, OLX Sub-Sahara Africa, said “It has been four successful years in Nigeria. We feel excited coming from Cape Town to see what the amazing things that the Nigerian team is doing. We needed a larger space in Lagos, because the team has performed really well. The team is still growing, but they understand what needs to be done in this market.

What to expect from OLX “Our ‘Do it for me’ has become a talk in the streets of Lagos. We want to make it even bigger by making that better. We appreciate the fact Nigerians would gladly accept for someone to help in selling out used stuff (goods). So, OLX users should expect us to be more innovative.

The past four years in Nigeria “We started the journey with the assurance that with right partners and focus on what the local needs are, we can go far. That’s why we have pushed the classified ad market to a new level.

Competition: “Our competitions are actually the people who are not selling but providing platforms for seller and buyers to meet. However, we are not looking at competition rather giving the market a different view to buying and selling their used products. Others tend to imitate us, because we are setting the pace in the market.
 
‘Do it for me’: “Simply, you book with OLX, our Champ comes to your house and verify and help you to sell the goods. Therefore, no more hassles or struggles to sell your goods.

Trust: “People tend to ask questions as whether the issue with regards trust has decreased or not, in Nigeria. That is why I so much like the ‘do it for me’ programme. It is our commitment to see that sellers or buyers do not feel agitated in any form. Through that means we have gone a step further to eliminate contact between sellers and buyers. We are verifying and I feel it’s awesome.   

Security: “We have one of the most moderation platforms with robust backend in terms of classified ads. We have expects around the world who figure out what people are doing right or wrong, while our local teams are monitoring the ads.

Masha however, urged the users to continue to support the platform as “We appreciate your patronage. Expect more to come from OLX; we will continue to be creative and will do our best for you our customers”.