Dealsaffair.com is a site focused on bringing best product deals around the country to customers via internet. Founded this year by Odubanjo Oduntan… in its own word:

Deals Affair helps Nigerians enjoy the best offers, discounts, bonanzas, special promotions and unbeatable prices around them.

Our service helps customers buy smart and save money and businesses use this to attract new customers to their products and services.

It’s simple! Businesses announce their deals and competitive rates on all kinds of products and services. Customers buy and save more while businesses get more customers, sell more products and services & yes, make more profit! Everyone wins!

How it works

For business owners;

A physical location is required for your deals to be accepted, well that means you must have contact address.
To post a deal, you need to setup a quick profile. Your profile includes your Business Name, Logo, Description of Products or Services, Contact details (Address, Phone number  and Email). After this you can publish your deal.
To post another deal, you simply login with your email and password.

For individuals;
To get best deals; Simply subscribe to Deals Affair alert by submitting your email address on the home page.
You can use the search feature on the site to search for best deals.

New Deal

In a different way to group-buying (grop.ly, groupon.com), it searches for discounted product around and link you up to the seller, that’s genius and first of its kind.

Real Deal

Discounted deals segment is a very brilliant niche that can transform e-commerce in the industry.

Business Model

The company is not placing any advert on its site and we are also not charging sellers to place their products on the site. We foresee a future where they charge sellers to place their products on the site and advertise to gain priority.

Downside

One of the restrictions is to have a physical presence to place a product, what if the product is virtual? Provision can also be made for those selling online. The site can also expand its alert to include SMS, this will stimulate usage and increase the traction.

As the startup launched recently, we hope with more marketing and deals it will gain traction.

Do you want to buy affordable stuffs? Go check it out dealsaffair.com

Gyst.com hopes to “help buyers find the right providers of products and services while helping sellers improve the efficiency of their marketing efforts.” Founded by Sim Shagaya, a former Googler, he also founded lovebase.com, gbogbo.com and also the co-founder of e-motion advertising.

That is succinct and direct, ever thought of getting the closest restaurant around? Or just the closest bank? How about giving a thumb down to a company with poor service? You can do that perfectly with Gyst.com. It’s available on PC and mobile web.

How it works

• Open your browser (pc or mobile) and launch gyst.com it will fit to either of the two.
• Enter the product or service you are looking for, location and click “find it”
• You get brief information of about the business and you can click view details to view more.
• Click on view details to view full details including map direction and photo of the place.
• You can place a cal by clicking their number on the page from your mobile phone.

New Deal

• Not really a new deal but with different and excellent innovation.
• It’s currently the most effective mobile site in its category.
• Simple design
• Speed

Real Deal

The site outclassed its peers with worldclass features like the following;

• Verified listing
• Map direction
• Photo (They did their homework)
• Dedicated telephone listing. You can communicate with their operator and get your site listed plus advertise straight on!

Business Model

How will this business make money? Well it obvious! Advertisement! They can also explore other business models like premium listing!

Downside

Having just launched I wont give it a thumb down for some of the downside just believe they will iterate in no time;

• Also a search for “fast food” in Ikeja sorted with those restaurants in far end of Ikeja at the top; Core areas should be sorted at the top.
• You only have to sign up online to get listed.

Overall the site is above the curve and will go places. You can check out the site here

I was skeptical about Waaazap initially, and almost wrote it off as another ‘Social Networking site’, which appears to be what many Nigerian Developers are creating nowadays. Also, I had interacted with the founder, Bambo Oyelaja, at last year’s BarcampNigeria, where he told me about his plans, how he didn’t fancy Facebook [which I didn't like as a Facebook Addict], and how he felt Nigerian Websites should not use Google Adsense but build their own Ad networks. At the time, I told myself this guy was just dreaming and would probably fade off after not making the money which could be made through Adsense. And Waaazap, how easy is it to tell someone over the phone? Waaazap also had some early teething problems as regards the Domain name.

However, I’ve been proved wrong as Bambo has made Waaazap work [I am in love with the site now], and even built an Ad Network which is really an innovation in the Nigerian Social Networking space.

Merits

1. Its innovative and has great engineering.
2. Its fun to use; with new lingua, such as quip for comments etc.
3. It has fun apps such as Debates, Movies, Inkspots etc
4. It has blogging features.
5. It allows the use of @username to send messages to friends, which is really cool.
6. Cool features like Events, Photo Uploading, Phonebook
7. Lovely design and User Interface…You can customise the look of your profile.
8. The team is really talented.

Demerits

1. Coming from Facebook, the User Experience is not so Good. Waaazap does not implement Ajax sitewide as it should. e.g. sending a friend request can take you to as many as 3 pages! However, the Engineers have promised to fix this soon in upcoming updates.
2. There’s the issues of finding friends easily. You want to find people you can interact with on a Social Networking site. Its not that easy to do on Waaazap. Maybe a public page where all users posts were displayed according to popularity would help.
3. Inviting friends to Waaazap is not a feature the site implements. This I find very funny. As much as I want to tell my Facebook and Twitter friends about this cool new site, or even those on my email list, there’s no way I will go through the stress of manually inviting friends…Waaazap should implement a feature that makes this easy to do in 2 or 3 clicks [and pls use AJAX ]. I believe invite scripts abound on the web.
4. Waaazap needs to leverage on people’s existing networks such as twitter, facebook etc
5. A lot has to be done as regards marketing and publicity.
6. No games, not that I would play any though

All in all, Waaazap is a great piece of web engineering, and I believe if properly run, will become Nigeria’s foremost Social Networking Site in years to come. It has stiff competition though. What do you think of Waaazap?

Excuse me please, I have to go check my Waaazap profile

Lovebase.com is formally alarena.com a top Nigerian dating site with over 60,000 members and growing, turned positive. We got this tip-off from the founder Simdul Shagaya in our recent interview we conducted with him.

How it works

You sign up on the site with the basic information you wish to be recognized on the site, and activate via your email.

To get people of interest, you can use its search function which allows you to specify whether you need male or female and the age grade, location and users with picture.

A New Deal?

Yea! We asked the founder of the reason for the change of name and he said; “The name change happened for several reasons. One was to have the brand appeal to a greater population of Nigerians in terms of ethnicity and age. As you know, Alarena means matchmaker in Yoruba. The brand now addresses an ethnically wider and younger crowd that may be looking for casual relationships in addition to those seeking marriage”.

The design is sleek and aesthetic, a world-class and web 2.0 compatible website. It’s really one of the top Nigerian sites with powerful user-experience.

The site also has a dedicated line 080-66-33-22-99 for customer support.

The Real Deal

The site has two options; premium and free membership. With premium membership, user get message from serious people and reduces spam. You can actually upload your picture to increase relevance. On the other hand, the free membership allows people to use the site for free!

Business Model

The site has seen considerable number of people making payment for the premium service. With this, the site has been able to sustain itself, innovate and reach broader audience. The model adopted by this site is Subscription model under Web Business Model structure.

Downside

The site can leverage the power of social media to reach far more audience as we now have more than 1.6 million Nigerians on Facebook.  Integration with Facebook will do the site good and help users find match faster and better.

Also understanding that mobile has more penetration than computer, a mobile site and SMS alert will help users get result faster and make them stick to the site, eventually increasing word-of-mouth.

Have you used this site before? How was it?

visit: Lovebase.com

Ever thought of a site where you can get an informed review of products and services that resonates with Nigeria? Exxset.com could be the right one for you. The site hopes to solve the lack of information about products and services in Nigeria and other west African countries.  In their press release (made available to us); ExxSet a recently launched an antidote to the region’s dearth of information with a site where professionals can finally source and provide information on the quality of products and services. It is invitation-only to ensure a platform of trust and credibility. It is a series of regional sites across Africa with the initial focus on West Africa. The key point for me is its mission “mission of facilitating the flow of credible hyper-local information between professionals in the West African region – by providing a resource where they can connect on common issues and find proven solutions, with its word-of-mouth platform.“

Owned by ExxSet Ltd, a UK based company with branches in Nigeria and South Africa.

How it works

The way it works is simple; solve a common (frustrating problem), find a proven solution and discuss your business industry.

Frustrating problems is represented by; FRUSTRATING while solution represent the Fantastic (FANTASTIC) side of a product or service.

New Deal?

The concept is new and fresh! With the service you can get review/comment of a product or service your company may be planning to spend millions on.

“ExxSet is already receiving fantastic product and service insights from professionals and is acting as a resource that filters the proliferation of new and unknown products and services in West Africa.” – Shana Joris, Marketing Manager

Real Deal

The real  deal is that, you get professional review, comment of a product or service offered by any of the companies listed. Remember, the site is targeted at bluechip firms, hence the requirement for the membership application. Many companies and products are already reviewed!

• Informed products and services review
• Networking platform for professionals
• It reduces risk and increases opportunity based on information shared on the platform.

Business Model

The site is newly launched and for now, we can’t find a price for any services offered on the site. Am pretty sure the company is working that out. It will be a perfect advertising platform for the upwardly mobile professionals who needs top class services.

Downside

The only downside for me is the application for membership; it will reduce the churn of interested people who could be of great help to the platform. If the membership is approved by qualification or company they work, am sorry it might not help get a real-life experience of the service under review. A better option would have been to let users gain point as they answer questions and comments made on topics under discussion. With this, it can be a thumb up, thumb down approach with a scoring system that gives weight to voting made by members who have a higher ranking score (Some calls it Karma system).

Log on to Exxset.com now to check it out!

Yea, I mean it! A Nigerian topic trended on Twitter today. I wrote earlier this month about Nigerian topic #abaversion which also trended on twitter. Today @JideAboderin start #nigeriangrammar and other Nigerian tweeples took it up till it got trended on Twitter.

This is a sign that social media adoption in Nigeria is on the upward trend! In our last review of Facebook users in Nigeria, we discovered that over a million Nigerians are now on Facebook, wow!

You may want to wonder why all this? Well not to worry! The internet is mostly used by people who catch fun and Nigeria is no exception. @niyyie tweeted and I quote “The #nigeriangrammar trend on twitter is “hilariously funny”. ) If only the energy was channeled into a productive cause for Nigeria.” That was a good point there! As Nigeria’s image continued to be battered abroad, we need to use every possible opportunity to showcase the good side of us.

Nigeria, now is the time to make use of opportunity with our online strength to show the world that, we are not a terrorist country and that we have enormous enterprising youth talents right here!

WTN=Web Trends Nigeria

WTN: Can we meet you?

Chiemeka: Firstly, I must express our appreciation for the invitation to do this interview. My name is Chiemeka Ozumba, and as a co-founder and the Chief Executive Officer of ishopinlondon.com, the challenge of developing and building this online venture into a great success falls to my lot. My background is in Public Relations and Brand Development with hands on experience in graphics designing.

WTN: Tell us about your site, ishopinlondon.com

Chiemeka:        ishopinlondon.com is basically an online shopping portal that will avail Nigerians with the golden opportunity of shopping online for authentic designer labels and high quality products from top high street shops in the United Kingdom. For household goods, electronics, tools, fashion, toys, wedding things, books and many more: Our customers can place orders for products of any quantity and value and we will deliver it to their door anywhere in Nigeria! The site is elegantly designed with a very user-friendly interface. It is really a beautiful website Nigerians will enjoy and be proud of.

WTN:     What is your expectation of the Nigerian Internet market?

Chiemeka:        Sincerely Shittu, the expectation is positive. You know that Nigerians are Internet savvy, love the good things of life and are keen for any online experience, which contributes to the fulfillment of their life aspirations. Our brand as a lifestyle brand is designed for this. We are not only providing goods and services, most importantly, we are offering an experience.

WTN.     Looking at your site, it’s a full ecommerce site, what are the hurdles and drawback you think could have helped make things faster and cheaper?

Chiemeka:        Well, in life hurdles and drawbacks are challenges and they are laden with opportunity. We see only prospects, because where there are challenges there is possibility. That is our resolute view of the situation. And we believe that at this stage in the development of ecommerce in Nigeria, more entrepreneurs need to invest in this sector to help position our country as the African leaders in ecommerce. This is what we are doing and we see ourselves as joining many like you who are keenly working towards this goal.

WTN.    Do you have a local representative?

Chiemeka:        Yes we do. We have a full-fledged office based in Ikeja Lagos State run by our General Manager in charge of our Nigerian Operations. We also have nine service points across the country ensuring that the benefits that ishopinlondon.com has for Nigerians reach them wherever they are. By the end of this quarter, according to our plans, we would have set up an additional 5 service points making our operations fully national.

WTN.    What should we expect from your site as you continue the journey?

Chiemeka:        Expect innovation! Expect excellence!! Expect great customer care!!! We will not compromise standards. We will invest in customer loyalty reward schemes because we believe that the customer deserves something extra for his or her patronage. We will support small retailers. We will encourage young startups. We will contribute significantly to the development of ecommerce in Nigeria.

WTN.     A piece of advice for budding entrepreneurs…

Chiemeka:        Dream big! Believe resolutely. Learn expansively. Plan extensively. Go for it. Do it. And never look back. Never doubt. But never be over confident! Stay the course. And as my grandfather always said: sticking to it is the victory thereof.

WTN.     What else will you like to share with our readers?

Chiemeka:        As ishopinlondon.com launches on Thursday 18^th February 2010, I will like to say to your readers that ishopinlondon.com is a people oriented enterprise. We believe in people. We invest in people. We are open to hear your views, your suggestions and even your criticisms. So that we can learn from you the best way we can serve you to your satisfaction and happiness. And you know, I cannot possibly end without saying this: After having a critical look at your website, we are impressed with the work Webtrendsng is doing, which is contributing to development of the internet as well as online ventures in Nigeria. Well-done Shittu.

WTN: Thank you very much Chiemeka.

Chiemeka: You are welcome.

Website: ishopinlondon.com
Facebook Page: ishopinlondon.com on Facebook

It is no doubt that entertainment is one the top image makers for Nigeria and  has helped Nigeria’s image on the positive side globally. Nigerian entertainment industry popularly called Nollywood is world second biggest movie industry (in terms of film production per year) behind India’s bollywood and ahead of US Hollywood. Nigerian music is also Africa’s top, with Nigerian artiste carting almost every awards organized for Africa.

Technology as come to stay and to accelerate growth and satisfy customer’s undying thirst, here comes Naijamusic.net a site dedicated to giving Nigerians at home, abroad and lovers of Nigerian music and video access to varieties online real-time! Founded in 2005 and has grown organically with over 5,000 tracks and more than 260 artistes on the site. In a chat with the founder Welborn Michael, he said: “We want to redefine entertainment in Nigeria, we want to take Nigerian entertainment to the doorstep of everyone who needs it anywhere in the world via the internet and other medium”. This was what caught my attention and interest in the site in year 2005, and I was involved in the development at the early stage. The passion of the founder, couple with his vision, have been his driving force even as the company is close to profitability. Innovation and products development has been the key driver over the years.

A New Deal

(Innovative or copy cat? Let’s see!)

There is really no essence in duplicating foreign technology if you do not have local content or needs you want to meet! Naijamusic.net have a robust platform that is able to manage track, album and artiste information extensively. Aside that, it also have thousands of music cut across many genres, from oldies to hot music in the market. Also it features music in various Nigerian tribe, this I think appeal to those who have never listen to a music from other tribes and those who wants more. It also have numbers of religious song, fuji, juju and evergreen albums.

Right on top of it includes; Artiste/DJ search, Artiste branding, Online Music sales, Artiste request (in case you need a service of an artiste) and many more services.

The Real Deal

(These are some of the good side to this site, value expected.)

Thousands of music plus oldies and hot music, I think this is cool! Also giving Nigerian artiste platform to sell their music to local and international fans is a great concept plus artiste booking. These are great features that have come to fill the void in online music sites.

Down Side

This site is far from realizing its potentials, It needs more publicity to reach the target audience. More so, the contents are too many and a redesign can be done to make it more appealing.

Business Model

This site’s business model is not far fetch as you can see, it sells music, advertises, link up artiste and other service rendered are good ways to make money.

Final Thoughts

I see this site going a long way; it’s got good products and service and strategically located in a virgin market. I think anyone willing to invest in an online asset should give the founder a shout.

Online Networks

Website: Naijamusic.net
Twitter : @naijamusic
Facebook Page: NaijaMusic

Oh! More so Naijamusic brand is a registered trade mark of We-Media Entertainment Ltd.

Can Naijamusic rule the world? What is your take? Drop below…

Disclosure: I was involved at the early stage of development of this site before I handed over to the current development team. And I as also involved in the product development and business model.

Outlook 2009
Barcamp Nigeria
Internet Marketers Association of Nigeria
Launch of Turenchi.com
Launch of naijaborn.com
Launch of greenlagos.com
Launch of kilonsele.com
Digital Sense Africa
Launch of nairajobs.com
Joomla Day Nigeria

• I predict a high increase in corporate awareness of importance of web to their businesses.

• The mainstream will be more interested in online related business as Web Technologist will be at the coming Outlook 2010.
• Network Marketing awareness/trust will also increase next year with the growth of Holiday and Cash products.
• These and many more…

As 2010 will be released on Thursday this week, what is your prediction of the Internet Market in Nigeria/Africa for the year 2010. This could include corporate web awareness, product releases/launch and events. What do you hope for or expect in 2010. Drop below…

Hey we are currently conducting research of the Nigerian Internet Market, click here to participate.