How we’re building Jago’s go-to-market strategy

At first, we mainly imagined Jago as a platform to help African brands sell wholesale.

Conversations with shops and partners changed our understanding: the immediate need is about finding the products people want and the right suppliers to provide them.

So we’re building Jago around demand.

These conversations help us understand which products shops are actually looking for. Those needs guide the development of our supplier network and the tools that support the service.

We use our APOP method: Audience, Positioning, Offer, Promotion.

Audience

We’re focusing on shops, grocers, resellers and online retailers looking for African products in bulk.

We want to test a need they may share: finding suitable products, reliable suppliers and clear terms takes time and often depends on personal networks.

We want to understand what each business needs, what it already buys and how often, before focusing our efforts on the most recurring requests.

We compare the needs of different shops: product categories, volumes, frequency and the difficulties they face. This helps us identify the groups for whom Jago could be most useful.

Positioning

For shops looking for African products in bulk, Jago finds suitable suppliers and manages the commercial relationship, with agreed prices and order follow-up.

The customer sends their request to Jago. We find a relevant offer within our supplier network and remain their point of contact as the order progresses.

Today, this search often involves personal networks, trade shows, WhatsApp and several conversations with suppliers. Jago brings the sourcing work and commercial follow-up together through one point of contact who understands the request.

Payment, transport, import and delivery terms need to be clarified for each order. The responsibilities of Jago and its partners still need to be tested in the first trials.

Offer

The first version starts with a request, rather than a catalogue we need to fill.

- Gather the requirements: products, quantities and purchase frequency.
- Find a suitable offer from our suppliers.
- Present products, prices and terms clearly.
- Manage the supplier relationship and follow the order through.

Some of this work can remain manual at first. It lets us understand the requests before building more tools.

We’re also taking the time to test the business model, prices and terms.

Our starting hypothesis is a subscription for sellers or suppliers. We’re taking the time to find the right pricing and terms through requests and early conversations.

Promotion

We’re starting with our network of shops and grocers, introductions and partnerships with retail networks.

The aim is to speak with shops, gather their requirements and see which requests we can actually fulfil.

What we want to test

Do requests turn into orders, and do customers come back to source products again?

We also track the products requested, the requests we can fulfil and the issues that slow orders down. We compare these signals across types of shop to decide where to focus our efforts.