Nigeria’s e-commerce sector has long promised a revolution for both vendors and consumers, yet the day-to-day reality has often fallen short: fragmented processes, persistent trust issues, and checkout experiences that break before they finish. Despite the surge in smartphone penetration and online shopping interest, local merchants continue to grapple with everything from high shop rents to scams, while customers juggle between apps and brace for the possibility of failed deliveries.
In early May 2025, a new contender entered the scene with ambitions to change that narrative from the ground up. Launched by a team of co-founders spread across product, marketing, operations, and strategy—Matt Ford (CEO), Paul Jatau (CMO), Odera Joseph (COO), and Melissa Powell (CSO)— Auqli is Nigeria’s first dedicated video commerce platform, merging live shopping, short shoppable reels, secure payments, and free nationwide shipping into one unified ecosystem.
At its core, Auqli is a response to a deep Nigerian challenge. For years, buyers have hesitated to pay upfront on e-commerce platforms, wary of unverified sellers and ghost shops. Vendors, meanwhile, have struggled with inconsistent delivery networks and rising rents that choke profits. Auqli’s team says they’ve designed the platform precisely around these realities.
“Auqli was never meant to be another Western app trying to retrofit itself into the Nigerian market,” said Chief Executive Officer, Matt Ford. “From day one, we’ve built it with and for Nigerian sellers, guided by the people who live these challenges daily. Switching between apps, missed deliveries, and low buyer trust, these are real friction points. Auqli solves them with live video selling, integrated payments, and trusted logistics. It’s a new model, led locally and built to scale globally.”
The platform tackles fraud and abandoned carts head-on with multiple payment options—cards, in-app wallets, and direct bank transfers—all running through a built-in escrow system that holds funds securely until goods are delivered. Sellers are verified on sign-up, creating a layer of trust that typical online marketplaces often lack.
“As a marketer, I’ve seen firsthand how social media platforms can leave sellers chasing algorithms instead of real customers,” said Paul Jatau, Auqli’s Chief Marketing Officer. “Posting contents shouldn’t feel like shouting into an empty space. Our vendors deserve predictable reach, real engagement and sales. Auqli brings back the heartbeat of our traditional African marketplaces, where haggling, storytelling, and community built trust—only now it happens from the comfort of your home. We’re not reinventing the wheel; we’re simply restoring the age-old rhythms of buying and selling with technology that actually works for Nigerian entrepreneurs.” He stated. “Using the Platform is also very straightforward. Sellers can just go to our website, www.auqli.live/sell, fill the form to sign up and begin uploading their videos and hosting shows. While buyers only need to download the Auqli app from the Play Store or App Store to start shopping and join live streams. That’s how simple we’ve made it.”
Auqli’s video-forward approach isn’t just cosmetic. The user interface is intentionally simple and optimised for real-time interaction, allowing buyers to watch a live stream or short product video and complete purchases right there—no app switch, no broken flows. During its launch promo, sellers also pay nothing extra on shipping; the platform absorbs logistics costs through its integrations with Fez and Terminal, giving them access to more than 10 local and pan-African carriers, including DHL.
“Operationally, we’re obsessed with reliability,” said Odera Joseph, Auqli’s Chief Operating Officer. “Our merchants don’t want to worry if a buyer’s payment went through or if a dispatch rider knows their address. From payments to doorstep delivery, we’ve tied it all together. The result is fewer abandoned carts, fewer phone calls chasing logistics, and more repeat customers. That’s the kind of consistency small businesses can actually scale on.”
This operational backbone, pairing secure payments with streamlined fulfillment, positions Auqli as more than just another online marketplace. It also echoes a global shift: live shopping is projected by international analysts to account for up to 20% of all e-commerce by 2026, with growth fastest in emerging markets that still rely heavily on relationship-based buying.
“Live shopping is shaping the future of e-commerce in 2025 and there’s no reason Nigeria, and the wider Global South, shouldn’t be leading that charge,” said Melissa Powell, Auqli’s Chief Strategy Officer. “While big tech continues to sidestep the logistics challenges faced in Africa and the Caribbean, we’re stepping up. We’re building solutions that bring our people the seamless, elevated lifestyle they deserve, no compromises.”
Early activity on the platform shows promise, with vendors selling everything from home goods and fabric to beauty products via slick short videos or vibrant live demos. For customers, it’s a taste of the personal touch that once defined their neighborhood markets—only now it’s delivered through a phone screen, complete with a secure checkout and dispatch tracking.
Auqli’s innovation could signal a pivotal shift for Nigerian e-commerce, proving that local-first design anchored by trust, simplicity, and cultural authenticity might finally crack problems that global giants have failed to solve. For countless small merchants, it may also be the long-awaited chance to scale without losing the soul of the markets that built them.
