The Commerce People, is an e-commerce business-focused solution provider aiming to enable and expedite digital retail growth for brands and advertisers alike. In an exclusive interview to Communicate, CEO, Boye Balogun, and Moira Francis, Managing Director at The Commerce People explain the business’s approach in the Middle Eastern and African markets.
An e-commerce solution provider aimed at offering brands and businesses with SaaS and managed service solutions, The Commerce People launched earlier this year in May 2022. The organization is focused on accelerating the e-commerce revenue growth in online retail marketplaces with integrated sales and product inventory management, Amazon sponsored ads, DSP, Google Search tracking tools, etc.
With fewer to literally no barriers to entry, a massive number of online retailers have the option to expand. Advancements in technology and its growth made it easier than ever to buy and sell online. According to the latest report by Shopify, the e-commerce industry is expected to grow by almost $11 trillion between 2021 and 2025. The global trend toward digitization surged ahead at lightning speed in the post-pandemic time. Global e-commerce sales are expected to reach $5 trillion in 2022, and $6 trillion by 2024.
Communicate sat down with the team at The Commerce People, to further understand the events that led to the launch of the business and how it plans on fulfilling the demand for e-commerce solutions in the Middle East and Africa.
Left to right: Boye Balogun, CEO at The Commerce People, and Moira Francis, Managing Director at The Commerce People
Guide traditional media into digital commerce
A recent industry report finds that e-commerce will account for 20.4% of global retail sales by the end of this year, up from only 10% five years ago. This explains how e-commerce is becoming more and more crowded. This is where The Commerce People sees its opportunity to enter the market.
“We've just seen a lack of understanding of the space. We've also seen that a lot of brands are asking for it. I would say maybe more traditional agencies, who simply don't have the solutions as it’s not their focus. So, that's the reason for the business, on one end it’s replacing a gap in the market, and on the other this massive accelerator of the commerce space,’ explains Balogun.
“While our target market includes e-commerce enabled businesses, we are also aiming to target any organizations and individuals who are working or selling in the Middle East and African market. Amazon is active in KSA, Egypt, and Turkey, so, that’s where we found a lot of the conversations and clients who’ve been housed and are emerging from these countries,” added Boye.
Omnichannel digital measurement solutions
With over 20 years of experience in the digital advertising and performance marketing industry, Moira Francis, who is currently the Managing Director at The Commerce People describes the organization as a “team of e-commerce specialists.” Francis introduces ‘Ignite’ as one of their most treasured platform.
“Ignite provides our clients with the entire picture of their digital space. Including measurement of paid digital advertising across Amazon, Facebook, Google, Shopify and Magento. The platform’s dashboard allows us to trace transparent and scientific insights for our clients,” added Francis.
Balogun further explains that they’ve licensed this platform for usage across the Middle East and Africa, “So, we offer Ignite as a solution to clients who are already knee deep into the e-commerce space and have other solutions for those who just venturing out into the world.”
What is the future?
“We believe that all commerce in the future is going to become e-commerce,” says Balogun. With a pan-regional expansion already on its agenda, The Commerce People aims at bringing brands, advertisers, and marketers to the digital space with a mindful strategy. “While this vision is going to be pre-dominated by technology, our people and our approach to e-commerce will make us different,” he adds.
“A lot of the learning of digital commerce has already been done in emerging markets such as the US, and Europe. The benefit of establishing ourselves in smaller regions like the Middle East and Africa is that it will pick pace. With our launch we’re also dominating the time we’re in – a post-pandemic era where everyone is moving to sell online. This will help us accelerate our client base,” concludes Francis.
