Yesterday, I was celebrating my birthday when my sister, who had just arrived in Lagos for the first time, spotted the Konga warehouse around Ikate.
Then she asked a question that made us laugh.
“What happened to Jumia? Has Temu succeeded in making them shut down?”
Now, that question was funny, but it got me thinking.
Do you remember when November meant one thing to Nigerian online shoppers?
Jumia Black Friday. Konga Yakata.
Every first and second week of November, the excitement was almost impossible to miss.
People were waiting for deals. Social media was buzzing. Everyone seemed to have something they wanted to buy, something they were saving towards or something they were hoping would suddenly become affordable.
You could almost tell when November had arrived just by the number of Black Friday adverts on your timeline.
But somewhere along the line, that excitement seemed to disappear.
Or at least, that’s how it feels.
So, what happened?
First, the competition got serious.
Remember when Jumia and Konga were practically the biggest names Nigerians associated with online shopping?
Then came a new wave of international competitors.
Shein became popular. Temu arrived in Nigeria in November 2024, armed with ridiculously attractive prices, aggressive advertising, freebies, and a shopping experience designed to keep people scrolling.
Suddenly, Nigerians had more options.
Why buy something from one platform when another platform appears to offer the same thing for considerably less?
Of course, low prices don’t always mean better value. Delivery times, product quality, returns, and customer experience still matter.
But one thing is certain: the competition for the Nigerian shopper’s attention has become much more intense.
Secondly, the Nigerian shopper has changed.
Let’s be honest.
The person who was excited about buying a new television, microwave, or fashion item during Black Friday a few years ago is probably thinking differently today.
Inflation, exchange rates, and reduced purchasing power have changed how people spend.
People are more deliberate about what they buy.
A discount is no longer necessarily exciting if the discounted product is still outside your budget.
Sometimes, the biggest discount is simply not spending money.
Thirdly, Black Friday has lost some of its exclusivity.
There was a time when Black Friday felt like an event.
You waited for November because that was when you expected the biggest deals.
Today, we have flash sales, app-exclusive offers, weekly discounts, promotional codes, influencer discounts, and shopping festivals happening almost all year round.
The excitement has become fragmented.
And when everything is on sale, nothing necessarily feels special.
But here’s something interesting.
Konga and Jumia haven’t shut down.
In fact, both platforms are still running Black Friday campaigns in November 2026.
Konga has its Yakata campaign, while Jumia is running its “No Manage Am” campaign.
So perhaps the businesses haven’t disappeared. Perhaps the way they compete for our attention has simply changed.
And that’s an important distinction.
You can still be in business and gradually lose your place in people’s conversations.
That’s a marketing problem worth paying attention to.
Because sometimes, the biggest threat to a brand isn’t a competitor taking its customers.
It’s a competitor becoming more interesting to its customers.
My biggest takeaway?
Businesses don’t just compete for people’s money anymore. They compete for attention, relevance, trust, and a place in people’s everyday conversations.
And that applies to almost every industry.
The brands we remember aren’t necessarily the ones that have been around the longest. They’re the ones that continue giving people a reason to care.
Anyway, I miss the old Black Friday excitement.
But perhaps I’m just getting older and becoming more conscious of how much things cost. 😂
Now, I’m curious:
Do you still look forward to Jumia Black Friday and Konga Yakata, or have Temu and the new generation of shopping platforms changed where you spend your money?
If you ask me I will say just one sentence, “China gained more access.”
