Higher transport fares are forcing Nigerian online businesses to rethink delivery models as rising mobility costs squeeze margins and increase fulfilment expenses, says Olayemi Odufeso, CEO of ChamsAccess Ltd.
In a statement on Monday, the chief executive officer said the company was responding with MarketRide, a digital commerce and delivery platform.
According to him, the platform connects consumers, merchants and riders within one ecosystem, seeking to address logistics challenges affecting Nigeria’s expanding digital commerce sector.
“We built MarketRide to close the gap between ambitious entrepreneurs and consumers ready to embrace digital commerce,” Odufeso said.
He said MarketRide was designed beyond Lagos, targeting urban centres where inefficient logistics continued to constrain business growth.
The development highlights a growing challenge for Nigeria’s digital commerce sector: reducing delivery costs without compromising speed, reliability and customer experience.
The National Bureau of Statistics reported that average intra-city bus fares rose 38.63 per cent year-on-year to N1,431.25 in May 2026.
Average commercial motorcycle fares increased even faster, rising 52.45 per cent year-on-year to N1,072.51 during the same period.
“The increases are placing additional pressure on small businesses, particularly online merchants relying on frequent individual deliveries to fulfil customer orders.
“Higher transport and fuel costs can erode profit margins, forcing merchants to increase delivery charges or raise product prices,” Odufeso said.
According to him, MarketRide’s Go service seeks to address the challenge through multi-order deliveries, allowing riders to fulfil several orders within the same area.
The ChamsAccess boss said the model could reduce unnecessary mileage and fuel consumption while enabling riders to earn more from each delivery trip.
He said merchant commissions would range from five to 15 per cent, depending on the service and category.
However, Odufeso said broader industry benchmarking would be necessary to determine how competitive the commission structure is across Nigeria’s delivery and digital commerce market.
“The platform is entering a potentially large digital market, supported by Nigeria’s growing internet connectivity and smartphone-driven consumer activity.
“Data from the Nigerian Communications Commission showed 154.35 million active internet subscriptions on mobile networks in April 2026.
“However, widespread internet access alone may not guarantee MarketRide’s adoption or commercial success among merchants, consumers and riders,” he said.
He said its multi-order model required sufficient concentrations of merchants, customers and riders within specific locations to operate efficiently.
For online merchants, he said the platform’s success could therefore depend on whether delivery consolidation can translate into lower costs without weakening service quality or customer satisfaction.
“As mobility expenses continue rising, efficient logistics coordination is increasingly becoming critical to the competitiveness and profitability of Nigeria’s digital commerce businesses,” he added.
