China's Singles' Day has a new bestseller this year, and you can't hold it in your hand. In 2026, prepaid AI subscriptions and AI token packs are being sold next to iPhones, Xiaomi phones, and AI laptops, with the same coupons, countdowns, and livestream hype.
The clearest sign came on the night of November 2. China's "Lipstick King", Li Jiaqi (also known as Austin Li), sold 100,000 monthly memberships of Alibaba's QwenWork office AI service in about 30 minutes on Taobao Live, according to Alibaba via Reuters. It was his first time selling AI products.
Reuters calls it the first Singles' Day sale where AI token packages are a significant consumer category. Here is what is being sold, who is selling...
Nigeria's National Digital Alphanumeric Postcode System went live on October 1, 2026, the country's 66th Independence anniversary. The Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) now gives every addressable building an 11-character digital postcode, and you can look yours up at postcode.gov.ng or in the new Android app.
"Everyone in Nigeria has a location. Now every location has a postcode,"
said Postmaster-General Tola Odeyemi at the launch.
Communications Minister Bosun Tijani put it this way:
"Every Nigerian deserves to be found. Every business deserves the chance to reach its customers."
Before launch, our position was that the technology looked ready and adoption would be the hard part. After testing the live system, we still think so, and we can now be more specific about why.
The map is...
Although it often seems like a casual outing, shopping can be one of the most grueling undertakings. Even the most discerning and prepared shoppers can face long waits and poor inventory, especially when a store isn’t ready for a rush.
This is especially true during the autumn months when peak hours are consistently packed with eager customers. If it’s not back-to-school shopping that has driven someone to the mall, it’s preparation for Thanksgiving or Halloween that has them shopping until they drop.
No matter how many hours you spend clipping coupons or hunting for the best deal through comparison shopping, things...
The freelancing industry continues to grow at record rates in the last couple of years. In fact, the freelancer industry reportedly grew by over 12 percent as noted by the Financial Times. Freelancing in Nigeria has grown as more graduates look for modern ways of earning a living.
The jobs posted on notable freelance sites increased from 200,000 to 300,000 engagements over a 1 year period.
I believe that this growth rides on the need individuals have for independence and flexibility in pursuing careers, with technology and concepts such as working from anywhere (think to work from home) gaining of a...
One thing to consider before developing an online business is the way you build the website. There are several things to consider before building a business website that not only attract visitors, but also profitable. This source gives you the overview to develop a great website for business.
Interesting and Understandable Web Design
It is not enough to create an attractive and captivating business website. You have to create a web design that represents your business.
By applying the right design, visitors are not only engaging with it but also understand your business and they are sure that you are the best...
Want to buy wedding dresses? In the modern world, the internet has made life easier. Most of people across the world use the internet to search for products or purchase clothes, products, and other items. Shopping for trendy clothes online is convenient.
You can purchase clothes online from the comfort of your home from a custom clothier or a big store that offers you the latest style at lower prices.
These days, there are large ranges of the e-commerce stores in the market. These has created opportunities for high discounts, flexibility and latest collection for luxury lovers. You can select the...
Regardless of how B2B companies are emerging in the world, many of them still lack the expertise and approach of utilizing online marketing techniques to generate quality leads. In fact, you’ll be surprised to find out that most of them still rely on the traditional method of cold calling, a useful lead generation technique. Yes, cold calling is always helpful, but not as much as any of the inbound marketing techniques.
Apart from that, many B2B marketplaces like Amazon Business, Alibaba, ExportHub, and Global Sources are also playing an essential part in helping businesses of all sizes and types by...
Following a rapid economic growth, consumer-facing industries have quietly grown into a significant economic force in Africa's most populous nation. Over the last decade, the Nigerian telecommunications and banking industries have experienced rapid expansion, serving rising demand and a fast growing middle class.
A typical Nigerian consumer nowadays demands a modern, fast and, most importantly, safe shopping experience which is enabled by a dependable payment system.
In the broadest sense of the term, payment system is a set of systems enabling transfer and circulation of funds. To perform its role successfully, the payment system must fulfill three prerequisites.
One is that the...
Nigerian payments company Paystack has raised Series A funding from global payments leaders Stripe, Visa, and Tencent
In little over two years, Paystack has grown to power tens of thousands of businesses of all sizes, and already processes more than 15% of all online payments in Nigeria—Africa’s largest economy.
The funding will be used to fuel Paystack’s continental expansion, build out their payments infrastructure, and grow their engineering team.
LAGOS, AUGUST 28, 2018 - Paystack, a Nigeria-based startup providing payments tools to businesses in Africa, has raised $8 million in Series A funding. The round was led by...
Engaging in the CBD business can be a lucrative venture. In 2017 the legal sales of CBD products and medical Marijuana hit the $10 billion mark. However, most of the banks still treat the CBD businesses as high-risk businesses and therefore do not offer payment processing solutions for them.
The few banks that offer the services do so with a lot of restrictions and exorbitant charges to the businesses. Without a merchant account, the business would not be able to receive online payments through cards making it difficult to run the business.
Many third-party payment processors that deal with high-risk businesses...
Every business owner works hard to grow their business as fast as possible. Often, the process is a little complicated if you are comfortable with where you are.
However, in this competitive world, you can never be contented with your present circumstance. Even if there is so much to admire when you look at your current business status and compare to how you began, you have to continue making things better.
The customer community is always looking for new and greater products and services. So, you have to meet their expectations by coming up with fresh ideas that make your business...
The best definition of passive income is – Building online businesses that take advantage of systems of automation that allow transactions, cash flow, and growth to happen without requiring a real-time presence.
This means you invest your time straight into creating valuable products and experiences that assist others, all the qualities of a good business.
Online businesses take far less money to invest and the rewards come in much faster, plus it creates something you can become known for.
How Liquidation Business Works
Setting up a liquidation business is a piece of cake, anyone with a chair and a strong internet connection can...
In business, customer relationships are paramount. The business that treats its customers best will be the business that thrives in any market. So what does this mean for businesses? It’s time to invest in a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software. Read on to learn about the best CRM software for small businesses in 2026 and why you need it if you want your business to succeed.
Years ago, customer relationship management (CRM) software was seen primarily as programs used by companies, businesses, and individuals in public relations (PR) and sales to easily store customer information and track customer communication. Their...
Nigerian startups CredPal and Zowasel win in the Merchant Payments and Financial Inclusion challenges respectively
Lagos, Nigeria; 25 July 2018: Visa (NYSE:V), the world’s leader in digital payments, announced Nigerian startups CredPal and Zowasel as winners in the Merchant Payments and Financial Inclusion challenges of its first ever Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) Everywhere Initiative, a global program aimed at startups and designed to encourage the development of the next big thing in payments. The winning solutions beat 10 other contenders selected from 238 submissions to emerge as champions.
The SSA program was structured around three real life business challenges:
Merchant Payments...
Amazon is an e–Commerce Company that is gradually making its way to each and every sector making more and more loyal customers. With Amazon gifting has become a charm there are tons of options which one can get for their loved once.
Gifting is a wide topic which there are many different things which comes under the same. Deciding a gift is not an easy task and hence there came the tradition of giving money in case you are not getting any good gift, as the person will have flexibility to use the money as their need.
With most of the...
Wouldn’t it be great if you could expand your company into a new market with minimal expense and maximum ease? Perhaps you would like to move your company to an overseas location, but it is currently out of your budget.
Setting up a physical office anywhere is expensive and this can also be time-consuming. But there is another solution, one which does not require you to rent office space, buy furniture, set up utilities, or hire a receptionist: a virtual office. It’s faster, much cheaper and you can set one up just about anywhere.
What is a Virtual Office?
A virtual office...
One of the most profitable moves you can make in this environment that is highly competitive is to create an ecommerce website. However, like most of the already existing ecommerce websites, you may have a big issue with how to effectively market your site.
There is no way you will get new customers unless you market your online platform. This means that your site may end up failing. This article will give you some tips on how you can effectively market your ecommerce site.
The method that we are going to put forward in this article have actually stood the test...
This month florists across the world have sent out thousands of bouquets filled with roses and carnations, orchids and lilies for honoring a special day for their Mums’... Mother’s day. It has slowly overtaken Valentine’s Day in terms of volumes of flowers in newer markets around the world.
Yet, there are many florists who will suffer losses while adding to their turnover because of the impact of the “Online Florist” a term, which is very deceptive. It is deceptive to both, the end consumer, who pays for the bouquet as well as the receiver who does not quite know what...
The avalanche of complaints of cyber fraud and risks in eCommerce business is truly overwhelming. No doubt, as complaints continue to pour in at an unprecedented rate, cyber fraud has been the subject of much debate.
It behooves, therefore, to learn about the risks involved in eCommerce business.
Let’s get started
Risk #1: It is an uncontested fact that eCommerce businesses are prone to phishing and hacking attacks, credit card fraud and data errors.
Solution: To minimize the incidence of credit card fraud, request your users for non-storable CVV. To mitigate online attacks, deploy multilayered security and PCI scans along with SSL certifications
Risk...
You won’t see many web designers using psychological research; yet, it is one of the essential web design tools that must be used. Websites are not limited to the words written on them.
The framework on which you are going to present your data is even more critical. Many small aspects of line, shape, colors and SEO-based designing mistakes can ruin your website traffic.
However, if you think that designing website is something that comes from within, you are wrong. Psychology-based website design is easy; you need to ditch few things including the idea of elegance. If the website is not...
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been a major driver of digital transformation as businesses try to keep in step with the rapid technological advancements in 2018.
Due to constant media coverage, AI is one of the most known aspects of this transformation.
It is slated to make humans obsolete as it is increasingly becoming a necessity for businesses, whether they're investing in AI-embedded software, or using MLaaS (Machine Learning as a Service) to automate internal processes.
AI is quickly modernizing businesses, and in 2018, businesses that have not yet adopted it will begin to feel the need to and pressure, whether that is...
Being a freelance writer is a good and a very lucrative source of income. It can help you stay independent and write freely as you like while getting paid for your work. But the downside of it is that it’s not a consistent job especially when you’re new in it.
But let it not discourage you, there are other side hustles you can engage in to support your new career.
Below are 10 jobs you can add as side hustles when the freelance jobs aren’t coming through.
1. Social Media Management
To add to your income as a freelance writer, you can engage...
AliExpress is an online shopping mall owned by China's top online marketplace, Alibaba.com. On AliExpress, you will find thousands of top Chinese exporters and...
Virtual dollar cards have become central to accessing the global digital economy, especially as an African. Whether you want to pay for subscriptions, shop...
