OmniRetail, a business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce platform that operates in Nigeria, Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire, has launched OmniOne, a digital platform designed to help fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) manufacturers scale their distribution network and operations.
- +OmniRetail launches new platform to digitise FMCG distribution and financing
OmniRetail already operates a B2B e-commerce marketplace for retailers through OmniBiz, its core commerce engine.
OmniRetail already operates a B2B e-commerce marketplace for retailers through OmniBiz, its core commerce engine. OmniOne is the company’s attempt to extend that infrastructure to manufacturers by turning its distribution network into a system that also delivers data visibility and financial services.
According to data from NielsenIQ, a market research and consumer insights company, Nigeria and Kenya’s FMCG market grew by 18.1% in value in 2023 compared to the previous year, with traditional trade contributing 98% to the retail landscape in 2023. Still, the distribution layer powering this market remains fragmented.
Manufacturers rely on a network of distributors, sub-distributors, and informal retailers, where orders are often placed by phone or during in-person visits, and payments are split across multiple channels, resulting in delays and missed sales opportunities. OmniRetail is betting that by connecting these processes, it could unlock value across the chain.
“OmniBiz has earned the trust, built the network, and generated the data that makes OmniOne possible,” said Deepankar Rustagi, founder and CEO of OmniRetail. “Manufacturers, distributors, and financial institutions can now plug into what we have built and scale faster alongside us.”
OmniOne itself is not a replacement for OmniBiz, the company noted. While OmniBiz continues to drive orders and fulfilment, OmniOne aggregates that activity into a single interface for manufacturers and gives them real-time visibility into demand, manufacturing units, distributor warehouses, and retail sell-through rates.
OmniRetail explained that a manufacturer can access a consolidated view of business performance through the OmniOne dashboard, including customer analytics, new, returning, and churned customers; leads; customer interactions; surveys; order value; quantities sold; total orders; and new customer orders. For distributors, OmniOne can be used to check their ledger or wallet balance, view Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) availability and pricing, place an order, make a payment using the wallet balance or approved credit, and track order status, according to the company.
“The overall journey connects four things that usually operate separately in traditional trade: goods, payments, credit, and data visibility,” Rustagi said. “This helps manufacturers make better decisions and helps distributors reduce manual follow-ups, payment delays, blocked working capital, and stockouts.”
An integral part of OmniRetail’s new product is embedded access to financial services. Through partnerships with over 14 financial institutions, including banks and fintechs, OmniRetail said that OmniOne embeds working capital support, digital payments and collections, interest on account balances, fixed and flexible deposit options, and point-of-sale (POS) solutions directly into trade activity.
Creditworthiness on the platform is determined using transaction and behavioural data, including purchase history, order frequency, repayment patterns, and inventory movement, rather than relying solely on traditional collateral, according to the company. This allows distributors and retailers to access financing based on actual business activity.
The product launch comes one year after OmiRetail’s $20 million Series A. Launched in June 2019, OmniRetail said it has visibility into over 500,000 FMCG orders worth ₦250 billion ($182 million) monthly, across 10,000 distributors and 100,000 retailers.
When asked if OmniRetail would be launching additional features for retailers and manufacturers, the company said it will deepen its AI capabilities to strengthen the connection between commerce, finance, and data visibility.
“Our focus is to continue building OmniOne as the operating layer for traditional trade, helping businesses move goods, access financial services, and make decisions with better data,” Rustagi added.
