Many retailers in Lagos believe that buying from different suppliers helps them get lower prices and even more choices. At first, this sounds reasonable. However, in real life, buying from many suppliers often increases costs and makes daily business hard. When you understand FMCG sourcing in Lagos properly, you will see why getting a single trusted supplier is actually the better option.
Juggling multiple suppliers means you are constantly dealing with different prices and delivery schedules that eat into your day and your business. Instead of focusing on your customers or growing your sales, you spend your time making endless calls and sending WhatsApp reminders only to hear the classic Lagos line of "I am at the gate" when the supplier hasn't even loaded their truck. This "promise and fail" cycle forces you to chase people down for basic stock, which eventually kills and reduces your overall profit because you are too busy being a logistics manager instead of a business owner.
Buying from several different sources often leads to multiple delivery fees or the need to travel to different markets like Alaba, Trade Fair, or Mushin yourself. With the current fuel prices and the unpredictable Lagos traffic, these small transport costs quickly balloon into a major expense that many retailers fail to track properly. Every time a different van drops off a small order, you are paying a "hidden tax" that eats into your daily margins, making your goods more expensive than they should be if they were all delivered at once.
When your products come from a wide variety of sources, it becomes nearly impossible to maintain consistent pricing or quality across your inventory. You might unknowingly buy the same item at three different rates, making it difficult to set a stable price for your customers or plan your capital effectively. Furthermore, some suppliers use these fragmented orders to push "near-expiry" products on you under the guise of a special discount, leaving you with stock that goes bad on the shelf before you can sell it, and nobody can be held accountable for the freshness of the goods.
Depending on many hands for your stock means you are at the mercy of multiple unreliable delivery timelines. While one person might be on time, another will frequently postpone a delivery at the last minute or keep telling you "I am on my way" for two days straight, while your shelves remain empty. Even if you have already paid for the goods, an empty shelf means a lost sale and an unhappy customer who will likely walk over to your competitor to find what they need. What are the chances that the prices don’t drop and you make a loss?
The more suppliers you involve in your business, the higher the risk of receiving the wrong items or discovering that half your order is missing or damaged. You often end up in a "what I ordered versus what I got" situation, where a supplier brings a completely different brand because your choice was out of stock, or they try to force slow-moving products down your neck by refusing to sell you milk unless you also buy their unknown brand of biscuits. Fixing these errors and dealing with this "forced bundling" ties up your cash in dead stock that doesn't move.
Spreading your purchases across too many people means you are buying in small quantities, which completely weakens your ability to negotiate for better deals. Suppliers usually reserve their best prices and priority service for retailers who buy in bulk, but because you are splitting your money, you never get that "Big Man" discount or the respect of a top-tier client.
Instead of burning fuel and time jumping from one market to another or chatting with ten different suppliers who all have different "stories," Maxibuy brings everything into one place. We gather products from all the major FMCG producers you know and love, so you don't have to worry about one person having milk while another person is out of sugar. By moving your sourcing to Maxibuy, you stop being a "logistics manager" chasing different delivery vans across Lagos and start being a real business owner who gets most of what they need with just one order.
One of the biggest headaches in the Lagos market is how prices jump up every time a product passes through a new middleman. Maxibuy solves this by selling directly to you at producer prices, meaning you get the same fair rate whether you are a big supermarket or a growing shop in the neighbourhood. Plus, with Maxibuy, you get consistent, transparent pricing that protects your profit margins.
We know the frustration of a supplier that promises and fails. Maxibuy makes FMCG sourcing in Lagos much more reliable by offering a professional delivery system that respects your time and your business. You can say goodbye to problems and get the peace of mind to focus on your customers while we handle the heavy lifting of getting your stock to you.
If you are serious about growing your business, you cannot afford to keep buying in "small-small" quantities that keep your buying power weak. Maxibuy gives you access to the kind of discounts, like our TeamBuy, helping you save money on every carton you buy.
Stop chasing suppliers and start chasing profit. Restock your shop with Maxibuy today!
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