Ever wondered how olx makes it’s money if at all everything is free? Well as it turns out, you might have not been alone. Once a one stop for anyone who wanted anything from anyone in Kenya is finally calling it quits at least from two major African markets; Kenya and Nigeria. OLX which allows visitors sell and buy stuff without asking for a commission like many platforms out there, mainly gets its revenue from contextual adverts as well as premium listings which are placed at strategic positions for more visibility to potential buyers.
OLX acquired a once popular e-commerce site “dealfish” back in 2012 with hope on capitalizing to the growing thirst for e-commerce solutions in the region. It prides in simplicity and reliability, something many platforms have struggled with. Other sites offering similar service include pigiame and dealkenya.
Verifiable information from the company indicate that staff have already been served with a termination notice starting in March while senior executives will leave somewhere in April. OLX model is abit complex with no clear ways of revenue generation unlike jumia which charges a commission from sellers for every product sold through their platform. In addition, jumia has more control on the type of ads put on their platform as most retailers usually need to first have a contract in place to be allowe on the platform.