Category: Shopping

  • Carmudi wins Best Automobile Portal of the year awards

    Carmudi wins Best Automobile Portal of the year awards

    Carmudi, Nigeria’s fast and revolutionary solution for people looking to sell and buy cars online, has been awarded the Automobile Portal of the Year at the 2015 Beacon of ICT (BoICT) Distinguished Awards. Organised by Nigeria Communications Week.

    The  award is the biggest industry event that aims to recognise and reward companies that have contributed greatly to the country’s growing e-commerce field.

    Over 80,000 readers of Nigeria Communications Week participated in voting for all 46 awards categories. The BoICT Distinguished Awards took place  at the the Eko Hotels and Suites in Lagos. Executives from Telecom, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and CBN attended and delivered keynote presentations.

    Launched in late 2013, Carmudi.com.ng has continued to grow rapidly and has over 33,000 car listings available on its site. Fast on its way to becoming Nigeria’s largest and best online vehicle marketplace, Carmudi secured over 50,000 votes to grab the Best Automobile Portal of the Year award.

    With more than 170 million people and a gross domestic  product (GDP) growing at between 4.5-9per cent  each year, Nigeria is Africa’s largest population and economy. The number of players in Nigeria’s ecommerce space has grown significantly, providing Nigerians with online solutions for all their needs. An annual increase of 30 per cent in Nigeria’s mobile app usage has visibly helped surge Carmudi’s growth in the ecommerce space. Carmudi provides customers in Nigeria with an extremely smooth and hassle-free platform to fulfill all their car related needs be it looking to sell or buy cars, auto news, and car tips.

    The Managing Director,  Carmudi Nigeria, Christian Keller, who received the awards said: “We are extremely happy and honored to have won the Best Automobile Portal of the Year title. It shows that our efforts in providing our customers with the best car shopping experience has paid off and is well received by the general public. We would like to thank our customers and voters for making this happen and will continue to expand and improve our services to bring home the same award next year”.

  • Chivita 100% connects soccer fans

    Chivita 100% connects soccer fans

    In a bid to re-emphasize and add flavour to the partnership between Chivita 100% and globally admired football club, Manchester United, Chi Limited, maker of the leading juice brand Chivita 100% fruit juice, at the weekend, held a free screening of the football match between Manchester United and Chelsea FC.

    The event which took place at the popular Kingsize Restaurant located at Oregun in Lagos had in attendance a plethora of guests including several journalists, soccer fans and officials of Chi Limited who distributed free drinks of Chivita 100% to the delight of the audience.

    The screening, organised with a view to increasing public awareness about the partnership between Chivita 100% and the English Premier League team, saw many fans showing their unalloyed support for the team and expressing their wishes to remain loyal consumers of Chivita 100% fruit juice.

    Speaking at the event, Obinna Dike, who is a Business Administration student at the Lagos State University and passionate Manchester United fan said “this is a good event organised by Chi Limited and the partnership between Chivita 100% and Manchester United is a great one that would possibly spur Manchester United to victory. It is also very interesting to see these brands connect with passionate soccer fans like me as I can now refresh with Chivita 100% fruit juice whilst watching my favourite club play”

    Another soccer fan, Rafiu Salami, a trader at Yaba Market, had this to say, “It is very nice for a proudly Nigerian company to be having such relationship with such a terrific club like Manchester United. I commend both brands for this initiative and know that the partnership would further trigger interest, excitement and patronage for these iconic brands”

    With the partnership signed in July 2014, Chivita 100% became the official fruit juice partner for Manchester United in Nigeria.

  • Mr Biggs Make a Difference campaign for children

    Mr Biggs Make a Difference campaign for children

    It is that time of the year again when  businesses celebrate the Nigerian child. Mr Biggs, the number one quick srvice restaurant (QSR) brand that focuses on  children and family has launched this year’s children’s day activation tagged Make a Difference Campaign. It’s a two-pronged campaign aimed at connecting with children on their special day and rewarding loyal customers to the brand.

    This marketing initiative leverages on corporate social responsibility (CSR) values to create the needed vibe and hype which resonates with the brand’s target consumers and pull foot traffic to the restaurants.

    Speaking at a press briefing in Lagos, the brand’s Marketing Manager, Mrs Eustesia Ogunsusi said: “Giving to charity is an age long initiative and as children-friendly and family brand, Mr Biggs seeks to lend credence to this move in a unique manner riding on her expansive network of restaurants to touch lives across the nation in a one–swoop activity. This implies that charity homes benefitting from this event will cut across all regions of the Mr Biggs operations simultaneously. This initiative will be sustained as an annual national campaign.”

    She added that during this year’s campaign, Mr Biggs will partner with Coca-Cola to excite consumers through a combo meal offer. “Customers can enjoy their great tasting Mr Biggs rice and chicken meal with a 50cl Coca Cola PET drink for just N1000.It is a discount offer. And anyone who participates in this activation stands the chance of winning a Mr Biggs meal ticket worth N4,000. This will be decided via an in-store raffle draw.”

    Ogunsusi added that Mr Biggs change collection boxes are also available at the restaurants for customers to drop their change after products are purchased, stating that the proceeds will be collated and given to charity homes. “We are assuring our esteemed customers that all processes will be transparent and customers will be updated regularlythrough the use of the media.This campaign is driven through traditional and newmedia channels. The brand will enjoy maximum exposure on Facebook given its target market to pull foot traffic to the restaurants. There will be alot of in-store communication to reinforce the message and induce buying decision.”

    There will be online activities where customers will earn reward by tagging along, liking the Mr Biggs Facebook page or  activities that will be posted on-line for customers’ participation.

    Customers are therefore advised to get connected at www.facebook.com/mrbiggsonline and be alert for all updates.

    The Campaign begins today and  ends May 31.

  • Konga.com ugrades paltform with Self-Fulfill Model

    Konga.com ugrades paltform with Self-Fulfill Model

    Nigeria’s online mall, Konga.com has announced a major upgrade that is set to change the face of e-commerce in Nigeria. The new move has been tagged the ‘Self-fulfill’ model.

    Its CEO, Sim Shagaya, said:“This upgrade to our service offering heralds a myriad of online shopping benefits toKonga’sbuyers and sellers and will further advance Konga’smission of becoming the engine of trade and commerce in Africa.”

    Since the launch of the Konga Marketplace in April last year, over 12000 sellers have registered and are actively trading from their stores on Konga.com. This online marketplace growth surpassed even Konga’s expectations and is particularly noteworthyas the platform was only open to sellers in Lagos.With the Self-fulfill model launched by Konga this week, theplatform is now opening up to sellers all across Nigeria.

    ‘Self-fulfill’basically means that all sellers on Konga.comhavetheoption to adopt more efficient, time-saving methods of shipping their orders directly to customers. Konga would however continue to support its merchants with its proprietary shipping platform called KExpress and viacompetitive shipping agreements negotiated by Konga with reputable courier partners. In this model, sellers now have more flexibility and control in the management of their stores from the point where an order is made till it get into the hands of the customer.

    With the pay on delivery option in the Self-fulfill model, Merchants can now receive payments directly from the buyer when deliveries are made, ensuring more liquidity for their businesses andbettercontrol of their finances.

    The move is also poised to be a game changer in terms of timelines for orderdeliveries; shoppers on Konga can expect faster and more flexibledelivery, with the elimination of some processing requirements that were necessary with the old operating model. Furthermore, delivery charges would now be set by Konga sellers and would be largely dependent on the weight and size of the order.As the forces of market competition come into play, we expect to see some items with ‘cheaper or free’ shipping offers.

    To support the new model, Konga.com has been revamped with a clean new look and several new features designed to promote trust and safetyfor its users. Some new features on the site that are designed to give its users more security include indicators thatshow what locations a certain product can be delivered to,the number of successful sales made by a seller, the number of a particular item sold, and product reviews from other buyers. Customers also have the opportunity to rate a product, its seller and his/ her overall experience.

     

  • Strategies for surviving price war

    Strategies for surviving price war

    The atmosphere in and around shopping places has been tense since the beginning of the first quarter of this year. Retailers have been engaged in price slashing to stay afloat, TONIA ‘DIYAN reports.

    It is the end of the first quarter of the year, and it is the tradition of retailers at this time to compete with discount and promotional sales offers. Retailers in Lagos say a price slash is the main spend driver of consumers; as such, they have promised to continue to cut prices and introduce promotional packages to help them keep their old customers and attract new ones.

    A retailer at Isaac John Street, Ikeja, Lagos, Mrs Aina Oduwole, is aware that the competition among retailers have been fierce since this quarter began. But she is not ready to give up; she will continue to introduce attractive price slash programme to retain her customers.

    She said: “I am not particular about getting prospective customers. I want to be able to keep the ones I have. My unique selling point is availability of quality items at affordable prices. I have been able to build an edge for myself and I do not intend to lose out now that there are competitions every.”

    Mrs Oduwole foresees the regular London shoppers staying and doing all their shopping in Nigeria. She has been encouraging some of her customers who travel abroad often to stay here and buy all that they need and they have been yielding. She said it took a long time to achieve that. But since the people know they can get the same quality stuffs at her place, they have not stopped patronising her.

    Like Mrs Oduwole, Rita Ochunna, who has a store at the Alade Market, also in Ikeja, said her strategy to survive the price war with her competitors and avoid defeat is by stocking varieties and a mix of what customers want all the time.

    According to her, if a retailer stocks insufficient merchandise, he  might not be able to meet up with the standard in the market. Ochunna had done a research before she leased the shop. She had asked the people living in the area what kind of goods they want to see in her store.

    Then she came to terms with the finding that if the people occupying an area where a retailer is about to be introduced, say they want branded goods from Italy or any other part of the world, that’s what the retailer have  to give them, because that’s what they would choose to buy.

    She understands that everything is chosen according to the merchandise requirement of the market place and that if after the people have been consulted; they say they are only going to consume Nigerian products; the retailer cannot give anything else if he wants to succeed.

    Findings have shown that the most common cause of price wars is when retailers are trying to increase market shares, which usually means taking share from competitors and one of the fastest way to do that is by lowering prices. Price reductions make more people choose a particular offering over those in the same category and this automatically increase market shares.

    According to experts, there are things to do when competitors change their prices. They advise that for retailers to survive the price war and come out victorious, they either respond to competitors challenge or ignore. And if competitor’s price goes up or down, it is only normal that the other retailers also move their price up or down.

    Some retailers have agreed that they do not have to win a price war; but they must be able to survive it. To survive, many of them say they are ready to always differentiate their products and segment their customers. They say they are not going to quit the business or leave the market but will step up their game by bringing in innovations into what they have to offer.

    Experts have also advised that when it comes to price wars, it is important to think hard as a retailer and know how to survive and possibly win in the market since it is difficult to know what competitors are thinking. They say it is always important to remain vigilant, control costs and do the best one can at segmenting the market, pricing and at differentiating products.

    Broll Nigeria, a body responsible for the management of shopping malls in the country has always advised that if a competitor serves the same customers as another, one could segment the market by lowering prices only to customers who really consider the competitor. A retailer, who wants to be immune to competitive price pressure should focus on differentiating his products, in other words, adding value and targeting customer segments with offerings designed for them.

    For Modupe Shopeju, a grocery retailer in Gbagada, Lagos, to stay in the competition, she would read the industry news and competitor’s press releases. She would find out why competitors made a price change.

    According to her, it might be that such retailer is attempting to get rid of excess inventory or trying to fill a factory. Its costs may have gone up, the price change may be temporary and not necessary for her to follow suit. She understands that her competitors will lower their prices in response and they’re not going to sit back and let her take their share in the market.

    Shopeju said she understands that to win a price war doesn’t mean putting competitors out of business. What it should mean is ending up with more profit when the price war is over than when it started. She says her strategy is to lower costs by increasing volume.

  • Konga excites customers with ‘Found on Konga’ campaign

    TO satisfy customers as well as ease their online shopping experience, Konga, Nigeria’s largest online mall, has launched a new campaign called #FoundOnKonga to flaunt the over 150,000 products in its stock and demonstrate its claim of having the largest pool of products in the online mall segment in Nigeria.

    The campaign enriches the lifestyle of shoppers and makes their dreams of finding any item they need on the site come through, irrespective of the uncommonness of the item.

    Gabriel Gab-Umoden, Konga’s Vice-President, Marketing, informed that the campaign is to show young aspirational Nigerians that everything they need to live their dream lifestyle could be ‘Found on Konga’, no matter how uncommon the item is.

    According to him: “The objective of the campaign is to get the fans of Konga and the general public to embrace the ease that comes with shopping on a platform that gives them access to everything they need to achieve their dreams and live their dream lifestyle.”

    Gab-Umoden informed that a lot of Konga’s customers are already identifying with the campaign as Don Jazzy and Tiwa Savage, two of Nigeria’s biggest artistes recently signed by Konga as ambassadors for the online mall, are at the forefront of the campaign and will appear in all the ‘Found on Konga’ communication materials scheduled to be launched soon.

    As part of the campaign, the celebrity ambassadors, Don Jazzy and Tiwa Savage have started generating some social media buzz, with tweets and posts about the interesting and amazing things they have ‘Found on Konga’, and recruiting their fans into the fun movement. Just a few days into the campaign, #FoundonKonga has been a number one twitter trend in Nigeria.

    Head PR and Brand Management for Konga, Olatomiwa Akande, said: “The campaign is designed to create a community of shoppers who would prefer a one-stop online mall for everything they need to going the extra mile in sourcing the various items they need from multiple online sites.  It goes to exemplify to our customers that with Konga, you can find just any item you desire.”

  • Our expectations of Buhari, others, by market leaders

    Some market leaders have urged the newly elected government to come to their aid on some pressing issues that have been of great concern to them.

    The leader of Ibafo Market in Ogun State and Saw Mill Market in Lagos, Alhaja Fawusatu Ikumapami, wants the president-elect to provide electricity supply to the market. “We need steady light for our businesses. If electricity supply is steady here, the market will attract investors from far and near and will be more developed than what it is today,’’ she said, adding that the president-elect should also help reconstruct the bad road leading to the market.

    She said the development would help traders spend less on transporting their produce to the market and would make their customers visit again and again.

    We want our president-elect to give Ibafo market a face-lift. The market is small, and we want it rebuilt to accommodate all of us. “We are facing the challenge of free movement and some of us are left with no choice but to display our wares on the walkway and on the road and outside the market.

    “We have a land that is wasting away; part of it has been turned to trailer park, we beg the new government to help us utilise it and build a bigger market for us. We also need a local government of our own and want close monitoring on those that will be working on this project, some contractors sometimes do not carry out their duties diligently,” she said.

    Like Ikumapami, the leader of Saw Mill market in Barriga-Lagos, Mrs Abibatu Amusa, also wants steady power supply, a good road and pipe-borne water in the market.

    Most importantly, she wants the  fallen electric pole beside the transformer which the market uses, to be erected to avoid any tragic event occurring.

    “The electric pole has been in that position for eight years. It is dangerous. We appeal to the incoming government to help fix it,” she added.

  • Back-to-school shopping:  Bigger discounts, lower sales

    Back-to-school shopping: Bigger discounts, lower sales

    Parents and their wards are preparing for the new school term. For retailers, these are supposed to be days of bigger sales. But things are different. Traders are lamenting that even with the bigger discounts they are offering, sales are not encouraging. What could be responsible? TONIA ‘DIYAN asks.

    Detailers may be in for a disappointing season this year as they experience weak sales in back-to-school items. With back-to-school shopping in full swing, retailers are expecting a bumper in sales, but to the shopper, the reverse is the case.

    Back-to -school is one of the biggest shopping periods of the year and retailers usually begin promotional sales early. Over time, it has also become, perhaps, the most prolonged shopping period of the year, with families buying school items from practically two weeks to resumption until after classes start.

    According to a survey, more than a quarter of parents plan to finish their shopping after the start of the new term, probably because of the economic situation of the country.

    “We prepare for back-to-school sales every term, but this term is different from the last one. We have introduced ridiculous discounts on all Back-to-school items, but to our greatest surprise, turnout from parents and their ward to purchase these items is very low,” Martha Edward, a retailer at the Back- to- School Section of the Aswani  Market, Lagos, said. She said customers were shopping more frequently but they are making smaller purchases over a longer period, rather than doing one huge buy. Some of them would rather window shop, sight-see, compare prices from one stall to the other and walk away.

    She added that the market witnessed a large number of visitors early in the week when it was opened for business. Edward said: “There is no doubt that the market was full to its brim on Tuesday as parents who were here with their wards struggled to find their ways to the Back-to- school section of the market.  Majority of them complained that the economy is in tough shape and that they have spent a lot stocking up food during the election period and for Easter. I think this term, we have lost Back-to-school bumper sale to preparations for the Easter celebration as well as the elections.”

    The Nation Shopping observed that retailers are giving away cheap prices on Back-to-school items this season. They are also giving out price-matching guarantees to customers in an effort to stay relevant and competitive.

    Some retailers are offering two times less the original prices of  items such as rulers, glue, paper, coloured pencils, erasers, crayons, ballpoint pens and markers. There are some other retailers who are known for their steep Back-to-school promo, they attested to the fact that they have obviously started selling early and would make sure they stay relevant throughout the season.

    Also, owners of bookshops in Mushin, Lagos and its environment said they are responding to competition so they don’t lose out on sales. They are hoping parents and guardians will do some impulse buys this term. They believe that when a retailer needs to attract shoppers with something other than product. It is important to use price and time.

    Retailers are busy serving the needs of millions of shoppers who seem to hold all the cards when it comes to getting cheap merchandise. These retailers prefer to mark down items (place items on discounts) to help them clear stock. And they’re doing it out of a need to keep shoppers with hundreds of other options interested, especially during crucial buying seasons like Back-to-school.

    A shopping list at the beginning of a new term is short because parents would want to cut costs; therefore, they would fall back on old items that can be used again to enable them meet other important needs, such as school fees.

    It is not news that school items are sold at discounted rates this season. The news is that consumers are not responding to these discounts as expected.

    Some of them complain that they have spent their money celebrating Easter and stocking food stuffs during the election; as such, they do not have enough money to spend on school items. They added that it is not necessary to start a new term with new items; old items could be used if they look good.

    Parents are, however, being judicious on school supplies as they purchase fewer new school outfits. But because their kids are outgrowing clothing, they may have to cave in to the trend.

    On the other hand, while sales  remain unstable, school sales have helped push Internet retail revenue up slightly. Secondary school pupils in particular are very savvy when it comes to shopping via the Web. It seems they were born with computers in their hands, they know how to use the Internet to their advantage, so they’re surfing the Web to get the best prices and the best deals.

    The third term of every academic year is loaded as that is when promotion exams are written as well as other entrance examiniations.

    The holiday season is the biggest time of the year for retailers.

    These sales can account for as much as 40 percent of a retailer’s yearly sales. Historically, nearly one-fifth of the industry’s yearly sales come from holiday months, making the holiday season the top consumer-spending event of the year, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF).

    ‘’When it is time for school sales, we usually look ahead to another season holiday sales,’’ says Eniola Owolabi, a Bookshop owner at Onipan-Lagos.

    According to her, retailers are looking at merchandise as sales continue to get weak and markdowns are higher than normal.

    She also said most retailers have decided to cut  stocks for some time, adding that it might reflect in sales this month.

  • Winners emerge in ICM promo

    Winners have emerged in the Ikeja City Mall Promo tagged ‘Easter Eggtravaganza’.

    Six winners emerge from the promo.

    The one week promo was in three folds. The first was the ‘Easter Bunny Promo’. To participate, shoppers submitted their receipts of N5,000 purchase with their contacts at designated boxes placed at the entrances into the mall. And in a raffle draw, winners were selected and contacted. They won gifts donated by participating stores.

    The stores include Mr Price, Cold Stone, Bheerhugz Cafe, Sports World, Nike, Swatch, Da Viva, black|Up, Bruno’s Place, Jack & Jones, Seven Eagle Spur Restaurant, Harmony, V Shop, Shoprite, Mango, Enzzo, Diva Accessories, and Kidz Country, KFC.

    On Easter Sunday, there was the treasure hunt called ‘The Easter Bunny Treasure Trail’ where shoppers had to search Twitter, Facebook and the Ikeja City Mall blog for clues about participating tenant stores to help them locate treasures(The Easter Eggs) strategically positioned inside participating stores. The clues were uploaded on the eve of Easter Sunday to ensure fairness in the whole process.

    Only shoppers who purchased items worth N5,000 on Sunday were automatically qualified for the second phase of the promo. And those who discovered the Easter Egg won N10,000 each to spend in any of the participating stores in the mall. Ten winners emerge from the second promo.

    The third phase, tagged ‘Easter Bunny Lucky Walk’ saw the mall’s bunny walk round the mall the three days, sharing gifts to more than 20 people, appreciating them for their patronage and having selfies with them. Altogether, more than 35 people benefited from the promo.

    At the raffle draw session, the Mall’s Marketing Manager, Eniola Ositelu advised participating stores to always encourage their customers to submit purchase receipt whenever there is a promo. “It is important that our tenants remind their customers that a promo is ongoing to ensure that every store participating actually has a winner to attend to.”

    According to Ositelu, the Easter promo benefits everyone who is involved.

    He said: “A loyal shopper to the mall would come and shop regularly, and when he does, tenants experience or maintain high turnover. When turnover is maintained, they can pay our rent. Therefore, it is a win-win situation for everybody involved in this promo.”

    “One unique feature with our Easter promo this year is that we are rewarding more people than we did last year. Our Easter Bunny Trail is something different in the retail shopping mall industry in the country. We have succeeded in making the whole exercise engaging by testing the knowledge of shoppers and asking them to locate specific stores inside the mall.”

    The idea is to help shoppers acquaint themselves with our stores. When we do our job and ensure that people walk into the mall and our tenants have the correct products, the correct pricing, the correct model, it will always be a win-win situation. And with this, we have been able to build a cordial relationship with our tenants, we have also employed liaison officers to help us communicate with them to make our promotional programs successful, we have a cordial relationship.”

    On the budget for the promo, he said it is usually something substantial and beneficial because it translates to more foot traffic for all and at the end of the day it is usually a rewarding situation for those involved.

    He said most of the promotions occur during festive period where most people are chanced to be at the mall and are engaged as oppose to shopping malls that are located in enclosed regions.

    “For our promotional offers, public holidays help us to succeed as well as our location. And to achieve a successful promo, we put in something substantial, most times, 70 percent effort and it is beneficial to us because it translates to more foot traffic for all of us.”

    Ositelu added that the mall has the highest foot traffic in Nigeria, and in West Africa particularly during public holidays.

    “We have realised that people embrace our promotional offers and over the years we have seen more people participate. At the initial stage, people were sceptical but as time went on and people began to see the authenticity of our promos, we began to enjoy huge turnout.

    “So far, our biggest promo has been our fashion show and this is because 45 per cent of out tenants are into fashion. Therefore, we look forward to a colourful fashion show the second quarter of this year. So far, turn out from shoppers have been very encouraging and amazing,” he said.

    For the Promotions Supervisor, Festus Adinoyi, working with the mall has been rewarding.

    “My experience has been rewarding, my job as the Promotion Supervisor of this mall has broaden my scope unlike when I was just the brand ambassador. My duty is to liaise with store owners in the mall and make them understand the benefit of promotional offers,” he said.

     

  • Nigerians spend averagely £1,059 on luxury retail

    Nigerians spend averagely £1,059 on luxury retail

    Recent statistics from Heathrow airport, London have shown that Nigerians are the highest spenders on luxury.

    The Heathrow luxury retail and VIP services which was previously only offered to dignitaries and royalty, can now be pre-booked by passengers flying through Heathrow in London, United Kingdom, on First or Business Class.

    Emerging number one on the list of nationalities, Nigerians have become early adopters of this. Spending both in luxury retail and VIP services at Heathrow, Nigerians who patronise the service spend an average of £1,059 per visit on luxury retail.

    For departures and arrivals from Heathrow, the service offers a dedicated entrance to the airport, a chauffeur-driven luxury car ride to and from the aircraft and a private lounge as a waiting area. The passenger is assisted with their check-in, immigration and baggage collection procedures; creating an exclusive and private travel experience.

    Another offering from Heathrow is the Personal Shopping service which is available to all passengers flying through the airport. The bespoke service provides the passenger with a dedicated Personal Shopper to accompany them to the terminal of their choice, for consultation during their purchases. Personal shoppers cater to language requirements with staff members who are fluent in Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo as well as other local and international languages.

    Commenting on the service, Jonathan Coen, Heathrow’s Retail Director stated, “The Personal Shopping service is incredibly successful at Heathrow, especially with our international passengers. The service started in October 2013 with a five member team and just over a year on, we have grown to 15 members who are on hand from the first to the last flight and offer assistance in 38 languages.”

    He further stated that “Heathrow’s VIP Service was originally designed for dignitaries such as Heads of State, but we recognised that the privacy and exclusivity that we offered is something that many passengers are looking for in their own lives. Making the service available to First Class and Business Class passengers, we now provide a quality experience that allows our passengers to enjoy a personalised service and we’re delighted to welcome many of these from Nigeria.”

    Heathrow’s exclusive Personal Shopping service gives passengers access to more than 140 retails and luxury brands, matching the variety and quality of London’s most high-end shopping districts such as Bond Street, Sloane Street and Knightsbridge.