Would you believe it if I told you that some men’s wears you buy at a boutique between N6,000 to N8,000 are less than N3,000 on some foreign online platforms plus delivery cost?
Surprisingly, you scroll past their pages on social media unconsciously every day, not knowing business opportunities are lurking.
You can start making cool money today by importing men’s clothing from China and the USA. I’m going to leave the United Kingdom out of it.
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Coincidentally, the two platforms were founded in the same year.
Does the importation of clothes come easy?
But there are certain factors you have to consider before setting out. Importation businesses or any other businesses are not MMM, no business is a get-rich scheme unless it’s a fraud. Even a fraudster would have to invest time in his dubious activities.
Also, it is very important to point out that you must learn about digital marketing and know how to optimise your product photos before uploading them on social media.
So let’s get started…
Business opportunity
I’m recommending men’s wear because you can a considerable profit provided you push out your products in front of the right customers.
At least, 8 out of 10 young men have two or more T-shirts, polo (long sleeve and short-sleeve), trousers or jeans or quality materials in their wardrobe.
The business opportunity in men’s wear importation is large considering Nigeria’s population plus the fact that Nigerian men are fashionable.
According to data from the United Nations, Nigeria has a population of 211,968,966, it could be more than this.
Out of that figure, 104.47 million are males, over 30 million falls between the ages of 25-54. The market is huge for your importation venture.
Factors to Consider Before Starting Importation Business in Nigeria
- Exchange rate
- Take off capital
- Online e-commerce to buy from
- Cost of clearing in Nigeria
- Selling tricks that work
- Location of business
- Optimisation strategy
- Medium of advertising
- Knowing the right product
- Premium or free delivery?
Exchange Rate
Every person who is in the importation business should keep abreast of the exchange rate.
You should always check the value of naira against applicable currency on whatever platform you want to use.
Naira has been bastardised by the wrong policies by the successive governments in Nigeria, so always abokifx.com to see updated exchange rates.
Take Off Capital
Most times, people think you need millions of naira to start importing goods into Nigeria, but this isn’t true. That’s one of the advantages of choosing a niche, men’s clothing.
This way, you don’t want to be a jack of all products. If you’re for only men’s wear and you continue to be consistent with it, you’re likely to become a distributor in your location.
The best part is: you can start this profitable importation business in Nigeria with as low as NGN100,000.
This takes us to the next point.
Online e-Commerce To Buy From
There are several foreign online platforms which you can buy quality men’s wear from. Some of the popular ones include:
- aliexpress,
- eBay,
- Amazon fashion,
- Wish online clothing store,
- Mr Porter,
- ASOS among others.
Of all the above list, aliexpress and Wish are the two stores to start off for a start. For instance, the cheapest men’s dress I’ve found on ASOS is seven pounds, that’s N4,900.
So, I’ll recommend aliexpress and Wish.
While AliExpress is a china-based online retail service that offers products to international online buyers, Wish on the other hand is an America-based online e-commerce that facilitate transactions between sellers and buyers around the world.
On wish, you can find men’s shirts, polo, and round-neck as low as N950, N1489, and below N2k which is worth N5K or N6K back home in Nigeria.
On Aliexpress, the same thing is applicable, the beauty of this is that the e-shopping platforms have made it easy to shop on them, so you don’t have to worry about forex exchange limitations that the CBN.
Wish and Aliexpress already have currency selection options to easily know the value of the product you want to import.
How to search for affordable wear on wish and Aliexpress:
- Use the filter button to filter from low to high price and look out for affordable, yet quality products.
- When you found one, add it to your cart
- Repeat the process till you are satisfied with the number of products you have in your cart.
- Then check out.
Knowing the Right Size
When dealing with the importation of wear, you must know the difference between American size and British size.
Two, know the commonest size among men. See below the measurement for the XS, S, M, L etc
| Size | Shoulder width | Bust | Length | Sleeve Length |
| XS | 40cm | 96cm | 63cm | 58cm |
| S | 41cm | 100cm | 65cm | 59cm |
| M | 42cm | 104cm | 67cm | 60cm |
| L | 44cm | 108cm | 69cm | 61cm |
| XL | 45cm | 112cm | 71cm | 62cm |
| XXL | 46cm | 116cm | 73cm | 63cm |
| XXXL | 47cm | 120cm | 75cm | 64cm |
Don’t do blind order!
Premium or Free Delivery?
You can find a lot of free delivery services on Aliexpress and wish, however, they come with some challenges, they include:
Some free deliveries do not come with a tracking code
Importance of Product tracking Code
A product tracking code is a code attached with the delivery of goods to enable the buyers to know when their products arrive.
It also enables the buyers to escalate the issue if the product is lost on transit.
With a tracking code on your product, you can file a case if anything goes wrong
For me, I prefer premium delivery, when you paid for delivery, your goods will be delivered on time, some times within a a week or two weeks maximum.
Unlike free delivery where you may have to wait for four weeks or more to get your goods delivered.
Cost Of Clearing In Nigeria
The number of the men’s wears you want to important determine whether to use a clearing agent or use the NIPOST.
For goods that fall within the range of N100K-N200K, NIPOST can get it delivered to your doorstep.
Aliexpress and Wish have trusted delivery firms they deal with and they make sure that your goods are not only in good condition, but they also ensure that your investment is worth by making sure you get what you order.
If you must deal with a clearing agent, check the antecedent of the company, read up reviews of customers online.
Location of business
With the advancement of technology, you can practicably site your business in any part of the country, however, make your business accessible to customers, nearness of your business to your customers will have a significant impact on your sales.
You should consider some prospective buyers who don’t order online.
Photo Optimisation Strategy
The technique of naming your image using the right keyword so that search engine crawlers can read them and understand what the image is about is known as image optimisation.
But it goes beyond that, according to Content Marketing Institute, you must make sure to “upload high-quality images in the ideal format, size, and resolution to increase user engagement” when uploading your product on social media platforms.
Medium of Advertising
There are several ways to advertise your products. Some of them include:
- Google My Business
- Google site
- Content strategy on LinkedIn
- Facebook story
- WhatsApp Business
- TikTok
I will explore the above platforms one after the other in another guide. How you can use them to drive sales with limited resources.
Another advertising platform you can take advantage of is free online market stores. Some of them allow you to upload and sell your products, we have the list at: https://infomediang.com/online-shopping-websites-nigeria
Selling Tricks That Work
If you want to reap the benefits of social media marketing, upload at least one of your products every day, be consistent.
Don’t be deterred if you don’t make a sale within one month. Continue to update your timeline.
Let your product contain the following information:
- Price (don’t hide price)
- How to place order
- Time of delivery
- Respond to inquiries from customer
- Follow up on the customer concerns etc
Take Away:
Starting men’s clothing importation business is one of the most profitable ventures you can start with N100K or more depending on your financial capabilities.
Take advantage of social media to drive tones of sales
Don’t make the mistake of ordering what you like, the needs of your prospective customers should be your priority.