Built in Onitsha, Anambra State, Vendo is an AI-powered commerce platform that connects verified Nigerian suppliers with buyers through WhatsApp, Telegram, and its web marketplace. Suppliers can create storefronts, list products, receive orders, and use Vendo’s logistics options without building a separate website.
Its AI shopping assistant, Vee AI, is designed to understand natural-language product requests and return matching products from verified suppliers.
THE PROBLEM IT SOLVES
Buying from a Nigerian business often starts with a chat.
A customer sees a product on social media, sends a WhatsApp message, asks for the price, requests more pictures, confirms availability, and then negotiates how to pay and receive it. Vendo is trying to turn that familiar behaviour into a structured commerce experience.
Many small businesses already sell through WhatsApp, Instagram, and other social platforms. The problem is that these channels were not originally designed to manage the entire commerce process.
A seller may need to answer the same product questions repeatedly, confirm stock manually, collect payment details, track orders, and arrange delivery.
Customers face friction too. Finding a specific product can mean scrolling through posts or messaging several sellers before finding the right item.
Vendo’s approach is to put structure behind conversational shopping.
Instead of asking customers to learn a completely new shopping behaviour, it allows them to use a channel they already understand. A customer can message Vee AI on WhatsApp or Telegram with a request such as finding black size-42 sneakers under a particular price. Vee AI then searches Vendo’s supplier inventory for matches.
That is the central product bet: make commerce behave more like a conversation.
THE PRODUCT EXPERIENCE
Vendo offers three connected ways to shop.
Customers can browse the public marketplace, visit an individual supplier’s storefront, or interact directly with Vee AI through WhatsApp and Telegram. The platform says shoppers do not need to download an app or create an account to browse and shop through its web experience.
The conversational flow is the most interesting part.
A shopper describes what they want in normal language. Vee AI searches available inventory and returns matching products with images and prices. The platform also supports image-based searches and says shoppers can describe products in English or Pidgin.
For fashion products, Vendo adds another layer through its smart size recommendations. Customers can provide their measurements once, allowing the system to remember information such as shoe and shirt sizes for future orders.
Once a customer decides what to buy, Vendo generates a Flutterwave payment link. The platform says order and delivery information can then be tracked through the same commerce system.
On the supplier side, the workflow is different.
A business creates an account, completes KYC verification, uploads products, and receives a public storefront. Its products can then appear on the marketplace and become searchable by Vee AI.
This creates an important loop; more suppliers create more inventory, more inventory makes Vee AI more useful, and a more useful shopping experience can attract more buyers.
WHAT WORKS
1. Vendo meets customers where they already are
The decision to use WhatsApp and Telegram removes one of the biggest barriers to adopting another commerce platform: learning and downloading another app.
For Nigerian sellers who already manage customers through chat, this makes the product easier to understand.
The web marketplace provides a more traditional shopping experience, while conversational shopping handles customers who prefer messaging.
2. AI has a clear job
Vendo is not using AI simply as a marketing label. Vee AI has a defined role: understand what the shopper wants, search available inventory, recommend products, and help move the customer towards an order.
That makes the AI feature connected to the core business problem rather than being an isolated chatbot.
3. Supplier onboarding is tied to the marketplace
A supplier does not just get a dashboard.
Vendo says every verified supplier receives a public storefront and automatic marketplace visibility. The supplier can list products once and make them available across the web marketplace, WhatsApp, and Telegram. That reduces the amount of repeated work required from a small business.
4. The revenue model is simple
Vendo’s public pricing is easy to understand: suppliers pay no upfront fee and Vendo takes five per cent of each sale, capped at ₦10,000.
For a small business, a transaction-based model can be easier to test than committing to another monthly software subscription.
WHAT DOESN’T WORK
The biggest weakness is that Vendo’s experience depends heavily on the quality of its marketplace.
AI can only recommend useful products if suppliers provide accurate information. If prices, sizes, product descriptions, or stock levels are outdated, the intelligence layer can produce a polished answer that still leads to a bad purchase.
Verification also solves only part of the trust problem. Vendo says suppliers go through KYC before appearing on the platform, but supplier verification does not automatically guarantee product quality, accurate descriptions, or good fulfilment.
There is also a discovery challenge.
Vendo’s conversational model sounds powerful when a customer knows exactly what they want. Browsing behaviour is different. A customer who wants to explore products casually may still prefer a traditional marketplace with strong categories, filters, recommendations, and visual discovery.
The platform also has to manage the complexity of logistics. Vendo allows suppliers to choose between self-delivery and platform logistics, which gives sellers flexibility but creates two different fulfilment experiences.
Most importantly, several of Vendo’s public performance figures are presented by the company itself. Claims such as its number of active suppliers, products, sales, and positive reviews should therefore be treated as company-reported figures, rather than independently verified market data.
BUSINESS MODEL
Vendo makes money primarily when its suppliers make sales.
The platform currently advertises a five per cent commission, capped at ₦10,000 per transaction, with no monthly subscription fee for suppliers.
It also has several potential revenue extensions built into the product.
These include platform-managed logistics, supplier storefronts, and a planned dropship API. The company can therefore potentially earn from more than simply providing a marketplace.
The model’s long-term strength will depend on transaction volume.
A five per cent commission can generate meaningful revenue when many transactions pass through the platform. However, Vendo still has to account for payment processing, AI infrastructure, customer support, verification, logistics, and other operating costs.
The platform therefore needs more than registered suppliers. It needs repeat buyers and frequent transactions.
LESSONS FOR BUILDERS
1. Do not force users to change behaviour unnecessarily
Vendo’s strongest decision may be its simplest one. Instead of asking Nigerian sellers and buyers to abandon WhatsApp, it builds commerce around a channel they already use.
The lesson for founders is straightforward: sometimes the best product is not a new destination. It is a better layer on top of an existing habit.
2. Give AI a measurable job
“AI-powered” is not a product strategy by itself.
Vendo gives its AI a specific responsibility: product discovery, recommendations, customer conversations, and order conversion. That makes the technology part of the workflow instead of a decorative feature.
3. Solve both sides of the marketplace
A marketplace cannot succeed by focusing only on customers.
Vendo gives suppliers storefronts, verification, product management, marketplace visibility, and payment support while giving shoppers search, recommendations, and multiple ways to buy.
That two-sided design is what makes the product worth studying.
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