Meet SpottR - The Nigerian startup looking to change global retail commerce through the power of AI

SpottR is an eCommerce platform that uses artificial intelligence to help people find items they need in less than 2 minutes.

Bridging the gap between demand and supply is a central theme for most organizations. However, this “gap” means different things to different classes of customers. Product visibility, delivery, limited disposable income, etc., are all gaps that prevent demand from meeting supply.

SpottR attempts to solve this demand-and-supply gap by creating a seamless commerce process for stakeholders.

“SpottR is like eCommerce on google maps. We want people to be able to find any item they want within two minutes of thinking about it.”

SpottR achieves this lofty goal by a mix of geolocation and artificial intelligence. Vendors can sign up with their business name and list products within their inventory. The onboarding process takes less than 2 minutes. Vendors need to provide their basic contact info like email or phone number and verify the same, after which they are ready to start selling.

Customers looking for the products on SpottR are shown results based on their interest and location. For instance, if you searched for a Samsung mobile phone on SpottR, the closest mobile phone retailers with Samsung phones will appear highest on the results list.

The product also allows customers to find location or time-bound deals on items they have indicated an interest in. If a wine-lover is in the vicinity of a wine company having a sale, SpottR alerts the individual about the deal. This allows customers to get the best bang for their buck by taking advantage of those offers. The internal recommendation system also helps users discover products they might be interested in.

SpottR helps with fulfilling these orders through third-party logistics integrations. The company is building the biggest library of third-party fulfillment companies. Benjamindada.com has reliable intel that talks have commenced for a partnership with Kwik Delivery, a Lagos-based last-mile delivery company.

SpottR is not just for finding items, though. People can also create tasks with rewards similar to Fiverr, Upwork, and other freelance/gig websites. Every day SpottR users can complete these tasks to earn the rewards.

An escrow system protects all transactions on SpottR. Thus, guaranteeing the interests of all users on the platform.

Considering the fragmented nature of Africa’s commerce, SpottR’s “find-what-you-want” model looks to be a great fit. Most Africans are still untrusting of eCommerce. Being able to locate nearby vendors selling the products they need will increase trust and eventually encourage purchases.

However, SpottR is not building for the local market alone. The startup has its sights on the global market. According to SpottR’s CEO, Gerald Konwea, the platform is designed to be plug-and-play in every country in the world.

“We’ve designed SpottR in a way that we don’t need to have a physical office in any country before it goes live there. Once there is significant interest from any country, we can integrate with the local payment and logistics providers and go live.” Gerald Konwea.

According to Derek Distinfield, COO of GSD Venture studios — one of SpottR’s institutional investors, the potential of global adoption is one of the reasons it invested in SpottR. Speaking to Benjamindada.com, he said, “One of the reasons we’re big on SpottR is because it has the potential to be a unicorn. It is built on google maps and can easily be adopted in any country.”

Cliqtoken: E-commerce meets Cryptocurrency

SpottR’s most exciting feature, however, is its integration with cryptocurrency. The company offers Cliq token, a cryptocurrency token that can be used to complete transactions on the SpottR platform.

The token was created of the need to allow consumers to complete their purchases with more efficiency.

Cliq token was recently listed on BitFXT and LATOKEN for its ICO. The ICO drew participants from many countries with significant activity from Asia and the EU. During the period of the ICO, Cliq Token’s community grew more than 30X.

Currently, there are 310 million Cliq tokens in circulating supply. However, the total cap is 500 million tokens valued at $29 million at the time of writing this article.

The ICO is, however, the first stage of Cliq token’s evolution. The token is acceptable as a primary payment method on SpottR. That means people can make international purchases seamlessly so far the vendors they’re buying from accept crypto payments.

“SpottR also allows vendors to indicate if they want to receive payments in crypto. At GSD, we think SpottR will fast-track the adoption of crypto as a currency, and that has tremendous global implications.” - Derek Distenfield on behalf of GSD Venture Studio.

The real kick for Cliq token, though, is its use as collateral for purchase loans. SpottR is joining the growing list of eCommerce companies led by Silicon Valley’s Affirm that offer Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL) services.

SpottR’s use of Cliq Token targets the problem of non-consumption in societies where credit scores can be tricky. The company allows people to purchase items, provided they can offer up to 20% of the value of the item in Cliq tokens as collateral.

That means, if a customer wants to purchase a mobile phone worth $1000, they would have to provide at least $200 worth of Cliq tokens as collateral. The collateral can be redeemed when the customer completes the payment for the items purchased.

SpottR’s BNPL model solves two different problems. The first is that it helps people purchase items they need bypassing their credit history and other discriminating requirements. The second is that it helps the company buy back its Cliq tokens that customers have purchased.

Cliq Token will be available for trading on most exchanges soon, so speculation could lead to a rise in value.

SpottR’s future plans: relaunch and partnerships

So far, SpottR has enjoyed significant success. The startup has acquired 39,000+ community members and over 5,000 monthly active users. It also got into GSD Labs, a Silicon Valley-based accelerator alongside nine other startups.

GSD, SpottR’s investors have taken operational roles within the company to help with its expansion into other regions. The investors see a significant upside in SpottR’s value proposition. According to Derek Distenfield, SpottR has a huge potential to be a global company because they easily connect buyers and sellers, deliver products, and flawlessly provide loans.

In the meantime, the company is preparing to go mainstream with its offerings. Over the last six (6)  months, the company has quietly built a following of dedicated users, but it is looking to expand rapidly now. The web and iOS versions of the platform are scheduled to be available within a few weeks.

The company has also begun to secure important partnerships with global brands. In late March, SpottR hinted at late-stage conversations with  Bacardi, one of the biggest privately-owned spirits companies globally, and Nigerian Breweries, arguably the biggest bottling company in Nigeria.

The partnership involves onboarding the manufacturers onto the SpottR platform and will make it easy for consumers in Nigeria to find the closest retailer or distributor for these brands.

Gerald says that the list of possible partners for this sprint is over 40 and well over 30% are in late stages already, making him excited that SpottR will quickly deliver on its promise of helping consumers find goods and services within two (2) minutes of thinking about it.

Exciting times are ahead, with Nigerian startups increasingly looking at the global market as an attainable goal. SpottR’s structure allows it to expand rapidly and make strides in new markets with little overhead.