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Above left: A rural retail outlet in Nigeria. Centre: Mobile-based data from field researchers allows highly detailed maps to be
created, showing the density and type of retail outlets in each area. Above right: A rural shopkeeper

I N AFRICA, THE RISE OF MOBILE Africa is breeding In the case of the Nigerian Retail
and digital technology has played a innovation in Census, mobile technology allowed
central role in addressing a wide range mobile research auditors to access digital maps to locate
of socio-economic developmental issues and enumerate areas, as well as capture a
and challenges. This, in turn, has driven fact that it now firmly positions Africa as a detailed questionnaire regarding the retail
economic and infrastructure development, spawning ground for world-leading research dynamics of every store and trading point.
as well as improving access to vital technologies. It also means that, in stark Areas were divided into blocks, with every
services such as education and healthcare. contrast to the continent traditionally being auditor assigned to an area predefined via
seen as a follower when it comes to the mapping tools, thereby ensuring that each
While much of the mobile/digital-led uptake of new technologies, it is once again and every square centimetre was covered.
innovation to date has been in these leap-frogging existing methodologies in
broad areas, it is now also proving to be a favour of more progressive, digital-based The immeasurable
boon for manufacturers wanting to bring options. This makes it a breeding ground becomes measurable
products to emerging market consumers. for innovation in mobile technology.
In the past, the vast size of the African This approach saw more than 1 600
continent has made it a minefield for A hotbed of innovation enumerators traversing the roads, streets
those brands needing to get to grips with – and in certain instances, paths – of
distribution and store activation in the Africa’s predisposition towards this Nigeria to cover close to two million retail
myriad of traditional trade outlets; be they forward-thinking approach results from the outlets. This led to the creation of a retail
on a busy main street or at the end of a massive uptake of mobile phones across digital duplicate of Nigeria on a map. This
dusty road. the continent, which has made mobile was accessible in the field via computer,
technology a familiar and easily accessible tablet and mobile. The map data included
Fortunately, the rapid uptake of mobile data-gathering tool. such detailed factors as store location,
phones across the continent means they GPS co-ordinates for each outlet, store
have now become the tool of choice The adoption of this type of classification (i.e. bricks and mortar,
for opening up previously untapped and technology has also been driven by the shack/umbrella), and details of access
unleveraged retail and product opportunities need to improve upon existing time- to amenities such as water and power.
for researchers and marketers. consuming and expensive data acquisition Enumerators also gathered trading data
methodologies. These have always been such as the size of the selling area, the
Against this backdrop, global ill-suited to Africa’s vast distances and product categories sold, in-store displays,
performance management company infrastructural and logistical constraints; payment methods and financial turnover.
Nielsen completed a world-first retail factors that have made accurate data-
census of 1,9-million retail outlets across gathering extremely challenging. Another huge advantage of mobile
Nigeria in early 2016 (Editor’s Note: see measurement is the inherent checks and
sidebar article for more detail on the Instead, mobile technology has now balances that are brought into the data
census) and, in the process, created a eliminated the lag, inaccuracy and cost collection process through the automation
blueprint for the use of mobile technology associated with traditional data-gathering of previously manual processes that save
as a market research tool across the globe. methods and turned the notion of Africa time and eliminate human error. Within the
being ‘unreachable’ in market research project, critical data validation processes
Indeed, the successful completion of the terms on its head. – such as electronic verification (through
Nigerian Retail Census is an achievement proprietary software) to remove duplicated
that cannot be underestimated, given the
mammoth scale of the project and the

Issue 4 2016 strategicmarketingafrica 17