MFA LogoAfrica eShop
How an innovative idea was converted into reality through

eCommerce technology solutions

resulting in creation of Africa's largest shopping APP giving
access to 8.5 million items, from 200+ USA and UK stores.

Introduction

  • Client Name

    Mall for Africa
  • Business

    eCommerce / Retail
  • Country

    African Country

Mall for Africa is based out of Nigeria and is an eCommerce solution provider which helps customers in Africa and other countries to purchase items from more than
200 US/UK stores that also deliver your things to your doorstep.
Mall for Africa is amongst the leading global brands in the industry of logistics. The division provided by them is an unrivaled portfolio of logistic learning services that range from national and international parcel delivery, e-commerce shipping and also fulfillment solutions, international express, road, air, and also ocean transport to industrial supply management chain.

Turnover$10 Million
Services in
  • NigeriaNigeria
  • KenyaKenya
  • RwandaRwanda
  • TanzaniaTanzania
  • UgandaUganda
50 more countries across different continents.

My association with Hidden Brains is not just a customer-provider relationship. We are in fact partners. I believe Hidden Brains has equal contribution as mine to the African market through the Mall for Africa solution.

Chris Founder & CEO, Mall for Africa

Business Goal

Mall for Africa is one of Africa’s global e-commerce solution providers, it provides the African’s a platform where they can purchase items directly from international online retailers or companies that are not easily accessible to the African population. The app that is patented by them as well as the platform and payment systems provide permission to access hundreds of US and UK e-commerce retailers along with 8.5 million products and more combined. Mall for Africa visions towards moving ahead in the global digital infrastructure.

Pain Areas

  • Big brands from US/UK do not provide direct delivery to Africa and other regions emerging nearby.
  • To import an item for any individual a lot of paperwork is required.
  • The ratio of fraud is at the high bar.
  • There are dependencies of storage on a third party.
  • No proper understanding of technology by the ordering staff members.
  • Emerging markets have trouble in payment in foreign currencies.
  • Various countries have various rules.
  • Calculations can be complex and difficult.
  • Warehouse management is a difficult task.
  • No to-go option for customers to place orders.

Hidden Brains Approach & Solution

Hidden Brains played an important role towards providing an understanding and capturing the concept and nailed it by launching iOS and Android apps along with chrome application. This was an instant hit in African countries due to its user-friendly and responsive features.

The goal is towards expanding it to other countries and to have a partnership between MFA and DHL express. Hidden brains have created and launched multiple e-commerce websites well within its regions such as Latin America, the Middle East, Russia, and also some of the Caribbean countries where they are customizing as per each of its import/custom laws on all the 3 platforms, Chrome, Android, and iOS.

  • Doc SuccessIn the first stage, we started changing our inventory; however, with time it became difficult to keep upgrading and importing.
  • Doc SuccessEnhanced browser extensions as well as the mobile native apps for user face interface to fetch products to our cart directly from the third party.
  • Doc Success Everything is managed at our store itself which means that there is no technical change or support required for a third-party store.
  • Doc Success Different payment methods that accept both local and foreign currency.
  • Doc Success Multiple security layers to avoid fraud prevention measurements.
  • Doc Success Implantation of AI/ML APIs in regards to fetching HS code and the category of the product based on the product name.
  • Doc Success Allows processing of the Amazon store and keeping the data up to date.
  • Doc Success Accuracy level touched with time as bulk data of millions of items was gathered and other calculations were performed.
  • Doc Success HS-based code data along with system implementations restrict the product based on the price, quality, category solely depending upon rules stated by the country.
  • Doc SuccessOrder processing is automated as in when the order is placed the order is on the platform as well.
  • Doc Success Third-party APIs were introduced for atomization in the shipment process.
  • Doc Success Better workflow custom for different operations in the warehouse such as finance, customer service, and other basic operations.
  • Doc Success To make a mark in different markets many multiple white-label were introduced.
  • Doc SuccessTaking care of infrastructure as well as server client.

Achievements

  • 20+

    payment gateways integrated

  • 500+

    Average orders processed daily

  • 4000+

    daily orders processing during festival season

  • $1M+

    Transactions processed monthly

  • 200+

    eCommerce stores integrated

  • 50+

    Countries Deliveries across different continents

  • 10+

    Years in business

  • 4+

    Warehouses for order processing

  • 8.5

    Million products to show

Technical Information

Front End

Prototype Tools
HTML 5CSSBootstrap JS
Framework
JqueryJavaScript
Template Engine
Smarty 3.0

Back End

Programming Language
PHP 7.3.xASP .NET
.Net based application to crawl product data from third party stores
Programming Framework
Core PHPCodeigniterLaravel

Mobile Application

Android Native App
JAVA Language
IOS Native App
swift
Database
MYSQL 5.7MS SQLSQLite
Integrations
Integrations More than 30 third-parties integrated

Other Tech Info

Design Tools
PhotoshopAdobe Dreamweaver
Security Standards
OWASP, data validations, authentication, authorization, provisioning & reports, sensitive data encryption, Cryptography, exception management, interface access privilege

Client Testimonial

client Chris
Video
Hey! there :)
Phone