What began as strong revenue growth for a Nigerian marketing and e-commerce operation has evolved into a deeper conversation about profitability, transparency, and the structural gaps within the country’s digital business ecosystem.

In 2024 and into 2025, TeeybAds, a performance marketing firm, expanded its operations to include the building and management of in-house e-commerce brands alongside its client portfolio. On the surface, the numbers appeared promising. Orders were increasing, revenues were rising, and financial statements reflected growth. However, a closer examination revealed a more troubling reality. Despite consistent inflows, profitability remained elusive.

“We had so much revenue but zero profit,” said founder Toheeb. “The account statement suggested we were making money, but in reality, funds were being lost in areas we could have controlled better. If we had full visibility of our numbers.”

According to him, the underlying issues ranged from high costs associated with failed deliveries and rising advertising spend per order, to poorly tracked inventory and operational expenses that gradually eroded margins. The challenge was not just financial, it was structural.

Industry observations suggest that this experience is not isolated. Many Nigerian e-commerce operators, particularly those reliant on cash-on-delivery models, face similar constraints. Existing global tools such as accounting software and analytics platforms often fail to address the unique dynamics of the local market, including naira-based unit economics and the complexities of logistics and payment systems.

As a result, founders are frequently forced to make decisions based on fragmented or incomplete data—an issue that can significantly impact long-term sustainability.

In response to this gap, Toheeb and his team developed Numbatrak, an in-house business intelligence platform tailored specifically for Nigerian e-commerce operations. The solution integrates key components of the business cycle, including inventory management, accounting, and marketing performance tracking, into a unified system.

Currently deployed internally across TeeybAds’ own e-commerce brands, Numbatrak is designed to provide real-time clarity on business performance, enabling operators to track true profitability and make informed decisions.
The platform is expected to be made publicly available, with a waitlist already open for Nigerian e-commerce founders.

With its guiding principle, “Know your numbers”, Numbatrak reflects a growing recognition within the ecosystem: that revenue alone is no longer a sufficient measure of success. For many businesses, the real challenge lies not in generating income, but in understanding and retaining it.

As Nigeria’s e-commerce sector continues to expand, solutions that address these foundational gaps may prove critical in shaping the next phase of sustainable growth.