Response Architects strikes exclusive deal with Alibaba to launch live shopping in Africa

Response Architects, a multichannel retail business, has announced a new partnership with Alibaba to launch Livestream Shopping across Africa.

After the successful launch of ShopEX,, the first international TV shopping business in Nigeria, in 2018, the VC-funded startup is now teaming up with Alibaba Cloud, the digital technology and intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group, under an exclusive agreement to launch an African livestream shopping platform, Penda, in major markets including Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya.

Penda will provide an end-to-end payment and fulfilment solution for vendors livestreaming across Africa. The platform’s architecture will enable merchants, influencers, and Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) to create and host their own livestream events to launch products, feature demos, and interact with customers in real time. In-app purchasing will allow seamless payment without leaving the livestream event or app.

Livestream shopping, or simply live shopping, is used by brands and retailers to promote and sell products on digital platforms. Think of it as TV shopping but with more of an interactive approach, incorporating live chat with the hosts as well as a (typically) more authentic, less polished presentation.

For the last several years, live shopping has seen a meteoric rise in participation and revenue. In China alone, the industry generated over $400 Billion in Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) sales with Alibaba’s Taobao livestream registering 300 million users in 2021 and generating over $323 Billion in GMV sales.

Social commerce, buying and selling of goods or services directly within a social media platform, is also finding its trend in many African countries. According to the Q1 2022 Social Commerce Survey, ‘the social commerce industry in Africa & Middle East is expected to grow by 70.3% on an annual basis to reach US$8,903.7 million in 2022.’

In addition, it is also expected that the ‘social commerce GMV will increase from US$8,903.7 million in 2022 to reach US$13,337.2 million by 2028.’

Built on an integrated livestreaming and e-commerce platform, Penda will provide merchants with a complete suite of business solutions, from store set-up to payment, fulfilment, inventory management, and analytics, as well as access to finance to source and ship products from manufacturers and suppliers in China.

Response Architect ’s teleshopping business, ShopEX, has generated over $2.5 million in sales since launch in 2020, but Chief Executive, Isi Abebe, sees livestreaming as an opportunity to pivot the TV shopping model and increase market share among a younger generation of mobile users and entrepreneurs.

Isi Abebe, Founder of ShopEX, commented, ‘We tapped into this opportunity because we realized a lot of vendors were seeking new ways of marketing their goods using video content and engaging with their customers. We see Penda as the convergence of social and e-commerce which will radically change the way people shop on the continent.”

Commenting on the exclusive agreement with Penda, Daniel Jiang, General Manager (Middle East and Africa) and Head of International Hybrid Cloud Business Development, Alibaba Cloud Intelligence, said, “We are delighted to collaborate with Response Architects to enable the digital economy in the region.”

Response Architects is a VC-funded retail and technology company specializing in e-commerce and omni-channel marketing. The company is advised by Chris Folayan, former CEO of Mall for Africa and early-stage investors include Echo VC, Expert Media partners, and HAVAIC.