Nigerian B2B e-commerce startup that equips micro-businesses with the digital products and services necessary, Alerzo, has laid off 100 of its employees.
The recent layoff is coming months after the company laid off 400 of its employees in March this year.
Speaking on the recent layoff, the company said,
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“As a company, we have invested and built an end-to-end warehouse management system that has improved process automation. These technological investments have enhanced warehouse performance, including our turnover and sales metrics. Unfortunately, this has meant streamlining and consolidating certain warehouse roles”.
Sources familiar with the situation at Alerzo disclosed that most of the laid-off employees worked at the company’s 40 warehouses. They further stated that the company’s implementation of new software has led to the elimination of several approval lines in Alerzo’s warehouses, which has seen some roles become redundant.
The company disclosed that laid-off employees will be paid one month’s salary as part of their severance packages. It also noted that HMO packages for affected employees would remain active until the end of the year.
It is worth noting that from the year 2022, Alerzo has carried out a series of layoffs some of which are due to increased digitization, which saw some roles that were previously required, no longer necessary, specifically for its internal warehouse operations.
This saw Alerzo shut down 14 of its warehouses across the country, in March this year.
Founded in 2019, Alerzo is an all-in-one technology platform designed to equip micro-businesses with digital products and services necessary to run profitable and sustainable businesses.
Alerzo empowers businesses of all sizes to reach their full potential through an ecosystem of unique business tools. The startup’s comprehensive services, including banking, payment processing, loans, and business management tools, simplify day-to-day operations and allow businesses to focus on growth and success.
As one of Nigeria’s leading technological service providers, Alerzo supports over 250,000 businesses with our innovative solutions. Its POS terminals are used by thousands of people every month, with a presence in every local government in Nigeria, making its services accessible to all businesses.
At Alerzo, the startup is passionate about supporting businesses and helping them to reach their full potential.
The e-commerce startup claims to have built up a network of up to 100,000 small businesses, 90% of which are women-led. The company exclusively serves the country’s tier-2 to tier-4 cities in Southwest Nigeria – Ibadan, Ekiti, and Abeokuta, to name a few.
It connects retailers to local and multinational distributors of consumer brands, like Unilever, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble, Dangote, and PZ.
Without Alerzo, retailers can take a day off from the store to visit a central market, pay for transportation, and haul large amounts of inventory back to the store. Alerzo replaces retailers’ experience by not only reducing costs and time spent running a retail shop but also improving the livelihood of its customers.