/Graveyard/Chopnownow

Chopnownow

Food delivery service.

🇳🇬 NigeriaE-commerce & RetailRebranded or absorbed

Epitaph

“Here lies ChopNowNow. Its Lagos dark kitchen grew fast on free delivery and a comedian's endorsement. But 19.5 percent food inflation and thirty-percent margins left no room, and the moment delivery stopped being free, customers took their appetite elsewhere. The founder now packs groceries as ShopNowNow.”

Overview

Born
2020 (Year)
Died
February 2024 (Month)
Lifespan
4 years
Fate
Rebranded or absorbed
Headquarters
🇳🇬 Nigeria
Category
E-commerce & Retail, Quick Commerce
Stage at death
Bootstrapped
Primary cause
Business model or unit economics
Contributing causes
Competition, Pricing, External shock

Death certificate

Death certificate for Chopnownow

Timeline

  1. 2020Chopnownow founded

    Olamide Olaleye launches a dark-kitchen food delivery brand in Lagos

  2. 2022Glovo recognition

    named Glovo's 'Customer favourite food brand'

  3. 2022Food inflation spike

    inflation hits 19.5%, squeezing customer spending and margins

  4. February 2024Shutdown and pivot

    ChopNowNow winds down food delivery and founder pivots to ShopNowNow grocery delivery

Autopsy report

Why did Chopnownow shut down?

ChopNowNow, a Lagos dark-kitchen food delivery brand founded by Olamide Olaleye, wound down its food-delivery operations around February 2024 after dropping its free-delivery offer caused disloyal customers to defect to rivals amid 19.5% food inflation and thin 30% margins; the founder pivoted the business into a grocery-delivery venture, ShopNowNow.

What Chopnownow attempted

A single-location dark kitchen in Lagos (Lekki/Victoria Island) delivering affordable meals, later adding dine-in seating and listing on Jumia Food, OFood and Glovo.

What worked

Free delivery drove rapid growth (from 3 to 30 delivery motorcycles in three years); influencer marketing with comedian Mr Macaroni; named Glovo's 'Customer favourite food brand' in 2022; founder recouped his bootstrap investment.

Early warning signs

Food inflation reached 19.5% by mid-2022, pushing customers to cook at home; thin 30% profit margins left no buffer for rising input costs.

What happened

Unable to raise prices for price-sensitive customers, ChopNowNow cut costs and eventually removed free delivery; customers migrated to competitors offering discounts, forcing asset liquidation and the wind-down of the food-delivery business by February 2024, after which the founder pivoted to grocery delivery under ShopNowNow.

Lessons for future builders

  • Loyalty bought with subsidies leaves the day you stop paying for it. Build margins that survive without giveaways and earn retention on service, not price, before free delivery becomes a habit you cannot afford.

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Sources

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