01
You cut the price and sales rose.
You were also restocked that week, and a competitor ran out. Which one actually did it? Nobody in the room knows.
retail evidence · lagos
Your sales moved? We can tell you why.
Backspace is for brands, shops and online sellers in Nigeria. We watch what really sells, in store and online. Then we tell you the one thing to do next.
Plain English, always
One clear action per answer
Every answer shows where it came from
the problem
Guessing is expensive. Most teams are still doing it.
Sales go up. Sales go down. Nobody can say why. So the next decision is a guess as well, and the one after that.
02
A product looks unpopular.
It was missing from the shelf for nine days. People wanted it and could not buy it — and the report reads like weak demand.
03
A launch looked strong online.
The chatter was real. The product never reached most of the shops where somebody would actually have bought it.
how it works
Three steps. That is the whole thing.
You do not need to understand data. If you can describe your business, you can use this.
01 — we watch
We see what really sells.
What sold, at what price, what was on offer and what ran out — from supermarket tills, your own stock records, your online store, and what people are saying on social.
02 — we work it out
We find what caused it.
We compare what changed against what stayed the same, separate the real cause from the coincidence, and tell you how sure we are.
03 — you act
You get one clear action.
Not a dashboard to interpret. One thing to do, why it is worth doing, and a way to check afterwards whether it worked.
what you get
Every answer arrives as one card. You can read it in a minute.
JOB BX‑01428 · BREAKFAST CEREAL · LAGOS
Proposed
What we saw
Your sales fell 8% over four weeks.
Your price went up 6% in four shops. Three shops ran out at least once.
A cheaper rival pack arrived in two of them.
What we think
Price and empty shelves together, not price alone.
We cannot separate them perfectly — we are missing display records for
about 40% of the days.
What to do
Hold your price. Fix the stock problem first.
Keep the price where it is in the shops that are selling well. In the
three that ran out, get them restocked and try a second display — no discount.
What we expect
A 3–8% recovery in the six shops we test.
That is a range, not a promise. We will measure it and tell you what
actually happened.
28 shops + online
12 products
Aug – Sep
Not enough evidence for open markets
The card always tells you the same four things.
- What we saw, with the dates and the shops it came from.
- What we think caused it — and where we are guessing, said plainly.
- One thing to do, small enough to actually do this week.
- How we will check it, so next month you know whether it worked.
Tap the buttons under the card to follow one job from a suggestion through to a measured result.
what it looks like
It works on a laptop or a phone. Take a look at both.
Breakfast cereal, Lagos
28 shops · updated this morning
1 – 30 September
−8%Your sales
+6%Your price
3Shops ran out
2New rivals
Your sales against the rest of the category
weekly
What to do next3 cards
Hold your price. Fix the stock problem first.
Breakfast cereal · 6 shops · expected +3–8%
Do thisCheck the new rival pack in two shops.
Arrived 12 September · cheaper per gram
WatchWe cannot answer the open-market question yet.
No coverage outside modern shops
Not enough
3 newGood morning.
Here is what changed in your category this week.
do this
Hold your price. Fix the stock problem first.
Three shops ran out. That looks more like the cause than your price.
watch
A cheaper rival pack arrived.
Two shops, from 12 September. Worth a look before it spreads.
not enough evidence
We cannot answer this one yet.
You asked about open markets. We do not cover them, so we will not guess.
Today
Cards
Shops
You
These are designs, not a working product. We are building it now with partners in Lagos.
who it is for
One shelf or a thousand. Start where you are.
for small brands and online sellers
Pulse
You want to know whether your category is moving, in store or online, and where to put your attention this week.
- A short read every week
- Prices, stock and social, watched for you
- No data team needed
for growing brands
Decisions
You are choosing between real options — a price, a pack, an offer, where to launch — and you want evidence behind the choice.
- Compare options side by side
- An honest range, not a false number
- A plan to check it afterwards
for large brands, chains and marketplaces
Intelligence
You have your own systems and your own data, and you need this to plug into them and hold up to scrutiny.
- Connects to your tills, stock and online store
- Your data stays yours, and stays separate
- Every answer can be traced back
your data
Your numbers stay yours. Here is exactly how we treat them.
These are the four things people ask us before they start.
Book a demoWhatever you already have. A list of what you sell is enough to begin. Sales, stock or online orders make the answers sharper, in whatever form they are already in — you do not need a data team to hand anything over.
Only you. Your numbers sit in your own workspace. Nobody else using Backspace can see them, we never sell them, and they are never mixed into anyone else’s answers.
Yes, at any time. It stays yours the whole way through. Ask and we will export everything to you and delete our copy.
We are onboarding our first group of brands, shops and online sellers in Lagos now. Tell us your category and we will show you where you fit and when you can begin.
start here
Your next decision is coming. Make it with evidence.
Tell us what you sell and where. We will come back with a worked example from your own market.
Book a demoWould rather just ask a question? Contact us.