# Retail and commerce

> Give informal merchants, distributors and marketplaces a shared view of stock, sales, payments and demand, so they can restock sooner, get credit and serve customers better. Vertical ontology, workflows and compliance notes for retail and commerce in Africa.

Canonical URL: https://www.boltcliq.com/industries/retail-commerce
Part of: https://www.boltcliq.com/llms.txt

Give informal merchants, distributors and marketplaces a shared view of stock, sales, payments and demand, so they can restock sooner, get credit and serve customers better.
- Sector pack: Starting ontology for merchants, products, orders and payments
- POS + wallets: Typical sources: point of sale, mobile money, distributor and marketplace data
- Consumer + payments: Regulators in scope: data protection, payments and consumer rules
- WhatsApp first: Channels: WhatsApp, USSD, SMS, POS and marketplace apps
### The challenge
- Much of African retail is informal. Shop owners and market traders keep records in notebooks or on phones. They buy from wholesalers and distributors on credit or for cash, often with a salesperson visiting. Customers pay by cash, mobile money and increasingly by card or QR. Formal retailers and marketplaces run POS and e-commerce systems, but their data stops at their own shelf or app. Fast moving goods companies depend on distributors for visibility into what sells.
- Because stock and sales are not recorded in a shared way, merchants run out of popular items or hold dead stock. Distributors cannot see which outlets will reorder. Lenders have no sales history for a trader who is perfectly creditworthy. Brands guess demand by region from shipments, not from sales. Payment records exist at the wallet or bank but are not tied to what was sold. Price shocks from currency swings and supply disruption reach shelves before anyone plans for them.
### The ontology
**Objects**
- 13 core things
- The nouns of the sector. Each object has an identity, properties and a history, and maps to records in the source systems.
- Merchant
- Outlet
- Product
- SKU
- Stock level
- Order
- Sale
- Payment
- Customer
- Distributor
- Supplier
- Promotion
- Credit line
**Links**
- 8 core relationships
- How the objects connect. Links turn separate tables into a graph that people and agents can walk.
- Merchant operates Outlets
- Outlet stocks Products at a Stock level
- Sale reduces Stock level and generates Payment
- Order is placed with Distributor or Supplier
- Distributor supplies Outlets
- Customer makes Sales and Payments
- Promotion applies to Products and Outlets
- Credit line finances Orders for Merchant
**Actions**
- 6 governed actions
- What people and approved agents may do. Each action has rules, an approver where needed and a log entry.
- Suggest a restock order
- Place an order with a distributor
- Offer or adjust a credit line
- Send a customer message or offer
- Adjust a price or promotion
- Reconcile payments to sales
### Use cases
- Merchant restocking
- A shop owner buys from a wholesale market once a week and runs out of fast sellers before the next trip. Notes on paper show only what was bought.
- Sales captured by a simple app, POS or wallet records update stock estimates. The system suggests a restock list and sends it by WhatsApp, ready to forward to a distributor.
- The merchant decides what to buy and how much. Corrections to the stock estimate improve future suggestions.
- Merchant credit
- A trader sells well but has no formal credit history. Lenders ask for documents the trader does not have.
- With consent, sales and payment records form a cash flow profile. The system proposes a working capital limit and ties repayments to sales, with a clear explanation of the factors.
- The lender approves or declines and sets terms. The merchant chooses whether to share data.
- Distributor planning
- A distributor serves thousands of outlets with a sales team and a fleet. Visits follow fixed routes regardless of need.
- Outlet stock, order history and location feed visit and delivery plans. High potential outlets get priority and sales reps receive a daily plan on a phone.
- Sales managers adjust routes and targets. Reps use judgment during visits.
- Brand demand sensing
- A consumer goods company sees sales to distributors, not sales to shoppers. It cannot tell which regions or pack sizes are moving.
- Aggregated outlet sales, with merchants' consent, show demand by area and pack size. Forecasts feed production and promotion plans, with confidence shown.
- Brand and supply planners decide on volumes and promotions.
### Data you already have
- We read from your existing systems first and write back only through approved actions. Every source has a named owner. Where connectivity is weak or records are on paper, we plan for queued sync and OCR with human review.
- Point of sale and e-commerce platforms
- Mobile money, card and QR payment records
- Distributor and wholesaler order systems
- Sales rep visit apps and route logs
- Marketplace listings, orders and support tickets
- Supplier and brand shipment data
- Merchant notebooks and photos of stock, through OCR where useful
- WhatsApp business conversations
### Compliance and residency
- Nigeria
- NDPA 2023
- Customer and merchant data need a lawful basis, and marketing messages require consent handling.
- Kenya
- Data Protection Act 2019
- Rules on direct marketing, profiling and data sharing with lenders apply.
- South Africa
- POPIA
- Direct marketing and credit related processing have specific conditions.
- Ghana
- Data Protection Act 2012
- Controllers follow principles on purpose limitation and security for shopper and merchant data.
- Egypt
- Personal Data Protection Law 2020
- Consent and cross-border transfer rules can affect marketplace platforms.
- Payments licensing, consumer protection, tax and e-commerce rules vary by country. These examples are not legal advice. Confirm with counsel before sharing merchant data with lenders or brands. Examples only, not legal advice. Confirm with counsel.
### Boltcliq products
**Zeus**
- Model plane
- Models merchants, outlets, products, orders and payments, and provides the restock, credit and demand views for distributors, lenders and brands.
**Odin**
- Trust plane
- Controls what merchants, distributors, lenders and brands each see, so a brand sees aggregates and a lender sees only what the merchant allowed.
**Monolith**
- Control plane
- Governs assistants for merchants and support teams, limiting data access, tone and actions such as refunds or credit offers.
**Argus**
- Runtime plane
- Hosts merchant and sales data privately, with lightweight models and WhatsApp-friendly messaging at low cost.
**Cyclopes**
- Observation plane
- Logs how recommendations and credit offers were produced, supporting fairness reviews and dispute handling.
### Frequently asked questions
- Can informal merchants use this without POS?
- Yes. A simple phone app, USSD, WhatsApp or a wallet record can be the starting source.
- Who owns merchant data?
- The merchant. Sharing with lenders or brands needs the merchant's consent and is logged.
- Do you lend money?
- No. We provide software and data tools. Lenders and partners make credit decisions.
- How do you handle several currencies and price changes?
- Prices and stock values are recorded with currency and date. Forecasts show the effect of price changes with clear assumptions.
- Can brands see individual shops?
- Only if each merchant agrees. Default views for brands are aggregated.