A startup dubbed ‘Opiid’ hopes to democratise and spur on the adoption of e-commerce in Nigeria when it launches its website on Thursday.

Opiid.com is looking to help buyers, who are searching for specific products but have failed to find them in markets or even online, get what they want.

Meanwhile, Opiid also plans to let sellers -- from as young as 13 years old -- open online stores for free using the service.

The founder of Opiid, Stanley Edom, describes his startup as a ‘social eCommerce platform’.

“We decided to launch Opiid because it would solve a lot of online retail problems for everyone at the lowest cost possible,” Edom has told ITWeb Africa.

“Given the fact that a user could own a free store at the cost of nothing, or ask market questions that weren't initially possible on any platform, we believe Opiid wouldn't just prove itself innovative but would start a new e-commerce trend that would make the online shopping experience of every individual worthwhile,” he said.

Upon the planned launch of the website on Thursday, Edom has told ITWeb Africa that available features are set to include creating a personalised free online social stores, posting products and shop questions, directly messaging merchants and watching product videos.

But even though the offering is expected to be free for sellers to establish an online store, Opiid does have a monetisation strategy.

“Stores that are labelled as verified are the only stores that can accept online payment or use Opiid's ‘Payment On Delivery’ service where Opiid handles the store's product delivery,” Edom told ITWeb Africa.

“From these stores, Opiid get's a 5% transaction fee for every transaction online and for the ‘Payment On Delivery’. Opiid also gets a really subsidised delivery fee ($3 or 500 Naira) from the customer for every purchase that occurs on the platform.

“The unverified merchants on the platform operate from a classified point of view like OLX. Where the customer calls the phone number of the merchant selling the product or sends them a direct message concerning the product. From these users, we'd initially make nothing from them but rather focus on getting traction instead,” Edom added.

E-commerce is growing rapidly in Nigeria with the expansion of the likes of Jumia.com.

According to an article that appears on a website belonging to A & E Law Publications, the level of online purchases in Nigeria is forecast to hit $920 million in 2014.