Lagos Warehousing for Foreign Brands: Pallet Storage, 3PL and Store & Sell

Holding stock in Lagos can shorten local delivery lead times, but overseas brands need more than a warehouse address. You need to know who imports the goods, who owns the stock, how orders are authorised and how sales proceeds are reconciled. Plan those responsibilities before sending inventory.

Wigmore Trading’s pallet storage and Store & Sell service offers a starting point for discussing local stockholding and sales support. Confirm the facility, product acceptance and written terms for your shipment.

Choose between storage, fulfilment and selling

Pallet storage provides space and an agreed handling service. Third-party fulfilment adds activities such as receiving orders, picking, packing and dispatching. A selling arrangement also needs an agreed sales authority, price, customer terms and settlement process. These services should be quoted separately enough for you to understand what is included.

A foreign brand asking to “hold my stock in Nigeria and sell it” should identify the importer, stock owner and local seller. Storage does not settle incorporation, tax, product registration or customs obligations. Use a structure review and an importer responsibility check alongside the warehouse agreement.

Select the location for the job

The public storage page describes Lekki HQ and partner-location options, with cold storage identified at Lekki. Ask which location suits your stock and what capacity is available for the required dates. A port-side staging location, a retail distribution warehouse and a free-zone location serve different purposes.

Do not treat free-zone storage and a customs-bonded warehouse as interchangeable. Any duty-deferral or controlled movement depends on the authorised procedure and facility conditions. Obtain confirmation of eligibility, approvals, movement records and domestic-release obligations before relying on a deferral in your cash-flow model.

Protect the product during receiving and storage

Provide carton dimensions, pallet layout, gross weights, stackability, product hazards, shelf life and handling instructions. Agree receiving checks for quantity, packaging condition, batch and date codes. Record shortages and damage promptly, with photographs where appropriate, and define the claim process.

For temperature-controlled warehouse needs, state the actual range and permitted excursion limits. Ask about monitoring records, calibrated devices, alarm response, backup arrangements and transfer conditions. “Cold storage” is not a universal specification for every food, pharmaceutical or chemical product; acceptance must be product-specific.

Make stock and cash reports reconcilable

Agree a report showing opening balance, receipts, dispatches, returns, adjustments and closing balance by SKU. Where required, track batch and expiry. Set authority levels for stock release, discounts, write-offs and disposal. A sales report should not be the only inventory record.

For Store & Sell, document when commission is earned, what delivery activities are included, how unpaid customer invoices are treated and when net proceeds are settled. Confirm all deductions in advance. Stock remaining in the warehouse is not automatically a receivable from the operator.

Request an itemised warehouse quote

Send expected pallets, dimensions, total stock value, storage duration, monthly order volume and special handling. Ask about minimum terms, receiving charges, access, pick-and-pack, delivery, packaging, insurance responsibilities and exit collection. Check the public rate tool for orientation, then obtain a current written quote for your stock.

Review how the arrangement ends. Set out notice, final stock count, outstanding orders, receivables, damaged stock and transfer of inventory. A clear exit process matters as much for a short pilot as for a long-term contract, particularly when the brand is managing operations from another country.

How Wigmore Trading can help

Wigmore Trading connects market-entry planning with practical distribution, sales support, storage and logistics. Start with a defined scope so that the commercial proposal identifies the services, responsible parties, costs and deliverables that apply to your product.

Ask about pallet storage, a suitable 3PL scope and Store & Sell for your products. Availability, controlled-storage eligibility, temperatures, pricing and selling terms should be confirmed in the written proposal.