Embracing Digital Life in Nigeria

Embracing Digital Life in Nigeria

An Insider’s Perspective of E-commerce in the African Sub-region

O. Oluwasina Gbenga

The Nigeria digital space is a gold-mine!

Considering Nigeria’s population of over 160 million, 47 million online and growing at geometric proportions; the Internet has definitely come to revolutionize the way we live, the way we work, the way we socialize and meet, and the way we do business. And given the Government’s Cashless Policy backed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, the 25 capitalized banks, the mobile data operators, the over 125 million phones (of which 75 million are active), a myriad of mobile money operators, hundreds of retail outlets, e-commerce platforms and shops, and the like; it is crystal clear that e-commerce has come to stay in Nigeria. It is even reported that the mobile money market alone, has a capacity of N1.17 trillion worth transaction in six months given certain infrastructural arrangements.

Array of E-commerce Platforms

There are numerous e-commerce platforms springing up on the digital space with diverse business offerings; some fledgling, some moribund and many others promising. Regardless of the circumstances, there have been attempts at building digital platforms comparable to Amazon and e-bay in Nigeria. These e-commerce websites offer a delightful and engaging virtual shopping experience to its growing enthusiasts.

        

Amongst these platforms is Jumia, which is one of the most visited e-commerce sites in Nigeria, with an Alexa Traffic Rank of 19. Jumia is the online retailer of electronics, computers, books (with over 40,000 titles in its archive), fashion and beauty products. Also of prominence is Konga, which concentrates on fashion products, apart from gadgets and electronics. DealDey also shot to significance after receiving a substantial investment portfolio from J. P. Morgan Asset Management, which has helped it become a premier group-buying site offering Nigerians the best discounted deals. There are also specialist e-commerce sites like Wakanow concentrating on flights, Cheki which deals in cars, buyright, buy now now, sunglasses, kasuwa, gafunk specializing in computers, bead emporium featuring jewelry and beaded works, egole shopping and the moribund Kalahari and taafoo. In fact, I came across a thread discussing Circuit Atlantic with promising services in freighting large concerns from across the globe. The list is endless and in fact, more platforms are being launched.

In fact, there are products and/or services information platforms providing data, product description and even price comparisons. Two of such are Price Hunter and the newly launched PriceCheck. Price Check is a price comparison engine, set to replicate its success in South Africa here in Nigeria; and now boasts of 30 million products, in 6,000 categories with 400 retail shops on the line and counting.

A critical look at many of the prominent e-commerce platforms shows that they generate revenues from mixed sources. These include digital content sales, advertising revenues, fees for services, fees for transactions, web catalogs amongst other revenue models.

Easy Does It.

According to a MasterCard Survey conducted in Nigeria, there is a growing propensity to shop online, as more citizens now opt for the comfort zones of their homes and offices, and have goods and service delivered to their doorsteps. It is becoming increasingly easier to make payments via many of the e-commerce sites with integrated payment getaways like MasterCard, VISA Card, Verve Cards from Interswitch, and other electronic banking or funds transfer platforms.

Despite the booming of e-commerce in Nigeria, there are still some drawbacks which can be nipped in the bud through greater Platform Security, continuous Process Innovation, higher Platform Visibility, better Digital Asset Management, better alignment with global Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and best practices, improved technology infrastructure, firmer Government Policies on Identity Management, Internet Penetration and Cyber Ethics. There are also the needs for content localization, user acceptance testing, and platform scalability which enables greater accessibility via different connected devices like personal computers, mobile phones and/or tablets.

Above all, the e-commerce platforms should leverage the social media networking sites with phenomenal traffics even Nigeria as with other parts of the globe. Thus, driving visits to their platforms and turning leads into customers. Notably, facebook is still the most visited social networking site with over one billion users. A cross-media marketing strategy for the e-commerce platforms should take this into cognizance.

The future is digital…embrace it!