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E-commerce And Retail Business In Nigeria. Experience,challenges & Prospect. - Business - Nairaland

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E-commerce And Retail Business In Nigeria. Experience,challenges & Prospect. by phonesNgadgets: 1:17pm On Aug 17, 2015
In the recent time, retail industry has experienced a significant growth in the Nigerian economy, thanks to e-commerce and other online business and services. Arguably, Nigeria has the most internet penetration and usage in Africa; but as it is, Nigerians are not optimizing the merits that come with internet. Though we can partially blame it on the high cost of internet in this part of the world, amidst other setbacks.

E-commerce has been the major sector that has boosted retail industry In Nigeria, and the growth has no projection of nosediving. There is a huge determining factor to the growth of e-commerce and retailing in Nigeria, and that is the internet and its usage. For the benefit of those who don't really understand what e-retail or e-commerce means, permit me to give a simple definition. E-commerce is simply the buying and selling of goods and services through the electronic channel (internet). The word "e" literally means electronic or virtual in the computer world. For example: e-mail, e-store, e-medical, e-banking etc.

The main purpose of writing this piece is to discuss issues affecting e-retailers, e-store owners and generally e-business in Nigeria. I will highlight some challenges from my own perspective and experience. I know some of us will have similar experience and other unique encounters that are worth sharing, so let us learn from each other's experience to grow together. smiley

WINDOW TO THE WORLD
Imagine your shop in a small community in Nigeria and buyers who are interested in your goods are calling from other major cities of the world ( From Lagos, Accra, J'bourg,New York, London, Milan to Adelaide cheesy Oooh wow! ) It means your business was born in Africa but it became a citizen of the world. cool

This is the experience I have when I started my e-shop ( The first e-store in Abeokuta that sells phones & technology gadgets ). Yes, your e-store can open your window to the world.


MOBILE BUSINESS
I carry my business along wherever I go. cheesy Yes Ooo, because my shop is on the social media and I can do my business in any part of the world, provided I have access to the internet. If you have sold goods to customers outside your location, please come and share the experince with us. The first sale I made outside my locality was delivered to Ibadan, Oyo State and I met the buyer on Twitter. My location when the guy followed me on Twitter: Lagos. My location when I followed back: Abeokuta. My location when we struck a deal: Abeokuta. Location of the buyer: Ibadan. Yet, the deal was successful. smiley and order was delivered to Ibadan.
He has became a very close friend since then. ( It was payment on delivery mode).


24-7 OPEN DOOR.
My e-store opens 24hours a day, 7 days a week. Even when It is practically impossible to attend to inquiries for all the whole days of the week and round the clock, my potential customers are free to check my displayed goods and read about my business on my fan page, they are also free to do window shopping till I attend to questions and inquiries from them. grin. (Though my page is 97% + responsive. So, you will always get response within a couple of minutes)

At this juncture, I have to cut the numerous advantages of the e-retail business and share some of the major challenges I have faced and those I am still facing and managing. smiley


CHALLENGES

Trust issue: I have lost a great number deals when my store was at infant stage, because potential customers a scared of losing their hard earned money through online shopping. Then, the only payment option available for my small business was advance payment. Buyers were afraid of paying into personal bank accounts. ( and I no blame dem, na as country be, even outside Africa, e dey happen grin ). Since I don't have any other platform that could offer other payment options, I had to cut the scope of coverage area to my locality, which was not enough for the dram I have for the business.

I had to plead to buyers who have already done business with me to allow me reference their name and the deal on my page, share photos of conversation while striking the deal and put their reviews/feedback on my page or their pages. The fact that I sell quality goods, deliver on time and try as much as possible to make full description of the products they wanted to buy gave me an edge to have positive feedback from them and consequently led to numerous word of mouth referrals.

This is how I managed to tackle the challenge of distrust;

1. I have a very good reputation and great number of followership on my personal social media page, so I referenced my personal page to my business fan page, which gives potential buyers a level of guarantee that they are dealing with a people person and a traceable firm.

2. I deal with only authentic products and I tried to be open as much as possible in all dealings. I state clearly all conditions attached to the goods i.e if it's new or used, US or China, Imported or Locally made, Water resistant or not. Then I ask customers from review/feedbacks to be posted on my wall or share and also share with their friends.

3. I offered payment on delivery plus free delivery to buyers in areas closer to my location.

4. I opened a corporate account with reputable new generation banks. ( You need a registered company/business name to do this )

5. I negotiated with some Courier firms for escrow service or something close to it.

6. I shared each successful orders placed and delivered on my personal social media page and fan page.


When I started offering free delivery + payment on delivery in my locality, buyers from other cities and states who liked my products, base on quality, affordability and value for money started pressurizing me to arrange for delivery coverage to their cities and also look into alternative payment options for buyers outside my city. cheesy

Quickly and smartly, I got my corporate (business account )account activated. After opening a corporate account, the first 2 orders came outside my region, one from North East (Plateau State ) the other from South East ( Aba,Abia State ) Funny enough, the first order outside my city came from a Nairalander and he paid into my personal account( not even my corporate account)

Yet, some buyers(outside my city) are doubting Thomas, despite the fact that I offered payment into a corporate account, they rejected grin and on my own side, neither can I send goods outside my city without payment. sad So, I lost some pretty cool deals before I set out for deals with courier companies. Though, I have not utilized the option, but it is open to me. I recently opened a store on konga, but we all not it comes with some sacrifices; anyway I have to take these options before I step up my e-retail business, from using social media and other e-commerce platform to launching my own e-commerce store. ( God willing )

Now, I have got some mails and orders to attend to, I am sorry I have to take a leave for now. Please keep a tab on this post as I will subsequently write more challenges I have faced and those I am still facing; and I will definitely write how I tackle and mitigate them.
Have a profitable day! smiley

MODIFIED.
Lalasticlala I would be grateful if this post could be shared on the FP to reach other e-store owners on NL so as to share experience and learn from one another. thank you.

20 Likes 5 Shares

Re: E-commerce And Retail Business In Nigeria. Experience,challenges & Prospect. by admax(m): 2:53pm On Aug 17, 2015
Really! FTC.....? I thought Lady F and Introvert get paid for this.
Re: E-commerce And Retail Business In Nigeria. Experience,challenges & Prospect. by free2ryhme: 2:54pm On Aug 17, 2015
grin grin

1 Like

Re: E-commerce And Retail Business In Nigeria. Experience,challenges & Prospect. by ignis: 2:57pm On Aug 17, 2015
Nigeria, we are getting there soon.
Re: E-commerce And Retail Business In Nigeria. Experience,challenges & Prospect. by victor2fresh(m): 2:57pm On Aug 17, 2015
.
Re: E-commerce And Retail Business In Nigeria. Experience,challenges & Prospect. by Speakdatruth: 3:00pm On Aug 17, 2015
d Nigerian system does not allow its survival only few wit huge debt are making d noise
Re: E-commerce And Retail Business In Nigeria. Experience,challenges & Prospect. by Speakdatruth: 3:02pm On Aug 17, 2015
admax:
Really! FTC.....? I thought Lady F and Introvert get paid for this.
u just bin added 2d jobless list

3 Likes

Re: E-commerce And Retail Business In Nigeria. Experience,challenges & Prospect. by Goodays(m): 3:02pm On Aug 17, 2015
Noted. Next>>รท
Re: E-commerce And Retail Business In Nigeria. Experience,challenges & Prospect. by baruzeez(m): 3:02pm On Aug 17, 2015
admax:
Really! FTC.....? I thought Lady F and Introvert get paid for this.
maybe u are now as jobless as Lasy F and Intovert
Hustle hard bro
Re: E-commerce And Retail Business In Nigeria. Experience,challenges & Prospect. by toluxa1(m): 3:03pm On Aug 17, 2015
Following
Re: E-commerce And Retail Business In Nigeria. Experience,challenges & Prospect. by Nobody: 3:06pm On Aug 17, 2015
Very informative! Thanks for sharing
Re: E-commerce And Retail Business In Nigeria. Experience,challenges & Prospect. by naijainfogalery: 3:08pm On Aug 17, 2015
nice article visit www.mobileinfoguru.com for more articles on Ecommerce and tech
Re: E-commerce And Retail Business In Nigeria. Experience,challenges & Prospect. by chynergy1(m): 3:16pm On Aug 17, 2015
e-commerce is a gold mine.
try and link up. it has made many millionaires of recent.
silent millionaires.

1 Like

Re: E-commerce And Retail Business In Nigeria. Experience,challenges & Prospect. by alabi484(m): 3:17pm On Aug 17, 2015
insightful!!!
Re: E-commerce And Retail Business In Nigeria. Experience,challenges & Prospect. by sunsewa: 3:20pm On Aug 17, 2015
nice one,have an interest of backing my wholesale and retail office with e-commerce,how viable.
Re: E-commerce And Retail Business In Nigeria. Experience,challenges & Prospect. by oluamid(m): 3:49pm On Aug 17, 2015
Lemme siddon for bench, Mikel Obi style.

1 Like

Re: E-commerce And Retail Business In Nigeria. Experience,challenges & Prospect. by Nobody: 3:52pm On Aug 17, 2015
nice... am doing a research on this presently.
Re: E-commerce And Retail Business In Nigeria. Experience,challenges & Prospect. by trailblaiza(m): 4:05pm On Aug 17, 2015
grin
Re: E-commerce And Retail Business In Nigeria. Experience,challenges & Prospect. by maxxy: 4:08pm On Aug 17, 2015
Quite interesting
Re: E-commerce And Retail Business In Nigeria. Experience,challenges & Prospect. by hahn(m): 4:12pm On Aug 17, 2015
Nice one @ op.

The issue of trust is a very important issue. There are lots of clients who have had terrible experiences and lost their money during online transactions. There are lots of scammers out there.

Even e-commerce site owners have issues trusting clients because when you offer payment on delivery most clients will only dissappoint you. I've made several deliveries where the client wouls say, "I just want to see what it looks like. I will buy next year". Lots of clients don't keep to their word. You might schedule. A meeting for 10am and the client ends up showing at 2pm.

Another problem might be due to the fact that lots of clients don't know much about shopping online. Even after spending lots of time and money on my website, most clients don't know how to navigate through pages and even place an order. I h made more sales via whatsapp and bbm than my website.

Also, Nigerian clients want it all. Someone will placed an Order for something that's worth N2,000 and will expect free shipping, even if he/she lives in Kano and you're not based in the North, and payment on delivery.

But we'll get there

9 Likes

Re: E-commerce And Retail Business In Nigeria. Experience,challenges & Prospect. by theplushist: 4:26pm On Aug 17, 2015
Speakdatruth:
d Nigerian system does not allow its survival only few wit huge debt are making d noise
Please tell me more. What do you mean huge debt?
Re: E-commerce And Retail Business In Nigeria. Experience,challenges & Prospect. by theplushist: 4:27pm On Aug 17, 2015
Please what is the trick to effectively using Whatsapp and bbm?
hahn:
Nice one @ op.

The issue of trust is a very important issue. There are lots of clients who have had terrible experiences and lost their money during online transactions. There are lots of scammers out there.

Even e-commerce site owners have issues trusting clients because when you offer payment on delivery most clients will only dissappoint you. I've made several deliveries where the client wouls say, "I just want to see what it looks like. I will buy next year". Lots of clients don't keep to their word. You might schedule. A meeting for 10am and the client ends up showing at 2pm.

Another problem might be due to the fact that lots of clients don't know much about shopping online. Even after spending lots of time and money on my website, most clients don't know how to navigate through pages and even place an order. I h made more sales via whatsapp and bbm than my website.

Also, Nigerian clients want it all. Someone will placed an Order for something that's worth N2,000 and will expect free shipping, even if he/she lives in Kano and you're based in the North, and payment on delivery.

But we'll get there
Re: E-commerce And Retail Business In Nigeria. Experience,challenges & Prospect. by Rayjaymay(m): 4:27pm On Aug 17, 2015
Next
Re: E-commerce And Retail Business In Nigeria. Experience,challenges & Prospect. by hahn(m): 4:30pm On Aug 17, 2015
theplushist:
Please what is the trick to effectively using Whatsapp and bbm?

There's no trick.

Simply:

1) Add your bb pin and whatsapp number to your ads
2) Change your dp regularly
3) Send out bc's of your products
4) Share testimonies from your clients on your dp

That should do the trick
Re: E-commerce And Retail Business In Nigeria. Experience,challenges & Prospect. by SPG4U(m): 4:39pm On Aug 17, 2015
[size=20pt] I own an e-commerce store too

Initially it was a great challenge, almost all the challenges the OP stated, but I was smart enough to create a website for my store and also went ahead to set adverts..yes I paid for advert placements and today my e commerce store is a success story


I now sit back and make money easily

OP I will follow this thread and together we can swim around in pool of knowledge and wealth,


U can also c my signature [/size]

4 Likes

Re: E-commerce And Retail Business In Nigeria. Experience,challenges & Prospect. by coolluk(m): 4:40pm On Aug 17, 2015
its funny cos its not about a celebrity and some nairaland bullshit, thats why this thread has low comment counts
Re: E-commerce And Retail Business In Nigeria. Experience,challenges & Prospect. by elujah1(m): 4:44pm On Aug 17, 2015
Speakdatruth:
d Nigerian system does not allow its survival only few wit huge debt are making d noise
kindly throw more light
Re: E-commerce And Retail Business In Nigeria. Experience,challenges & Prospect. by kennyman2000(m): 4:48pm On Aug 17, 2015
watching this page...
Re: E-commerce And Retail Business In Nigeria. Experience,challenges & Prospect. by j4sure(m): 5:19pm On Aug 17, 2015
Noted

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