Online retail in Nigeria came into the scene about six years ago and became very popular about 3 years ago with the advent of key players like Jumia and Konga, over time the sector became flooded with different niche markets and according to Startupdaily it was recorded that there have been at least 500 e-commerce businesses launched across Nigeria.

At a point, the sector was one of the major contributors to the country’s growing GDP, however, with the seemingly impressive opportunities in this industry, there were obvious challenges that were impeding accelerated growth. Some of these challenges include

Lack of proper infrastructure, taxation, security issues, privacy concerns, high cost of shipping goods to and from Nigeria, low penetration of credit cards usually required to shop online (debit cards are the common payment cards available in Nigeria), unreliable distribution and delivery processes, residual distrust of paying online in a society where cash is the king, etc.

All these issues are generally common with E-Commerce in any other developing country, but it takes time and effort to build trust and make the most out of it. Since most of this e-commerce firms depend largely on external funding/investment it has been very difficult to keep up with these challenges which are not cost-effective to manage.

It’s not long we begin to see the results of some of these unsurmountable hills played out in this industry, some companies engaged in mass retrenchment over and over again in a bid to cut costs and stay in business. Despite all, it was difficult for some to stand the wind of economic quagmire that besieged Nigeria last year.

The wind blew really hard and some companies couldn’t stand the test of time, some went into extinction and some mergers and acquisitions, the question is what is the future of online retail in Nigeria? Not long we began to see dispirited headlines

Some of the headlines

Efritin left first Efritin shuts Nigeria office, blames bad economy — Technology — The …

Dealdey acquired Ringier and Silvertree buy DealDey and form Ringier Africa Deals Group

Jumia’s sister company Kaymu also folded up Jumia Market (formerly kaymu) is folding up – Tech – Pulse

Not long we heard about Konga’s acquisition by Zinox  Zinox acquires Konga in shock deal

Just yesterday we were greeted with a shocking news from the stables of OLX Nigeria OLX closes shop in Nigeria – Punch Newspapers

There is no gainsaying that e-commerce companies in Nigeria haven’t broken-even, while customers and fans are usually carried away by the glamour of amazing ads and products displayed on the site, it’s only the management of these organizations that know where the shoes are pinching them.

For some of these companies, you cannot divorce their mergers or fold up from gross mismanagement which is a general syndrome that plagues Nigerian business. No doubt that those ones that still have the cash to spend will continue to thrive, but it’s only a matter of time, to tell if online retail in Nigeria is truly a lucrative business at this time.

Written by: Oluwatobi Adekunle(Digital Marketing | Brand Communication | PR & Online Reputation Management)

SOURCE: https://brandspurng.com/the-rise-and-fall-of-online-retail-in-nigeria/

Online retail has been profitable business but as usual in Nigeria we don't copy everything, these people don't have everything it takes

Interesting

Na wa o

Ok

If you don't have balls....there are certain businesses i advise you don't do in Nigeria.

The country is cursed and nothing good will ever work here

Nothing works in Nigeria. Nigerians frustrate online businesses. Sincerely, this country looks cursed. A typical Nigerian never thinks positively...we are just after short gains through evil.

I praise foreign companies that cope in this God-saken country

We need to change our attitude in this country

Could be attributed to the fact that the Socioeconomic atmosphere has been polluted choked with foul air of corruption coupled with inhabitants heavily involved in anticovenant practices

Following

GMBuhari:
Online retail has been profitable business but as usual in Nigeria we don't copy everything, these people don't have everything it takes

My friend call a spade what it is, a spade!!! Dis govt has made a once thriving hub of business a graveyard for businesses considering d number of businesses dat has packed up and left d country. And d number of job losses kips growing and piling up.. And U want Ppl to believe it is d fault of d businesses ??

ovoko

When people throw this matter up for debate,we quickly forget about cultural & psychological differences.....People should separate emotions from this & see it for what it is, Not all those companies have been mismanaged, the business model is alien to the Nigerian mentality..

The fact of the matter is that majority still prefer to "SEE" what they are buying before they part with cash..

How many people shop online? Shops , supermarkets , roadside sellers dot everywhere....

And most important of all, online shopping is a bit more costly & room for haggling/bargaining isn't there.....

They will continue to try but I know for sure I'd rather take a trip to computer village to pick a phone than buy online when I'm not sure I'd get what I ordered & return won't be a nightmare in case it goes south...

loopholes and potholes in our system.

Hmmmm


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Too bad.

Nigerians and wayo!

It gets to a time where.olx Nigerian traders are almost 75% scarmers.

They flooded olx with prices like,
2010 Toyota venza @500.000.00.naira.
Samsung galaxy note8 London use, @35000.00.

That was when last I visited olx knowing fully well that scarmers have taken over.

Ok

VeeVeeMyLuv:
Could be attributed to the fact that the Socioeconomic atmosphere has been polluted choked with foul air of corruption coupled with inhabitants heavily involved in anticovenant practices

Mr Grammar abeg no kill us oooo

Ok

Split this zoo and watch as things take shape with immediate effect.
the zoo is a badluck.

Sm times, I wonder what Nigerian grown brands are doing wrong. Bfor now, I used to say I don't see any Nigerian company lasting over a single generation... Regrettably... I think it's getting worst. Now, most companies don't even reach the 10year mark.

I refuse to totally believe it's the environment joh. I think we as a people dnt hv what it takes to go thru the rigours of growing a business. We find that most often than not, we grow (blow) too quickly before we really hv time to establish a culture, a long term vision for said brand. Before u knw it... We are trying to diversify, we trying to "belong", the company start forming what it is not.

An example.. I read a post here yesterday, where smone was complaining about Linda ikejis blog. I smiled, coz I kind of saw it coming. No sooner has she "blown", way before she really carved a niche/ brand culture... Has she started diversifying, living the life, "giving back to community"

At best, the brand will outlive her for a couple of years, but not more... That's if the brand is lucky enough to last that long. (Yes.. luck - that's how most businesses in Nigeria blow anyways)

Similar story for HiTv, I'm wondering whether i shld mention TsTv sef?

Anyways, ... I dnt hv an MBA, I might just be wrong.

Efritin gone
OLX gone
Konga gone
Jumia struggling with canceled orders

This is a reflection of low purchasing power

Buhari has finished Nigeria, it will take years to recover unless we restructure and each state becomes a microcosm of progress development instead of being drag back by incompetent cabal at the center

The Nigerian environment isn’t business friendly, whether online or offline.

Nigeria is not ready yet for the tech world, We still prefer doing thing the usual way we are used to, However this also boils down to trust, We live in a corrupt economy, also lack of investsors, for some, they wanna Make dia money ASAP...

The high cost associated with running these ecommerce companies is what is running them down. Dont carry stock, allow your sellers do that for you, let them handle delivery.

Inaddition to the highlighted points, in terms of pricing, e-commerce in Nigeria has not proven to be competitive with offline stores.

When you make a price comparison, you will discover that the you can walk into a store and obtain the same item conveniently at almost the same price.

sweetkev:
The country is cursed and nothing good will ever work here

So are you! Pick up your sense now!

bootstrap:
Sm times, I wonder what Nigerian grown brands are doing wrong. Bfor now, I used to say I don't see any Nigerian company lasting over a single generation... Regrettably... I think it's getting worst. Now, most companies don't even reach the 10year mark.

I refuse to totally believe it's the environment joh. I think we as a people dnt hv what it takes to go thru the rigours of growing a business. We find that most often than not, we grow (blow) too quickly before we really hv time to establish a culture, a long term vision for said brand. Before u knw it... We are trying to diversify, we trying to "belong", the company start forming what it is not.

An example.. I read a post here yesterday, where smone was complaining about Linda ikejis blog. I smiled, coz I kind of saw it coming. No sooner has she "blown", way before she really carved a niche/ brand culture... Has she started diversifying, living the life, "giving back to community"

At best, the brand will outlive her for a couple of years, but not more... That's if the brand is lucky enough to last that long. (Yes.. luck - that's how most businesses in Nigeria blow anyways)

Similar story for HiTv, I'm wondering whether i shld mention TsTv sef?

Anyways, ... I dnt hv an MBA, I might just be wrong.

Good points! However, Nigeria is a business-killing environment, largely due to government policy somersaults and gymnastics. Even big businesses aren’t exempt and that’s why many big billion-naira businesses in Nigeria fold up after some years. It’s very expensive to run a growing business in Nigeria. Sooner or later the running costs catch up and outgrow the business growth, then the company runs down. Our government needs to do better for the business community. All they know how to do is tax businesses to death