E-Commerce adds $1.3tr to global economy

• To remain the core driver of Nigerian economy
GOING by the rising profile of electronic commerce across the globe, the new business venture is expected to become to a major driver of the Nigeriann economy any soonest.

This was the view of the Chief Executive Officer of Troyka Group, Biodun Shobanjo, who also disclosed that in 2014, the total global retail trade was about $32.49 trillion with e-commerce contributing about $1.3 trillion.

Shobanjo said the marketplace ecosystem should engender sales and marketing, which would produce personal and community growth.

The Troyka Group CEO, who spoke on the “Internet and E-commerce Revolution in Nigeria: Where we have been, where we are heading and how to get there’’, at the Konga 2015 Seller Summit, held at the weekend in Lagos, said “E-commerce mirrors the village center and Konga should be seen as a village market on the Web where there is equal access and multiple accesses for buyers. In e-commerce, mutual trust and relationship mattered a lot,” he added.

The summit, which was sponsored by Etisalat, Forbes Africa, Zenith Bank, Ventures Africa, Zippy Logistics, Fuse.com.ng, Stanbic IBTC, Ebony Life TV, provided a platform for sellers and buyers to learn from experts about the dynamic operations of e-commerce and develop sustainable strategies to advance business services.

In his welcome address, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Konga.com, Sim Shagaya, said the summit was in line with its vision of being the engine of trade and commerce in Africa.

“E-commerce is one of the fastest growing and most dynamic business sectors in the world today. The situation in Africa is quite unique; the need to create and build from the scratch is ubiquitous. At Konga, we quickly realized the opportunity to partner with our valued sellers and pool our individual strengths to succeed despite the various impediments in building vibrant small and medium businesses.

“We firmly believe that the Konga marketplace enables us to function at our best; allowing us to provide our valued customers with great customer experience, convenient shopping and swift logistics solutions,’’ Shagaya said.

Findings by The Guardian revealed that Nigeria’s e-commerce market is developing rapidly, with an estimated growth rate of 25 per cent yearly.

According to an online researcher, emarketer, while e-commerce across the rest of the world is growing at 16.8 per cent, Africa’s e-commerce space is growing at a rate of 25.8 per cent – making it the fastest growing in the world.

A survey conducted by Philip Consulting showed that 38 per cent of Nigerians prefer to buy products through the Internet. Middle class consumers are the biggest purchasers online. It informed that Nigeria’s middle class now accounts for 28 per cent of the population, and the middle class are well educated, with 92 per cent having completed a post-secondary school education.

Further findings by The Guardian revealed that prior to the commencement of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s cash-less policy in 2012; the sector recorded 1,000 orders per day, with market size standing at $35 million (N5.6 billion).

Today, on average, the leading online stores achieve about $2 million worth of transactions per week (approximately N1.5 billion per month).