Nigerians do not buy online! myth or fact?

It is often said that Nigerians do not buy online, especially via an e-commerce website. But is this really true?

Before we dive into this, let’s establish some basic knowledge. 

Just like commerce happens offline through the physical exchange of money for goods and services, so does it happen online too since the internet penetration and it is referred to as e-commerce.

E-Commerce is expressed through different models ranging from commerce between a business and another business called B2B to commerce between business to customer and customer to business called B2C and C2B respectively.

For e-commerce to happen, there must be a platform on the world wide web where the meetup between the 2 parties exchanging money for products/services is happening, this could be on platforms like social media e.g. Facebook, Instagram, google etc., or on a website specifically created for e-commerce, usually called e-commerce websites. 

Ecommerce is growing rapidly in Nigeria, with more and more businesses waking up to the potential of selling their products and services online. In fact, Nigeria now has the second-highest e-commerce growth rate in Africa, behind only South Africa.

There are a number of reasons for this growth. 

Firstly, internet penetration is increasing rapidly in Nigeria. There are now over 80 million internet users in the country, and this is expected to grow to nearly 120 million by 2027.

Secondly, more and more Nigerians are comfortable shopping online. A recent study found that 67% of Nigerian online shoppers said they were comfortable buying goods and services online, up from just 50% a few years ago.

And thirdly, there is a growing number of e-commerce platforms and payment methods available in Nigeria. 

Platforms like Jumia and Konga paved the way several years ago by making it easy for businesses to set up online stores, this was really a turning point for the e-commerce sector in Nigeria, as it brought the needed exposure and awareness needed for the e-commerce to really kick off in the country. 

Today, asides from the e-commerce giants, Jumia & Konga, thousands of businesses now sell their products and services via their e-commerce websites.

Access to payment processors like Paystack and Flutterwave has also made it easy to shop for goods and services via e-commerce websites.

According to recent statistics, the B2C e-commerce Gross Merchandise Value will increase from US$10.0 billion in 2021 to reach US$20.8 billion by 2026. 

It is important to note that these statistics only record transactions that are traceable online via verified metrics from transactions. Many transactions still happen online via social media sales inside DM’s with the exchange of monies through transfers that wouldn’t have been recorded as part of Nigeria’s online sales metrics, so it is safe to say these recorded metrics mostly happened via proper e-commerce transactions via websites with payment gateways.

So, contrary to what some people might think, Nigerians are actually buying online and e-commerce is having a positive impact on the economy. Businesses that sell online via e-commerce websites are seeing increased sales and improved margins, and the overall e-commerce market in Nigeria is expected to be worth $13 billion by 2025.

This is good news for businesses and the economy as a whole. E-commerce is a key driver of economic growth and development, and as more Nigerians buy online, we can expect to see a positive impact on the economy.

However, there is still room for improvement and this is probably why some people think websites don’t sell in Nigeria. Truth be told, creating an optimized website for any business in Nigeria is an investment, and it can easily turn into a bad investment if the website is not built with the proper technology and created to act both as a sales channel and a marketing channel with the proper marketing automation.

So every business owner investing in getting an optimized website for their business should take note of the following :

1. User-friendliness: Your website must be designed with your users in mind, taking action and getting to point A from B must be very easy.
2. Functionality: the presence of bugs/errors on a website sends a wrong signal to users, so you need to conduct quality tests on the website
3. Follow-up systems: a properly optimized website has the ability to generate leads on automation and follow up with these leads for sales, ask your developer for this functionality as it makes a major difference in a failed eCommerce website and a thriving eCommerce website. 
4. Create trust & credibility around your brand on social media, this helps your website convert better. 

Ecommerce sales in Nigeria are expected to grow even further in the coming years. This growth will be driven by the increasing number of internet users, the improving delivery infrastructure, and the increasing trust in eCommerce websites.

If you are thinking of starting an eCommerce business in Nigeria, now is the time to do it. There is a growing market for eCommerce products and services, and with the right marketing strategy, you can tap into this market and make a successful business with the right support, e-commerce can be a key driver of economic growth and development in Nigeria.

Mayowa Adeoti is a Digital Tech expert and tech entrepreneur. She can be reached via mayowa.adeoti@wcdigitalagency.com