Tayo Sobola seals brand ambassador deal

A new entrant into the E-commerce sector, Hicolumn Technologies Limited, has unveiled sassy Nollywood actress and celebrity influencer, Tayo Sobola, popularly called Sotayo Gaga, as its brand ambassador.

The notable Yoruba actress was unveiled at the official launch of the e-commerce platform with matchless qualities that connects consumers to choice stores, anytime, anywhere, thus bringing their usual places of shopping close to their neighbourhood that held at the Radisson Blu Hotel, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos.

Highlights of the event include drone delivery of a package to the celebrity with many movie credits, indicating the swift and cutting-edge delivery service behind the e-commerce tech, free shopping vouchers to guests after a question and answer game, and the swift delivery of the celebrity’s online shopping during the event, an attestation of the e-commerce platform uniqueness.

The screen idol expressed delight that shopping has been made easier than before with Hicolumn’s entrant into nation’s online market, adding that the platform is a mobile app that comprises the Hicolumn Customer, Hicolumn Merchant, and Hicolumn Delivery Apps that are all connected together and work as one Enterprise Resources Programme, to ensure customers’ usual places of shopping are made available for them, for real comfort and convenience.

Speaking at the launch, the Chairman of the e-commerce tech firm, Benjamin Madu, said the app is designed to revolutionize the online market in Africa and offers stores, merchants, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with existing and verifiable businesses the opportunity of leveraging the internet to serve or sell to their existing and prospective customers without the customers physically visiting the stores.

A first of its kind, Madu explained that e-store is designed to make a difference in the e-commerce sector, noting that the app also ensures that customers’ usual places of shopping are made available for them to choose or change current location from where orders are made, for real comfort and convenience.

He said, “Merchants can register and set up their stores for free without difficulties and start getting orders from consumers. They don’t need any delivery facility, but they need to have goods available in stock for packaging after receiving payment from consumers.”

“Hicolumn enables merchants to have an online presence without having a website or delivery facility, as consumers who have made purchases on the platform would have prompt delivery of their goods within 20 minutes, with the same quality, same price and faster than physically being at the stores,” he added.

Expressing optimism on the positive impact of the online store’s hub, Madu said over 100,000 jobs are expected to be created before the end of 2021 and will bring about large-scale youth empowerment and increase in the patronage of locally made goods.

In his remark, Hicolumn’s Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Uche Elekwachi, said the platform will transform the online market in Nigeria and Africa with its innovative mobile app that will give merchants the ability to sell their goods to widely dispersed customers.

He stated that the e-commerce Tech has come to the rescue of merchants and store owners, to become super strong, active online and not to lose their business focus to foreign competitors currently entering their domain, especially in this period of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic when shopping is mostly done online.

According to Elekwachi, the majority of the e-commerce apps in the country do not adopt traditional open market methods of e-commerce that enable buyers to choose from a variety of physically available merchants, thereby forcing them to trade with only selected sellers.

He said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) prediction that over 60 percent of SMEs will not be able to reopen after the pandemic, because the current e-commerce structure will put them out of business, is a strong factor for them to have an online presence, taking advantage of the Hicolumn platform.

Highlighting the benefits that accrue to merchants and partnering stores, Elekwachi said it includes increased profitable sales; reduced cost of operation with less than five employees; proper inventory management, and elimination of threats posed by the current e-commerce system.

Other benefits include empowering merchants with the same capacity of an e-commerce global giant, customers’ retention on a full scale, reduction of operational cost, business enhancement through effective online promotion, increased merchants’ focus on core operations, and opportunity for massive promotion and customer acceptability.