The Nation Newspaper

Tag: online

  • More online shoppers follow brands on facebook

    More online shoppers follow brands on facebook

    An April 2017 survey by Campaigner, an email marketing platform, explored consumer interactions with brands. More than half of US digital buyers said they followed a brand on Facebook, which was significantly higher compared with any other social platform. It was even more common among millennials: Fully 65% of this cohort said they followed a brand on Facebook.

    But social networks are not necessarily the top choice for interacting with brands. As a whole, only a quarter (24%) of digital buyers in the survey said they preferred “to interact with their favorite brands” via social media. Instead, in-store and in-person communication was the most commonly cited channel (65%), followed by company websites (58%) and email (44%). Respondents could site multiple choices.

    Millennials were more likely to say they preferred to interact with brands via social. Almost half (47%) of this cohort cited social networks, compared with just 11% of baby boomers.

    A separate study by Sprout Social found a fairly strong—but not overwhelming—correlation between following a brand on a social platform and purchasing a product from that brand.

    Two-thirds of US Gen X internet users in the survey said they were likely to purchase a product from a brand they follow on social media. Millennials were the second most likely group to purchase from a brand they follow, at 60%, followed by boomers with 51%.

    The study also found that older followers (Gen Xers and boomers) tended to be looking for deals, whereas millennials preferred to be entertained.

  • Firm offers businesses to N200b online payment options

    Nigeria’s online payment service provider PayU Nigeria has identified businesses that can benefit from its global expertise. It operates in 16 markets where it offers over 250 payment options.

    Its Country Manager, Ms Juliet Nwanguma, said the firm has rolled out strategies to connect businesses to Nigeria’s online payment market estimated to surpass N200 billion this year, from N167 billion last year.

    Speaking with The Nation in Lagos, she expressed confidence that with over 2.3 billion users world-wide, the e-commerce payment gateway could help businesses grow their market share and help them to achieve their objectives.

    “At PayU, we believe that with the deployment of appropriate strategies and products which are designed to encourage more businesses to adopt online payment, the market in Nigeria can record triple digit growth in both volume and value of online payments. This is the driving philosophy of PayU’s operations in Nigeria,” Nwanguma said.

    The Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) recently released a data, which showed that 5.5 million transactions worth N46.7 billion, were generated through online sales in the first quarter of the year.

    This is an increase in the quarterly average of 3.5 million transactions worth N33 billion last year. This 58 per cent growth is a clear indication of the increased confidence and preference for online sales among Nigerians.

    But the double digit growth, according to Nwanguma, was far below the potential of the market for online payments in Nigeria.

    She noted that in a country of over 180 million people, consisting of 61 million active bank customers and where e-payment transactions are worth N56 trillion  yearly, the potential for online payments in Nigeria is huge and waiting to be tapped.

    The PayU Nigeria Country Manager said the firm’s mission was to leverage Nigeria’s 97 million active Internet users to popularise and increase online payments in Nigeria.

    “Since last year when we entered the Nigerian market, we have used our globally tested products such as tokenisation, recurring payments for subscription services and single click payments for faster checkout.

    “Our range of services according to different business categories especially the PayU Easy service allows start-ups to start selling online instantly without the need of a bank account or trading history,” Nwanguma explained.

    She said PayU has assisted small, medium and large organisations with their online payments. In particular, the robust and flexible features of PayU Plus and PayU Enterprise, she said, have assisted merchants to grow and expand their online payment.

    PayU offers merchants safe, secure, online shopping.  Their products are   PCI DSS Level 1 compliant which means they are required to meet extremely stringent security criteria.

    All card details are secured by secure socket layer (SSL) and transfer layer security (TLS) encryption and reinforced through various encryption processes in order to provide protection for all payment information.

    They also are 3D secure enabled, which gives consumers added security when shopping online.

    The increased preference for online payments among Nigerians offers new opportunity for businesses to increase patronage and grow revenue.

    The global expertise of PayU, combined with its easy-to-use and secure online products provide the channel to leverage on this opportunity and achieve business objectives.

  • FIRS introduces six online tax solutions

    FIRS introduces six online tax solutions

    •Fowler: innovation represents revolution in tax administration

    The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has introduced six key electronic solutions (e-Services) to enhance convenience, transparency and round the clock processing and payment of taxes.

    Some of the e-Services, which could now be accessed online, are taxpayer registration (through e-Registration); payment of Stamp Duties (through e-Stamp Duty); payment of taxes (through online payment: e-TaxPay, Remita); receiving of electronic receipt after payment of taxes (through e-Receipt); filing tax returns online (through e-filing) and online Tax Clearance Certificates (TCC) through electronic Tax Clearance Certificate (e-TCC solution).

    Executive Chairman Tunde Fowler, who explained this in Abuja, said the e-Services innovation represent “a revolution in tax administration in Nigeria”.

    “The idea behind the six ICT solutions is to make tax payment as easy as ABC, to bring convenience to our taxpayers. The ICT solutions, which we are bringing to the doorsteps of taxpayers, will ensure that taxpayers could pay, get receipt and get TCC from the comfort of their homes and offices anytime, anywhere in the world and round the clock. This saves the time of taxpayers, it is transparent, fast, easy to use and convenient,” Fowler said.

    According to FIRS, the implication of e- Receipt, for example, is that when tax payments are made, an electronic notification will be automatically sent to the taxpayer’s email and or phone number within 24 hours after payment.

    “If for any reason a taxpayer loses the print out, they can access FIRS e-Receipt platform by log in into the FIRS website and download their receipt. This process eliminates manual interventions.

    The e-TCC provides an e-repository of all Tax Clearance Certificates (TCCs) issued by FIRS. It enables FIRS Staff and authorised third parties to obtain their TCC online without visiting a tax office. E-TCC reduces incidence of fraudulent certificates.

    “E-TCCs are automatically sent to the emails of taxpayers. Taxpayers can also request for and print their TCCs online.

    Fowler said the introduction of the new solutions is one of the key steps to make FIRS services convenient, easy and available everywhere and at all times.

    “It is a revolution in tax administration that combines innovation, convenience and transparency,” the FIRS Chairman said.

  • PR chiefs to Nigerians: don’t believe everything online

    • ‘Digital media is our greatest strength’

    he Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) yesterday warned Nigerians against believing everything they see and read online.

    It said many online stories may be a charade by opportunistic bloggers seeking to generate traffic on their websites.

    Chairman of the Lagos chapter of the institute, Olusegun McMedal, said it was necessary for trained Public Relations (PR) practitioners to manage media crisis more effectively.

    He said: “Goodwill, and not money, is the bottom line in this recession. We are the only ones who can curtail crisis in the media because we are trained for it.

    “Times have given us opportunities to be creative enough to meet the recession. To this effect, things are getting rough but we are getting more appreciated. That is why we are asking to regulate the practice of consultants by opening the window to those who have practised for seven years and above to come forward, do our Masters class and get certified.”

    McMedal spoke yesterday when he and some members of the institute visited the head office of Vintage Press Limited, publishers of The Nation titles in Lagos.

    The visit, he said, was to put the media on notice of the PR Week scheduled to hole from May 24 to June 2.

    Chairman of the PR Week Planning Committee, Olajide Benson, gave highlights of the event, saying it will feature a public speaking competition among undergraduates of tertiary institutions.

    The theme of the event is: Exemplary Leadership: Public Relations Art for Nation-State Building.

    Benson said: “We want to catch them young and give them a sense of responsibility for the country.”

    Other activities include a football tournament and health awareness walk on Autism in Ikeja, Lagos.

    A lecture on the theme will hold on May 31, with former Cross River Governor Donald Duke expected to give the keynote speech.

    Other discussants will include Jimi Disu and President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, Mrs Funke Egbemode.

    To chair the occasion is renowned broadcaster and boardroom guru, Ambassador Christopher Kolade.

    The grand finale is a dinner to raise funds for the chapter’s secretariat.

    The institute urged the government to desist from appointing foreign hands to manage its public relations campaigns.

    It stressed that it had enough competent hands to deliver any project.

  • BIDA POLY students to check results online

    The Federal Polytechnic, Bida (BIDA POLY) is to create an online platform to ensure early release of results.
    In an interview with CAMPUSLIFE, the Deputy Rector, Mr Augustine Oghenejivwe, said the academic board’s activities had been reorganised to make compilation of results faster.
    Oghenejivwe explained that the new method would give students access to information about the school without travelling long distance while on break. He explained that the online platform would also give parents true picture of children’s academic status and eliminate deception.
    He said: “We are already putting plans in place to release result before the semester begins in order give parents an opportunity to know the academic standing of their children The move was taken to prevent students from deceiving their parents and also to save them unnecessary stress of travelling down to the school to check results while the school is on break.
    The Deputy Registrar for Academics, Mr Dauda Danlani, hailed the academics board on the initiative, stressing that it was wise to release results on time given the challenges faced by students whenever results comes out late.
    Danlani said the school upgraded its system software as a measure put in place to ensure the successful take off of the online platform.
    A senior staff at Management Information System (MIS), Mr Olayemi Olalekan, said the unit would facilitate conversion of hard copies of results to a softcopy. “Other plans are in place to improve on the achievement by linking it up to students’ page for them to check their results while they are at home” he said.
    Students lauded the development, describing it as “brilliant innovation”. Innocent Musa, a Higher National Diploma (HND) II Public Administration student, said the initiative would ease students of stress.
    Kehinde Oniwe, a National Diploma (ND) II Accountancy student, expressed mixed feelings. He said: “The release of result online will no doubt reduce the stress of travelling down to the school, but I feel student results should be released for the world to see. It should be secret.”

  • NDE begins online registration of unemployed persons

    NDE begins online registration of unemployed persons

    The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) has begun the online registration of unemployed persons.

    The purpose of the exercise is to develop a database of unemployed persons and provide scientific evidence on the character, nature and trends of unemployment.

    NDE Acting Director-General, Kunle Obayan,  represented by the Deputy Director, Information and Public Relations,Edmund Onwuliri, said in Abuja that the exercise was part of the directorate’s mandate of designing skill sets to suit various types of unemployed persons.

    He said the framework for the online registration, handled by the directorate, has been completed and ready for launch.

    “The online portal, which went live last week, is designed to capture the relevant details of every unemployed person. It will equally serve as a job exchange portal that will link job seekers and employers, he said.”

    He said there was a practical demonstration of the workings of the portal at the NDE stand at the  28th edition of the Enugu International Trade Fair, adding that the portal could be accessed on: www.jobsforall.ng.

    Onwuliri explained that the directorate saw the initiative as a bold step towards deepening the effectiveness of its employment creation strategies and critical input into the process of designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating programmes and schemes adding that the online portal would serve as meeting point for job seekers and employers, thereby reducing the cumbersome process of recruitment among employers of skilled labour in the private and public sectors.

    In a related development, the Obayan said the NDE has, over a period of one year, trained 15,343 persons in vocational, agricultural and entrepreneurial skills.

    Speaking  at the  NDE special day  of the Enugu International Trade Fair, Obayan said: “We have reasons to rejoice in the strength of our four core programmes, namely: Vocational Skills Development (VSD), Small Scale Enterprises (SSE), Rural Employment Promotion (REP) and Special Public Works (SPW) Programmes.”

    He said the faithful implementation of the directorate‘s employment creation programmes had, to a reasonable extent, reduced the level of despair and disillusionment associated with unemployment in Nigeria.

    “The realities of economic recession and evidences of breakthroughs emanating from self-employment initiatives have reinforced our belief in the efficacy of skills acquisition training, which globally, has demystified the seemingly intractable challenges of unemployment and poverty,’’ he said.

    To further deepen the effectiveness of its employment creation strategies, according to Obayan, the NDE after completing the framework for the online registration of unemployed persons in Nigeria had commenced the actual registration of the unemployed nationwide.

    “I am glad to announce that a work-station is functional at the NDE stand at this fair from where any unemployed person can register. Other Nigerians can avail themselves of this service by logging on to www.jobsforall.ng.

    Obayan said the NDE considered this as a very critical input into its process of designing, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of all programmes and schemes.

    “Unemployed Nigerians are expected to register on the portal, which has the capacity to serve a job exchange linking employers and job seekers having fully been hosted,” he said.

  • Online marketing boom for retailers

    Online marketing boom for retailers

    For retailers desirous of making sales without incurring unnecessary costs on advertising, online marketing aided by the social media is the way to go, reports TONIA ‘DIYAN

    Trading through online platforms and the social media networks is helping retailers have a wider reach to their prospective customers, both at home and abroad. This is because the barrier of distance can be successfully broken, making it possible to strike business deals, trade and shop with anyone.

    Besides, online platforms help to create mutual relationship between sellers and buyers, which gives both parties a first-hand communication where feedbacks from customers are guaranteed. For retailers, who transact business online, the feedbacks help to improve their services and maintain cordial relationship with their customers.

    Retailers, who do business online are at an advantage as they become easily accessible to all classes of people because of their activeness in the virtual society.

    Moving with the trend of trading online, convenience and time saving factor has made it possible for buyers to order their desired goods in the comfort of their homes.

    Raphael Afaedor, co-founder/ Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Supermart.ng, a grocery online store, saw the need to solve many everyday problems of households in Nigeria, especially Lagos, hence, he started Supermart.ng.

    “I have observed the stress people go through in order to shop for groceries,” he said.

    He continued: “Most times people move from one shop to another or visit the local market to buy local ingredients. This is due to the unstructured nature of the traditional retail and wholesale system.”

    Afaedor, who was a co-founder and managing director of Jumia.com.ng, from March 2012 to January 2014, partnered leading supermarkets and local markets and has developed the largest one-stop online market for customers to shop from over 60,000 items and have it delivered to them within three hours across Lagos.

    According to him, the initial response from people was not encouraging as most were reluctant, but later came to trust the system. From what it used to be when it started a few years ago, Afam Ayika, former Marketing Manager, Jumia Nigeria. said there has been significant progress.

    “For instance earlier in 2012 e-commerce sites were recording 2,000 orders per day. Between 2012 and now some of us have had an exponential growth to the tune of 100,000 orders per day and record over 50 per cent growth month-on-month. The major thing is to put in place a structure that customers can trust. For instance, Supermart.ng has put a system in place that customers can trust to deliver their groceries to them as early as three hours without any hitch,” he said.

    Speaking of challenges, the traditional wholesale and retail system is not organised. This is visible in the fact that it is quite hard for someone to get everything he or she wants in just one supermarket. Therefore, what these online stores have done is to partner leading supermarkets and local markets.

    According to operators, it ensures that customers can buy their groceries and everyday essentials (local and imported products) at one address online and have them delivered to their homes and offices in a short time. And with just a click a person can access everything he needs from the comfort of his home without having to move from one market to another.

    Another challenge, according to them, was logistics, especially in Lagos, where there is the fear of the unpredictable traffic situation.

    The traffic situation is a challenge both to the customers and to the e-commerce companies. For the customers, it is a discouraging factor from going to the stores. For the e-commerce companies, it accounts for their delay in delivery.

    Traditionally, it takes two to 10 days for orders to be delivered to customer’s doorstep. However, this approach cannot be used for groceries, considering that most of the orders are needed the same day. In view of that, what some operators have done was to embark on adequate city research to understand the flow of traffic so that they are able to deliver groceries in the shortest possible time against all odds. During the last fuel scarcity when telecoms companies and banks were shutting down, online stores still delivered and did not fail in their delivery promise.

  • Online referral platform takes off

    Are you in need of medical consultation or a quick referral? DoctorsHub Nigeria can assist.

    The online platform was founded by Dr. Damian Avar, who felt that the dismal doctor-to-patient ratio (1:4000-6000) in the country, caused by a deficit of doctors, could be mitigated by leveraging technology. DoctorsHub Nigeria was launched last November.

    Avar conceived the idea during his final year at the College of Medicine of the University of Lagos. With only seven doctors at inception, DoctorsHub Nigeria has grown, having over 20 doctors, all of them registered with the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria.

    The group provides the best online medical consultancy for free daily. With its team of seasoned doctors and specialists, the hub simplifies the challenge of getting expert medical consultation/advice to only a phone call or and SMS. To have wider coverage and accessibility, consultations on the platform are  conducted in English, pidgin, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. This has ensured that people, who would not have accessed the service due to language barrier, are able to. And in line with the code of medical ethics, patient confidentiality is adhered to.

    Avar said: “We also are very passionate about educating Nigerians about relevant health issues and conditions. As they say, prevention is better than cure. Via our blog, we have been able to consistently publish very easy-to-read-and-understand health articles devoid of medical jargons. We are also extending the success of offering consultations/advice in local dialects to our health articles as well. With the goal to get more readerships, we have commenced works and started recruiting health writers with the requisite language skills to write or translate our articles into local dialects. In four months of operation, we have been able to attend to over 650 people who have called on us, at times in the dead of the night, with one form of medical complaint or the other. This is despite the fact that we have never sponsored any advert, either on social media, print, or TV/Radio announcing our services.”

    He said in line with its vision to save lives, DoctorsHub Nigeria has launched some suicide distress lines. This is to ensure that suicide attempters are reported to avert such tragedies.

    Avar said: “Based on our work and impressive results,  TechPoint.ng  recently featured us on its platform via: https://techpoint.ng/2017/03/21/doctorshub-nigeria-profile/. The goal is to reach a stage where we can conveniently be attending to a minimum of 100, 000 medical complaints yearly. That is a huge goal, but we believe it is not impossible. With this, majority of the general hospitals would be significantly decongested and the resources there utilised more effectively to serve those who really and truly require them. We hope to cut down avoidable patients’ visits to health centres by at least 25 percent within the next 24 months.

    “We expect that the federal and state governments will see the immense opportunity in this initiative and key into it and provide Nigerians with a decent health care delivery system. There is a lot more we can do better, a lot more. With the necessary support, what we have now can be used to transform the  health sector for the better in no more than five years from now.

    ‘’The online consultations/advice will not replace the generic offline, in-hospital consultations.

    ‘’Of course, those ones will always come first. Very often, we refer patients who need to be examined by a doctor to accredited health facilities for the examinations and tests.

  • AJ Campbell floats online store

    AJ Campbell floats online store

    Seasoned photographer turned fashion designer, Campbell O. Ajiye, better known by his moniker, AJ Campbell, is set for the launch of an official website for his fashion line, The Alpha Money Self Made Billionaires (AMSMB), a brand which also doubles as a record label.

    The website, according to him, will afford his fans and customers all over the world the opportunity to shop online for his apparels and also get updates on the activities of the label.

    Speaking further, he said that AMSMB has found an appeal in other parts of the World and there are plans in the pipeline to launch a store in some cities around the globe.

    “I started small and have been able to find my way by fortunate twist of events that has involved meticulous planning and that is still steadily gaining momentum, I want to share my experiences as an entrepreneur and to mentor younger people, sharing with them that success is about nothing short of hard work and the rest is just grace,” Campbell stated.

    His career started as a photo-journalist, during which time he captured moments in pictures, of global celebrities like Agbani Darego, Uche Orji, JJ Okocha, Kanu Nwakwo, NBA Super Star Emeka Okafor, Usher Raymond and Wyclef Jean among others.

    He has also worked closely in the studios in Nigeria for a few years with top rated artistes and producers like late OJB Jezreel, ID Cabassa, Mr. Daz, Sheyman, K-Solo, Puffy Tee and a host of other talents.

    While away in Egypt in late 2011, the multi-talented AJ Campbell embraced another line of business – fashion – and he came up with a clothing line which he said was inspired by the Gianni Versace, Bevista, Roberto Cavalli and Louis Vuitton of this world.

  • Online real estate portal makes debut

    A new real estate portal, propertynews.com.ng, has been launched in Lagos.

    Its  Publisher/Adrant Partners Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Ranti Adedeji, said the portal is a cost-effective platform that provides in-depth reports and analysis of events, activities and developments in the construction and real estate sector.

    “Practitioners, investors, as well as, individual property owners would find it most invaluable. www.propertynews.com.ng, the media arm of Adrant Partners, has regular segments, such as Building Planning, Sellers’ request, Buyers’ Request, Documentations, Real Estate, Investment, Supplements, Projects and  Interviews,” Adedeji explained.

    According to Adedeji, a former journalist on the real estate beat, www.propertynews.com.ng, affords landlords who have property to sell and estate agents who have direct instructions to help sell property an opportunity to publicise their stock.

    He added that buyers could indicate their demand in order to be matched with property in the organisation’s database. “We also provide free consultancy services about property documents like Survey, Land Information, Certificate of Occupancy and Building Approval.

    This is in conjunction with experienced property lawyers and relevant government agencies,” Adedeji added.