As preparations for the Yuletide gather momentum, shoppers have the option of placing orders for choice items online within the comfort of their sitting rooms, reports TONIA ‘DIYAN
FOR the upwardly mobile and ever busy executive, who can hardly afford the luxury of the time required to go out on a shopping spree, especially at Christmas, the opportunity through virtual, online shopping cannot be easily ignored considering its enormous benefits.
A lady, who simply identified herself as Ewaoluwa, is a shopping freak, but detests going to crowded places. She does her shopping online and visiting shopping sites for clothes, shoes, accessories, makeup and other beauty products.
Justifying her craze for online shopping, she said: “Goods at the market are more expensive when compared to what the online stores offer and their prices usually don’t correspond with their quality.”
The 24-year-old became a fan of online shopping, giving reference to fashion brand, two years ago when the trend was newly introduced into the country.
She now makes her purchases on her laptop every month while waiting for retailers’ holiday’s offers and Christmas discount offers, which are ongoing in all shopping places.
Since product returns are free and easy, Ewaoluwa said she doesn’t mind paying the delivery charges required when online stores desptach riders deliver her items to her door step.
Like Ewaoluwa, Amara, another fashionista, has decided to stay away from markets and other crowded shopping places, arguing that visiting such places for Christmas shopping is a clear “waste of time.” This simply, according to her, often involve overeager salespersons, who may not help her find the right items she needs.
“I am the type of shopper who knows exactly what I want,” the 39-year-old said, adding: “I have never liked salespeople following me around. I don’t appreciate that kind of service. And to make matters worse, I might not get exactly what I want to buy. ”
An online store, which she discovered through a magazine two years ago, turned out to offer her kind of service. With just a press on the button of her mobile device in the comfort of her apartment, Amara has found brands of accessories that aren’t sold in some stores. There are several thousands of people who would rather do their shopping in their living rooms just like Ewaoluwa and Amara.
The Nation’s investigations haveshown that there are people who do not know the basic steps to take in buying an item online. Some would rather call the customer care line to place orders, while others would beg that orders be placed on their behalf. But it is better to take charge whenever one visits an online store.
Just like someone would behave when he/she gets to the popular Balogun market on Lagos Island, see what catches his or her fancy and simply ask for it following simple steps. It is true that before online shopping made began in the country, the main reason people browse the internet was to search for information, send emails and do their official work.
The process of placing orders online for goods is very simple and straight forward. Attempting a comparative analysis of conventional and online shopping, Mr. Ignatius Owen said: “Online shopping doesn’t come with any stress as you can do it anytime, anywhere and at your own convenience. Still, you get value for money.”
ABC of buying online
Offline Manager at Jumia.com.ng, Afam Anyika, said there are simple procedures required to shop online. These include logging on to any online website by typing the store’s name and follow other commands as may be required on the browser
“Simply log on to any online shopping website by typing the store website on the browser, that is, the store name.com.ng. In some cases, choosing Nigeria on the ‘choose a country” section might be needed and if one is a new customer, he or she would be required to type in an email address and click on ‘Sign Up Now’,” hesaid.
The next step, according to him, “is to click on the category name on the left hand side of the homepage to view the products within categories or use the search bar located at the top of the homepage to find preferred products. “Select a preferred colour/size and then click on ‘buy now, to add choice product into cart. Note that it is important to click on preferred payment option before clicking the ‘Place order’ button.
“It is time to fill in contact and delivery details, then click ‘Save And Continue’. Choose a preferred payment method after the buyer must have chosen goods. It could be delivered anywhere, using different methods. Cash on delivery or the free returns & exchange methods. At this stage, the order is complete; an order number will then be generated for the customer with which he or she can use to track the order,” he explained.
He continued: “It is important to click on ‘Proceed To Checkout’, tab to complete the buying process. At checkout, the buyer will need to fill in personal details and shipping address if he or she is a new customer.
“However, it is important not to hesitate to contact customer care via email, Facebook, Twitter or Google+ in case a buyer encounters any problem while placing order.”
Corroborating Anyinka, an online store worker, Tomiwa Oladele, noted that all a prospective seller or buyer is required to do are simple basic steps. Tomiwa works at Kaymu.com.ng, an online shopping portal,
“It is easy to find the product one wants by using the search box at the top of the homepage or the category tree on the left. Then use the filters on the left to choose preferred brand, colours and price.
“The next step is to select payment and shipping method and click on the ‘confirm’ button to confirm purchase. A buyer can either choose cash on delivery or any of the other payment options after which, a confirmation email will be sent to buyer to validate his or her order as well as the seller details.”Oladele said.
A customer support worker at dealdey.com, Toyin Adeyeni, told The Nation Shopping that what to do when trying to buy goods online is to understand the basic rudiments.
“All it requires is to type the store name on the browser click sign up, fill the form and register, after which the buyer signs in with details (username and password). It is time to click on preferred deal and buy, redirecting the buyer to his or her cart. If the buyer wants to continue shopping, he/she should click on the continue shopping button, if not, he can proceed to payment.
“It is important to know that proceeding to ‘payments’ takes buyer to the different payment options available where he or she is asked to select preferred payment option (if money is in wallet, a buyer is expected to select wallet) and follow the instructions to complete order or such persons can make on-line payment from bank accounts using ATM cards such as Verve, Master-card or Visa card. Buyers can also pay directly into the company’s accounts.
“Once confirmation of payment is received, the buyer’s wallet will be credited and he/she will be notified of credit after which buyer can sign into Dealdey account and click on ‘buy’ on desired deal to make a purchase and complete order,”she said.
However, buyers such as Ewaoluwa and Amara are among those sustaining online retailers in this part of the world since it started about two years ago.
Bridging the digital divide
With a population of 170 million, 130 million active lines, 66 million of which are used to access the internet, Nigeria is the biggest internet market in Africa. Between 2000 and 2013, internet penetration grew from a paltry 0.06 per cent to 38 per cent. Teledensity is now 93 per cent and there are indications that the trend will continue well into 2020.
The country will remain the largest internet market on the continent in the near future because it has a large youth population (one-third of the population is between the 10-24 years age bracket) and a growing middle class (estimated at 23 per cent, approximately 39 million-of the population according to Renaissance Capital in 2011). Nigeria has a large number of the two classes of individuals, which traditionally drive internet usage. They are the middle class and the young people.
The size of this market makes it a fertile ground for online business, internet advertising, software sales and Internet service providers.
Benefits of online shopping
Shedding more light on customers’ patronage of online platforms, the Managing Director of Kaymu.com.ng, in Nigeria, Evangeline Wiles, said the enormous growth rate being recorded on the e-commerce sector, about N1.3 billion per month, is driven by the middle class.
Wiles said the growth of online based transactions in Nigeria records over $2million, about N320 million per week and about N1.3 billion a month from the 38 per cent of Nigerians, who prefer to buy products through the internet.
He noted that as Nigeria continues its movement towards a digital economy, online transactions are expected to reach N1 trillion, boosting the cashless policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), aimed at reducing cash-based transactions.
He said: “Online marketing offers a level playing ground for large businesses as well as small and medium scale businesses to operate in the global market place and for regional businesses and communities to participate in social economic and cultural networks across the globe. With the growing successes recorded in the country’s e-commerce space contributed largely to the middle class of the economy, the low income group is also a potential target for business investors and mass products.”
The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) also report that almost 40 per cent of all internet traffic from Africa comes from Nigeria, thus, rating the country as Africa’s largest mobile and internet market.
Nigeria takes over from Egypt and Morocco, which have been among the highest internet user rates in the region, with Egypt having about 12.6 million people with access to the internet while Morocco has 10.3 million.
Considering the immense economic potential Nigeria has in terms of sheer market size, it is the contention of analysts that the online shopping platforms would continue to grow in leaps and bounds as long as the adoption of social media as a viable market platform.
