Growth of online shopping sites in Nigeria

Nigerians can now do more on the internet than they used to before. For me, one of the first thing that drew me to the internet was the opportunity of having an electronic mail account. As an undergraduate in a higher institution then, it was the in-thing to at least have a Yahoo mail account because Yahoo was offering it for free and with it you can send letters in minutes and it will reach another person. Yahoo mail eliminated the need for sending letters through NIPOST, the old way. Later on came online chatting and dating sites. I tried out sites like Blackplanet, Hi5 as well as Yahoo messenger. All those allowed friends to chat online and in real time and it was a bit faster than email messaging.

After a lot of Nigerians have been used to getting free email accounts, doing online chatting and social networking, the next big thing that came was online shopping websites. Initially, there were a lot of online shopping sites that sell stuff on the web but Nigerians were not able to get access to those sites and these included sites like eBay, Amazon, Newegg, TigerDirect, Nike and so on. Some of these foreign websites accepted Money order and bank wires from Nigeria then since Visa and Mastercard were not available in Nigeria yet but those methods were soon invaded by fraudsters and most of those websites soon stopped shipping to Nigeria and even banned Nigerian IPs. However, lately, Nigerians now have a growing number of local online shopping websites that now accept Naira payments and deliver to their doorsteps.

Online business is booming in the country and already there are popular names like Jumia Nigeria, Konga, Kaymu, Hellofood, EasyAppetite, Gloo, Taafoo, DealDey, Kara in the lead. They do sell a lot of good stuff to mostly imported in bulk from countries like China, UK and the USA. Some shopping websites also allow smaller retailers to sell on their platform and in a way work like Amazon and eBay which all help to make them have a larger inventory of products. Some of the items sold online at these Nigerian stores includes books, clothes, shoes, food, electronics, fashion accessories, gadgets and so on.

Features of online shopping websites in Nigeria
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- Well designed Website: They do have pretty well designed websites that are fit for online shopping. It allows buyers to view products on the home page, through Search box results and also through navigating on category links. Products are listed with their pictures, prices and features.

- Warehousing: One of the first things most online shopping sites in Nigeria do is at least having a warehouse to keep their goods. Some of them have a central warehouse in cities where they operate while others have multiple stores and this allows them to be closer to their customers. They don't mostly have a physical store where people can go to shop but they use the warehouses as a place to store the goods they've imported or received from sellers on their platform.

- Wide Variety of products: Online shopping websites in Nigeria do have a variety of goods that they sell. It can be hard being successful in the Nigerian market given that the demands of customers tend to vary. People who buy clothes might also want to buy shoes and sunglasses and so it's only fitting that they offer a variety of goods in order to meet the needs of men, women and kids.

- Delivery options: Online shopping sites in Nigeria do also offer a variety of delivery options to their buyers and they indicate this on a particular page dedicated to their delivery services. They can do home/office deliveries or allow customers to do a pickup after their online purchase.

- Variety of Payment options: Online shoppers in Nigeria also have the option of choosing their payment method. They can choose to pay in advance or on delivery.l They might also choose to pay with a bank deposit, POS machine or cash.

How online shopping websites in Nigeria operate
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I've had some experience wiht online shopping websites in Nigeria and I have to say, there are specific things I've noticed that is common among them and just want to give a breakdown of how it really works from the customer's end.

Steps
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1. Registration:

The first step the potential online shopper in Nigeria normally takes it to visit the website he intends to shop with and then is required to do a registration. Online shopping websites tend to make it compulsory for customers to register and this includes providing things like an email address, phone number, delivery address and adding a billing method. Users can register with just their email address or even using their Facebook account. Some websites in Nigeria make use of social media platforms like Facebook to collect customer information. All this allows shopping websites to keep a record of their customers and be able to contact them for promotions and marketing.

2. Adding items to cart:

After registration, the next step the customer normally takes is to browse through the shopping website and choose items he wants to buy. He can choose an item by either adding them to cart or to his wishlist for later buying. Once items are added to cart just like we do in a shopping mall, the next step is going to the counter for checking out.

3. Checking out:

This is the next step after collecting items from the website's store. Customers would choose to checkout after choosing the items they want to buy and this takes them to the checking out point where things like calculating their bill and payment is to be done.

4. Choosing a Payment method:

Customers would need to choose a payment method at their checking out point and they can choose to pay instantly with a Nigerian bank issued card, bank deposit, shopping wallet or pay on delivery/pickup. For now, it seems that most Nigerian prefer pay on delivery since they like seeing items they've ordered before releasing their cash. Besides, online shopping is still relatively new in Nigeria and it's going to take a while before Nigerians choose their trusted brands.

5. Confirming an order:

After the order has been placed on the website, the next step the online shopper in Nigeria would have to take is to confirm the order. A call or sms might be sent by the Store to the customer to confirm the order before approving it. This is to prevent unauthorized persons from making an order without your approval but with your details. Confirmation of online orders in Nigeria is mostly done by a phone call from their customer service.

6. Waiting for delivery or doing a pickup:

After an order has bee confirmed and processed, the the next step to be take is waiting for delivery if the customer has chosen a home or office delivery. Items would be delivered to an address he has chosen and probably at a schedule time of delivery. It however seems that shopping websites in Nigeria for now tend not to be so effective at delivering at a specific time range or date. At times orders are delivered late and this also encourages online customers to rather choose to pickup their order at their own time rather than waiting endlessly for an order which can't be delivered on a specific time or day.

Shopping websites I've used and recommend:
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Konga
Jumia
Dealdey
EasyAppetite

Although there are now a lot of online shopping websites in Nigeria, a large majority of Nigerians who still have money tend to go to the markets to buy things physically rather than ordering for them online.

Online shopping in Nigeria is more popular among young and internet savvy Nigerians who are mostly between the ages of 18 to 40. Older Nigerians tend to find it hard to believe they can buy things by pressing a computer and so would rather not mind facing the traffic and visiting stores to buy what they want. I think the online market for now is mostly dominated by stores focus on general items like clothes, shoes, books and electronics. In the future, shopping business might end up focusing on niche markets like groceries, food and other single items rather than general products.

Young Nigerians now like to buy things online since it eliminates the need for negotiating inflated prices since prices are fairly reasonable. It also allows them to buy the things they need without having to leave their busy schedule at home or work. Now more Nigerians are using their Saturdays and Sundays to hang our with families and friends rather than going to shopping malls to buy things. Online shopping is making life easier and more meaningful since it takes way the stress many have been facing from regular physical shopping.