The eCommerce industry in
Nigeria has been around for a while now with its peculiar ups and downs. I recently had a discussion with Yomi Alarape, Co-Founder and
CEO of Loyalbonus.com, on how the Nigerian eCommerce ecosystem can be improved.
Yomi Alarape is an expert in the eCommerce industry.
On his assessment of the current state of the Nigerian eComerce
ecosystem, Yomi is of the opinion that it is not yet where it is supposed to be
because of such factors as the current economic recession and peoples view that
return on investment is not coming fast enough from the eCommerce platforms.
Going further, he said that there are still the issues of trust
and inefficient logistic procedures which make goods not to arrive at the
buyers place on time, etc.
On why eCommerce these days is no longer growing at the rate at
which the early starters commenced the business, Yomi is of the opinion that
there is always the buzz was expected at the entry of eCommerce as was with the
early starters.
He went further to say that the expectations of those who
patronized these eCommerce platforms are not being met and the platforms are no
more sustaining innovations that that keeps the experience.
He maintained that eCommerce goes beyond ordering for a product
and getting it delivered in the comfort of home.
The product has to arrive as at when due to keep the trust
going.
An eCommerce customer wants an engaging platform, value for
their money and a daily experience as opposed to on-off experiences.
According to Yomi, to get things right in the eCommerce
industry, there is the need to think outside the box.
Yomi is of the opinion that eCommerce is not dying yet in
Nigeria, but it has to come out with more innovations to make it tick.
He cited the innovations going on with Loyalbonus.com, having
practically built a universal loyalty platform which caters for online and
offline requirements through synchronization.
He said that this gives the customers value for their investment
and the Merchants can also easily identify customers that are loyal to them
through analytics and business intelligence supplied to them on secured
platforms.
Here, Merchants can identify customers loyal to them and reward
them.
On what difference technology stands to make in the loyalty
schemes, Yomi explained technology has come to synchronize and make it seamless
across platforms instead of having bonus cards from one eCommerce platform that
one cannot use elsewhere except on that platform.
He said that his company further built loyalty and bonus
discounts that further drives the customers engagement.
On how to deal with the issue of trust along the entire
eCommerce value chain, Yomi stated that the only way is to meet their words
with actions which are verifiable online with reviews on the platforms.
He further said that there should be strict controls and
customer satisfaction driven policies must also be put in place.
He is of the opinion that in this age of disruptive technology
where one needs to operate lean and yet be strategic, it might not be advisable
for an eCommerce platform to have warehouses everywhere but what matters is
getting the products delivered to the customers as at when due.
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