Obstacles..............Opportunities

Speaking to a few people in Nigeria about why they wouldn’t shop online, the main reasons that are given are usually fear of card fraud and the inability totouch and feel items before buying.  People are generally wary of providing their card details to a stranger especially one they can’t even see.  However, it is important to note (especially as a customer) that your card details are not seen by the online shop – only the merchants (e.g. GTBank, Interswitch etc) see your card details as they process the payments on behalf of the online shop. Now this is not to say that your card details cannot be stolen over the internet but as long as you are paying through one of the reputable payment providers, this is very unlikely to happen. I have noticed that most Nigerian online shops offer the option of paying by bank deposit and offer a pay on delivery service in order to target shoppers who refuse to pay online with their cards. Whilst these are brilliant ideas, I believe it defeats the purpose of convenience that online shopping provides. Why do you have to drive to a bank and queue up to pay for an item, you might as well drive to a shop and buy that item.  Feel free to use the bank deposit and pay on delivery options but bear in mind that the chances of your card details being stolen as a result of shopping online are VERY SLIM. I hope I’ve managed to save you a few trips to the bank J 

Being unable to see items before a purchase is probably the biggest disadvantage of online shopping. However, successful online businesses are able to address to an extent this issue by providing very good product images and detailed product descriptions in order to give the customer as much information as possible to make a buying decision. Save for a few websites, the photo quality on most Nigerian websites could be improved to give the customer a better idea/picture of the product they are interested in. As an online shop owner, make sure that the product description accurately depicts the product as misrepresentation on your website could cost you repeat business from the customer and referrals.  

As an online shop owner, delivery is likely to cause you headaches with the lack of an effective postal system in Nigeria. The private delivery companies such as DHL, Fedex probably cost a bit to use. From the websites I have visited, delivery throughout Nigeria averages #2,000 which isn’t too bad. I know there are few delivery companies which are local to Lagos – this could be an opportunity for this service to be developed in other cities. What do you think?

Do you shop online?

Hello there,

It's my first post - yay!!! Allow me to introduce myself and my blog - I am a young lady in my 20s enjoying life to the fullest. I started this blog because I became frustrated with the availability of good shopping websites in Nigeria. Having considered setting up an online business, I decided to explore ways to improve the experience for both buyers and sellers. Lets see if I can succeed :)


Okay, back to the matter at hand - shopping online. Let me start with myself, I am a big fan of shopping online mostly because of the convenience. I buy phone cards, groceries, clothes, perfumes, lingerie and whatever else you can think of online. However, I know I am in the minority amongst my friends especially the Nigerian ones - they are shocked when I tell them the sort of things I buy online. Obviously, being in the UK makes it easy as everything works e.g. the postal system, payment facilities and of course there are laws governing online trading which are adhered to. Shopping online in Nigeria is a different ball game because of the lack of these basics but that doesn't mean there aren't opportunities to shop online or even set up an online business. I want to use this blog to explore these opportunities and provide information about shopping online. Apart from online shopping, I am also passionate about entrepreneurship so I hope to use this medium to celebrate entrepreneurs and explore some ideas for the Nigerian business environment. I hope you will find the blog useful.

Online Shopaholic