As more Nigerians continue to embrace Information Communication Technology (ICT), to what extent are Nigerians patronising online shops and e-commerce platforms?
Nigerians in the capital City Abuja have given different opinions.
Shade Idem, an online customer, said that e-commerce was one of the best things that had happened to her and the economy of the nation in general.
“Online marketing is the easiest kind of buying you can do, when I go online, I select things that appeal to me and make the order and
the sellers deliver to me at my doorstep.’’
“It takes less than a month for the order to be delivered and if they do not deliver according to my specification, I don’t pay for the ordered items.’’
Another respondent, Chioma Ojiem, a student of University of Abuja, also commended operators of e-commerce marketing, saying that for her as a student, the system was just convenient for her.
“Some online shops are quite dependable,’’ she said.
Tolu Aiyegbusi, who also said she had been patronizing online shops for some of her needs, added that the system had been working well for her.
According to her, she enjoys the `Black Fridays’ and other periodic massive sales most.
She said she had her bad experiences too about online marketing, but in all,
she found the trend rewarding.
“Like some clothing items I bought on black Friday sales, ordinarily they would go for twice the price I paid for when the sale was on.
“Most times, I wait for sales to make my purchases, especially children’s wears.
However, some other respondents said they had bad experiences with
e-commerce and would not bother going there again.
Mr Izuchukwu Chimuche said he tried to buy things online severely but each time he regretted doing so.
“I saw a shirt I liked and ordered and paid for it but when it was delivered, it was not the size I thought but when I complained on delivery, the delivery man refused to change it and asked me to put up formal complain.
“There was a time I ordered for a cell phone and had to forfeit it because I did not enjoy it.’’
Nigeria as a nation joined the trend of e-commerce since the advent of increased smartphone users and internet penetration, buying things from food items to household materials.
The e-commerce industry witnessed tremendous growth since 2010 with companies like Jumia, Konga, Jiji, Payport, Ali express and economists say it would be to the benefit of the nation’ GDP.