E-commerce: A globe cracking revolution

E-commerce has showcased vast growth in the last few years. Sources forecast that retail e-commerce sales across the globe would grow from 7.4% in 2015 to 12.8% in the year 2019. Its vast reach being primarily the reason behind its wide popularity and success, along with other reasons such as leverage to shop anywhere at any-time, availability of wide variety of options, product comparison and reviews. From the business viewpoint, e-commerce is much more cost effective as compared to traditional commerce method. The essence of time can’t be denied behind the celebrated fame of e-commerce globally. It’s a frequent saying “time saved is equivalent to money saved”. In the commercial markets time has its own significance. It’s one of the most critical aspect in the business. From the perspective of a business, the amount of time saved is directly proportional to increase in the numbers of transactions. Similarly for a consumer as well a quick transaction saves a lot of time.

In global market context, the emergence of e-commerce as a pioneer has opened up various windows of opportunities for a variety of other companies and investors. For example, due to the booming of e-commerce, more and more resources are being directed into electronic securities, internet facilities, business plans and new technologies. Subsequently, a variety of new markets have sprouted up from e-commerce itself giving a boost to the global market.

African scenario

The future of e-commerce in Africa is surely a vibrant one. It’s forecasted to grow and expand rapidly in the coming years. In order to strengthen these projections, the account of the two leading e-commerce startups in Nigeria Jumia and Konga would be sufficient enough to portray the secured and growth-oriented future of e-commerce in Africa. Jumia made a revenue worth of $85 million & Konga made a revenue worth of $28 million respectively last year. These companies have predicted their annual revenues to grow continuously. E-commerce has also found its way in countries such as Ghana, South Africa, Kenya & Egypt, and is doing exceptionally well. McKinsey predicts that by 2025 Africans could be buying seventyfive billion dollars worth of goods and services online annually, which suggests promise for e-commerce markets. The scope of e-commerce is global, all products and service are sold all over the world. Whether it is Kenya or other country, people have now turned to buying almost everything ranging from lifestyle accessories, electronic equipment, beauty products and even household items from the online shopping website. E-commerce is the tool which big business of the globe are using to conduct their business. It’s said that necessity is the mother of innovation. The possibility of rapid and widespread expansion and adoption of e-commerce is the need of developing local innovation in order to overcome the structural deficiencies. For instance in Kenya, mobile-money services like M-Pesa have emerged in response to the absence of consumer banks, giving millions of Africans access to digital finance. E-commerce might at present seem an expensive model to work upon, but it surely has a secure and rewarding future.

Being a seller, most of them want to sell their products and services to as much people as possible and that too in a short span of time. Over the period, local sellers have realized the potential of e-commerce and thus, are getting themselves registered on the e-commerce stores to sell their products. Doing this not only cuts down the cost, but apparently it provides them a large customer base. Though there’s indeed a huge customer base, but the key to succeed and make one’s brand to stand out amongst all is to meet customers’ expectations and fulfill their needs and purpose in time. Muyiwa Saka, a verified seller on one of Africa’s leading e-commerce store says “The key to succeed and provide a steady growth to your business is to comprehend the essence of customer’s time”. If quality and punctual services are the pillars of your business then your business shall not take a look back and subsequently your customers reviews page will be as illustrative and catchy as a beautiful landscape painted with vibrant colors This huge leapfrog of traditional commerce to e-commerce is a ‘golden change’ in the global economy. E-commerce solves the purpose and interests of not only customers, but also of businesses. More and more numbers of sellers have realized that missing out on this opportunity won’t bring favorable returns to their business. The acceptance of e-commerce globally is a driving force, making it almost a mandatory situation for sellers and traders to register themselves online.

How could you reap the benefits from e-commerce being an investor? The answer to this complicated question isn’t a twisted mystery. If you’re a seller, looking to increase the visibility of your business and want the access to gigantic customer base, then pull your socks up and get your business registered online. If you are interested in playing a big game, then a startup in the e-commerce could also be considered. Though there is still much to be done in Africa; some of the challenges which would be obvious to be encountered are pathetic roads and delayed transportations. One of the largest problems restricting e-commerce growth in many areas of Africa is the lack of a cost efficient and reliable product delivery systems. If customers cannot get reliable delivery of their orders at a reasonable price then this ordeal creates mess and they often lose their faith in online business, no matter how large the product selection is and how attractive the price may be. Before setting up a startup of e-commerce it’s critically significant to examine the logistics and a distributing network. Involving into this startup obviously demands huge investment, but with right strategies and thorough research you could do wonders. It requires time and dedication. Africa is surely the next biggest e-commerce market with promising returns. Dream big and start small could possibly the best strategy here. With the launch of a new e-commerce store one may provide limited services in terms of product categories, and thus could be further increased and diversified with the increase in numbers of customers.