BY JONAH NWOKPOKU

Recent trends globally have shown tremendous growth in online related businesses. Nigeria is not being left out in this strongly emerging business platform as some of Nigeria’s online businesses, especially in the B2C category, like Jumia and Konga have already become recognised global brands.

E-commerce comes in different variants. It can be business to Business, B2B, business to Consumer, B2C, consumer to Consumer, C2C, and Consumer to Business, C2B, etc. B2C is the retail part where the business and customer meet, and that is the form that is sweeping across the retail market across the world, threatening the success and existence of the traditional retail structure.

Research has shown that the number of consumers making purchases online has continued to increase. According to the report, global online retail sales are projected to peak at $500 billion by the end of 2013.

Consequently analysts say it is a reality that every business must contend with as it is the new wave of commerce and, depending on the industry, e-commerce represents either an opportunity for big profit or a death knell for the brick and mortar businesses.

In Nigeria, the story is not any different as online retails continue to increase but as there are no official data to confirm its impact on the brick and mortar businesses, Vanguard went round some shops in Lagos to have a feel of the impact of the emerging e-commerce.

Vanguard’s investigation however revealed that impact, if there is any at all, is still subtle. We visited three shopping malls in Lagos Island, Ikeja and Surulere and activities still remained normal. Some sales representatives who spoke to Vanguard said, although online retailing is making waves, Nigeria’s level of development and the people’s poor level of technological literacy will continue to make more money to be spent offline.

“It is not every one that would naturally go online to buy goods. Given our level of development, you cannot yet begin to expect immediate impacts of online retails on the physical shops. Don’t forget that most Nigerians are not tech compliant yet. For us here, business is still normal, and I think if there is going to be impact, it cannot be now, may be sometime in the future,” said Michael Ogunma who is a sales representatives in a fashion shop in Surulere.
For Chinedu Eze who deals on electronic gadgets at Ikeja City Mall, “The growth of e-commerce would eventually compel some brick and mortar businesses to restrategise on the way of doing business. But at the moment, they are yet to affect sales because most Nigerians still prefer to feel and touch whatever they want to buy, even the pay on delivery adopted by e-commerce operators has not convinced many to join the trend.”

However, when contacted, some operators seemed to affirm the view of the sales reps, saying that more money would continue to be spent offline at the moment. They said online business would only complement brick and mortar businesses instead of threatening its existence.

“E-commerce definitely redefines offline commerce and takes away a large portion of its customer base; however it could never replace offline commerce because they serve different purposes. For instance, sometimes you just fancy going to a shopping mall by yourself and touching the actual products, talking to the sales representative in person, etc. Just like TV didn’t kill the radio, e-commerce couldn’t kill offline commerce,” said Marek Zmyslowski, Managing Director Jovago.com.

On his part, Bankole Cardoso, the Managing Director of EasyTaxi.com said, “I am certain that they pose a competitive threat to traditional retailers.  The cost-saving and synergies enjoyed in the online space cannot be beat!  People shop online because of the convenience, choice and timesaving it affords them.  However, I foresee a future where brick-and-mortar and online stores work hand in hand to ensure the best and most complete shopping experience for the customer.”