By Johnbosco Agbakwuru

The Chief Executive officer of indigenous e-commerce platform Sellbeta, Emeafu Elvis Chibuzor has said that with the outbreak of the Coronavirus Pandemic, more e-commerce businesses and platforms will spring up in Nigeria.

According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, as lockdown became the new normal, businesses and consumers increasingly went digital, providing and buying more goods and services online, driving up e-commerce’s share of global retail trade from 14 per cent in 2019 to about 17 per cent in 2020, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

In a media interaction with some journalists, Elvis predicted that e-commerce will likely maintain its trajectory throughout the recovery from COVID-19 and even beyond.

“According to Statista, Nigeria’s e-commerce revenue is expected to show an annual growth rate of 11.78 per cent between 2021 and 2025, resulting in an estimated market volume of approximately $10bn by 2050.

“With the increase in internet users in Nigeria and a likely third wave of covid-19 Delta variants, its most likely that Nigeria will experience another round of lockdown which will force most people to resort to online shopping which will invariably trigger establishment of more e-commerce platforms,” he said.

On the business model of sellbeta, the CEO said he believes that sellbeta’s business approach will see the company grow exponentially within a short while.

He said, “We at sellbeta believe that our business structure will make provision for business to business (B2B), business to consumer (B2C), and consumer to consumer operations (C2C) which will serve a retail customer base that will continue to grow exponentially, offering products that span various categories including Phones, Computers, Men Fashion, Women Fashion, Home Appliances, Books, healthcare, Baby Products, Toys, personal care, Electronics and much more.”

On what should be said to be the competitive edge sellbeta has over other e-commerce platforms in Nigeria, Elvis said “our edge over the existing competition includes; lowest price guarantee, seven-day free return policy, dedicated customer service support, and many other strategic initiatives that would be developed as the need arises.”