In the past few years, internet shopping has exploded. There was a time when even ordering something from a catalogue required you to go to a physical store, but gradually, as internet shopping became more popular, online only stores like ASOS were born, democratising the shopping experience. As long as you had an internet connection and a shipping address, you could order whatever you wanted right to your doorstep. Nigeria was slower on the uptake, with online only platforms like Jumia and Konga having to offer payment on delivery when they started operations. However, in the past year or so, online shopping in Nigeria has blossomed and you can now buy anything from underwear to household appliances online.
Seemingly every day, a new business is opening on Instagram- selling hair, gadgets, banana bread or cocktails. A whim at home can become a viable business in the 10 minutes it takes to open a new Instagram account. That is not to deny the very real problem of running a business in Nigeria. With inconsistent government policies, what seems like an excellent business today could be dead in a few weeks. For businesses that survive, they face fines, regulation changes, excessive shipping charges and a myriad of other issues.
Customers are in the same bad boat. With the nationwide lockdown, most businesses were forced to go online and consumers had to open themselves up to shopping online. In the past 4 months, I’ve bought more things online than I ever have before. It is often not the best experience.
Paying upfront is standard procedure. This might seem like fraud doesn’t happen and an Instagram account or even a business bank account is safety enough, a lot of times, it isn’t. Yet, business owners treat customers like the only risk that is being taken in transactions is from them. In reality, when your only storefront is a faceless social media account, it is easy to close shop and start again.
Another issue is how frustratingly long the ordering process is. You can order online and still have to go through another confirmation process on a phone call or email afterwards. You can send exactly what you want to a vendor and have to answer the same questions over and over again. You can order from the same person one week apart and have to go through the entire order process again.
Let’s not even talk about what you order vs what you get. Some vendors have built their entire business off offering different photos to their products. There is no way to know which vendors are honest and which aren’t just by looking at their pages. They all have screenshot whatsapp conversation “testimonials” and the same stolen content across their pages. You either have to have someone you trust that give you a recommendation or you take a dip in the fraud infested waters yourself. I remember a hair vendor that started on twitter, defrauded a lot of people, changed her name multiple times and then closed up shop completely to do the same thing on Instagram.
Very scary things can happen when you shop online. a few years ago, “anon” gifts got popular on twitter. A vendor tweets at an unsuspecting person and says “anon has ordered xyz for you, please send your details for delivery”. Cute right? Until he’s asking the vendor for your address after they have sent you your cute anonymous present. Some vendors refuse to give out that information and it’s their indignant tweets that even let people know that something like that is happening. How do we know that there are vendors that don’t give out your personal information? How do we know who the vendors are? In small businesses where everything might be handled by one person, you’re literally giving your address away for the price of one phone case.
Customers are not the only ones at risk, vendors are too- some female vendors have complained about men cancelling orders after discovering that there would be no personal deliveries. When speaking about risk, we have to remember the delivery drivers, who are at risk of being kidnapped and or murdered or at the very least, robbed.
It is easy to forget, when you’re trying to find a cute crop top on Instagram, that we still live in a volatile country. With every new innovation comes a new set of risks and online shopping is no exception. However, with retail as one of the biggest employers of labour and drivers of economic growth, let’s hope that the industry continues to grow and thrive.
