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E-commerce business is obviously trending and thriving in Nigeria. Nigeria with a population of about 180million and about 90million of her citizens using the internet has contributed massively to the success of e-commerce business in the country. The good thing about e-commerce business in Nigeria is that its gives room for you to begin with a small capital and scale your business.
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E-commerce business in Nigeria can take different forms, it doesn’t necessarily have to be operated with a huge capital base like Jumia and Konga. The way e-commerce business works in Nigeria can either be business to business, Business to Consumer, Consumer to Consumer, Consumer to Business, Business to Government administrations and can also take the form of Consumer to Government administrations
E-commerce business means selling goods and services online, most of the transactions take place online. Before you can start an e-commerce business in Nigeria, you will need to have an idea of what you want to start selling online and you will also need to have a website.
Related post : How to create an E-commerce website from Scratch
The following step by step guide would help you on how you can start an e-commerce business in Nigeria;
Register Your Business Name with CAC
Have a business idea? Why not bring it to lame light by starting an e-commerce business around it. Part of what you need for your business to be operated successfully in Nigeria is to register your business name with the Corporate affairs commission to have access to a business loan or grants and other benefits of running a successful business in Nigeria.
To register a business name in Nigeria is Ten Thousand Naira (N10,000) but the present promo of 50% off your registration fee of N10,000 after securing the business name with N500, you get to pay only Five Thousand Naira (N5000). So you can make a very good use of this opportunity and get your business registered.
Domain Name and Hosting of Your E-commerce Website
Like I earlier said, most e-commerce business transactions happen online and to do this successfully, you will need a website. An e-commerce website must have a domain name and must be hosted with an hosting provider.Having an e-commerce website would increase your business exposure and helps you in reaching your sales goals faster than if you don’t operate with a website.
for those on a small budgetTo register a domain name and an hosting services, I would recommend bluehost. For those on a small budget, you can go for smartweb and whogohost. Smartweb and whogohost are Nigeria based hosting providers while bluehost is an international based hosting provider.
With Bluehost hosting service, you get a free domain name for a year, free SSL certificate for your site security, 99% uptime, 24/7 support and moreso, bluehost is officially recommended by WordPress.org as the best and reliable hosting service provider.
Also, to get your e-commerce website up and running smoothly, you will need to refer to my previous post on how to build an e-commerce website step by step.
Put up a Business Plan
A well written business plan is necessary for more success in your eCommerce business. A business plan would serve as a guide in helping you achieve your business goals.
Stock Inventory
In stocking your products, you will need to decide on how you want to stock them. Do you want to stock your products in your personal apartment for now or you already have a warehouse for your products? Have you taught of the rents and other expenses you will be paying as a business owner that is just starting out when you rent an apartment/warehouse for your products? All these questions are important for you to weigh your options and to make a decision on how to stock inventory.
Partner with a Logistics Company
Deliveries of your products to your prospective customers would need the help of a logistics company if not more than one. You will need to partner with the reliable one because of your brand name. Remember, customers reviews is important to the success of your business, so do not give room for negative reviews about your business brand.
Marketting! Marketting!! Marketting!!!
The importance of marketing in any business cannot be overemphasized. Marketing is very crucial to the success of any business, without marketing, your business may not be known to people who are likely to patronize your brand. For your e-commerce business to be successful, you will need to market your products, business brand and every other things that would add to the success of your business. You will need to learn how to run successful social media ads, search engine optimization, email marketing etc in order not to waste money on ads that wouldn’t convert to sales.
E- commerce business in Nigeria, has its pros and cons just like any other business.
Some of the pros of e-commerce business are;
- Cost of Operation is Low
- You are able to reach a wide range of audience when operating the e-commerce business model
- You can operate your e-commerce business from any where in the world even in your Pijamas
- With e-commerce business model, you are able to study and know what your audience want (value) and serving them based on their needs which invariably increases productivity.
Some of the problems associated with eCommerce business in Nigeria are;
- The problem of payment on deliveries which serve as a set back in operating e-commerce business in Nigeria to some extent.
- Some logistics companies are not reliable. They frustrate most sellers online by not delivering the products to the customers on time which may affect the business image of the seller’s brand.
To run a successful e-commerce business in Nigeria, you will need to be unique in your business dealings by being unique in your games. You need to have a USP (Unique selling point) which is what is going to be guiding your customers in choosing your brand over several brands selling the same thing.
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