The Co-CEO of Supermart.ng, Gbolahan Fagbure has said that Nigeria is one of the safest place in the world to shop online. Fagbure who spoke recently with journalists in an interview said that it is only in Nigeria that online transactions are secured with three step authentication. Most nations of the world according to him are gradually moving towards touchless payment system where people don’t have to put in any authentication in the course of their online transactions but Nigeria still secures transaction with three step authentication system. He went further to say that the fear that Nigerians are currently nurturing about online shopping came as an offshoot of the 419 era in Nigeria. He noted that the 419 era is now largely gone and that people do not have to deny themselves of the many privileges of online shopping for the fear of being defrauded.
Speaking further on the privileges that online shopping has to offer, Fagbure stated that the many advantages of online shopping are not just for Nigerians as individuals but also for the growth of the Nigeria economy. He explained that the online market is one place where an average person can get a wide range of assortments of whatever they want to buy in one place. Fagbure who used his company, Supermart.ng as a case study said that Supermart.ng has partnered with leading supermarkets and local markets to put up a one stop shop online with over 60,000 items including Fresh food, foreign products, Nigerian ingredients, general groceries and baby products among others.
While stressing further on how e-commerce will impart the economy, he explained that the more convenient shopping becomes, the higher the sales that businesses will make because customers will be willing to buy more.
He also encouraged entrepreneurs to seek possible partnerships with local markets as currently being practiced by Supermart.ng such that the sellers at the local markets are able to reach sophisticated consumers with their products without necessarily meeting the buyer in person. “The people selling at the local market may not be able to have access to some kind of customers that we have access to, through partnerships, we are able to sell their products to these customers and help them increase their sales” he added.
He however advised businesses that are looking forward to greater growth to embrace the use of the internet in reaching a wider audience even if they already have an established offline presence.