Amaka Obiefuna.

According to Geopoll, a recent survey has shown that Nigerians shop more online than other Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries.

Geopoll, the world’s largest mobile survey platform with a network of 200 million users in Africa and Asia, conducted the survey on five African countries which include Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Kenya and Ghana. The platform said that there has been a tangible growth in shopping online on the continent but still SSA countries still do not trust e-commerce sites.

According to the survey, 66% of Nigerians buy items online every few months compared with 60% in South Africa and 45% in Kenya.

At least 55% of Ghanaians and 51% of Ugandans have never bought anything online. Also, those who have shopped online have only done it once.

Among the reasons cited for infrequent use of e-commerce sites, lack of trust, shipping costs, unsupported means of payment and an acquaintance having a bad experience while using it were listed.

Others complained about the unreliability of some of the sites while some felt there was no need as most of the items could be easily bought at their local convenience stores.

Majority of shoppers in Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda pay for ordered items on delivery while 50% of South African shoppers pay with their debit cards.

Despite the economic hardship in Nigeria, e-commerce sites saw a 20% growth in the just concluded ‘Black Friday’ sales.

Konga through its Yakata 2016 sales saw a record of 155,000 orders, the largest since its conception, thereby totalling N3.5 billion within the sales period. Other e-commerce platforms such as Jumia and Yudala also recorded increased sales during the period.