Dr. Olumide Olusanya, CEO of Gloo.ng, the Nigerian e-commerce company, has told Nigerian startups at #TechPlus2016 that they should focus on areas of “great needs” of customers to deepen e-commerce in Nigeria.Â
For e-commerce to grow, Nigerian startup entrepreneurs in the e-commerce sector should rather focus on providing services that are of great needs to consumers Olusanya, advises while speaking Friday at the Startup Track at #TechPlus2016 underway at Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos.
[quote font=”georgia” font_size=”22″ font_style=”italic” align=”left” arrow=”yes”]”When we started, we had an average basket size of about N5,600, and currently, we have an average basket size of about N45,000″, the Gloo.ng CEO, Dr Olumide Olusanya tells Technology Times at #TechPlus2016 in Lagos.[/quote]People are more inclined to pay for goods and services provided by e-commerce enterprises when when the goods or service is viewed as a great need, he says.
“What you are selling must be a great need for your customers. If they do not have great need for it, they will not be willing to pay for your goods or services,” Olusanya advises underscoring that despite the economic condition in Nigeria, the e-commerce company he founded about four years ago, Gloo.ng, still maintain its customer base because the products they sell are among “the basic needs of man.”
He also advises that startups should start their businesses with affordable goods and services so as to encourage e-purchasing habit, saying that many people are skeptical about paying for something they have not seen physically.
He tells the well-attended #TechPlus2016 session that e-commerce startup entrepreneurs must have realistic but expanded dreams to succeed in the business.
“Although they are starting small, entrepreneurs should always dream big. This dream will guide them through their growth,” Olusanya adds.
Speaking on service delivery, the CEO said speedy delivery is a key to successful e-commerce, and that time should be one of the key logistics of every enterprise in order to drive viable, sustainable and growing business.
Speaking exclusively with Technology Times on the sidelines of #TechPlus2016, the Gloo.ng CEO, says the e-commerce company, which is now four years old, has been able to stand the times because it provides goods that are specific, and what its customers would want and are ready to buy.
“As far as Nigerians are concerned, e-commerce just mean selling things online. We deliberately chose a certain area that we focused on. We don’t sell everything. We have a clear idea of who our customers are,” Olusanya says.
“We have an understanding of exactly what is required to succeed. What customers’ problems we are trying to solve”, according to the Gloo.ng CEO.
“When we started, we had an average basket size of about N5,600, and currently, we have an average basket size of about N45,000”, the Gloo.ng CEO, Dr Olumide Olusanya tells Technology Times at #TechPlus2016 in Lagos.
“In terms of revenue, on the average, we’ve doubled our revenue every year within the last four years, and my own vision ultimately is that the business has the potentials to continue doubling that revenue,” he adds.
Although the online company is still on the early path of growth, the CEO of the Nigerian e-commerce does not see Jumia and Konga as competitors in the e-commerce business saying that, “we are a supermarket online.”
According to Olusanya, “what we are trying to do is very different from what those companies are doing. But in terms of competitive edge, for the space, the real competitive edge is our focus. We have a clear idea of who the customer is. You find that hard for e-commerce in Nigeria to define who their customer is,” says Gloo.ng CEO.
On the challenges of e-commerce in Nigeria, Olusanya says the issue of trust and payment remains the key problems.
“Though there has been some innovation from new companies that came up in the last one year to get in a mix of the payment, but that has not gotten to critical mass yet, since we haven’t  started seeing the effect,” he add.
For Gloo.ng CEO, the e-commerce company still faces local challenges of Nigerian roads, which hinders quick delivery of goods and services, as well as problems related to infrastructure and poor electricity power supply.
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