A recent straw poll on the impact of the Black Friday sale promotion by Geopoll has discovered that informal transactions through Facebook groups are threatening the success of e-commerce giants in Africa.
According to the Black Friday Straw Poll, which ran in December 2017 among 2,031 respondents in Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya, Jumia still remains the most preferred e-commerce platform. Fifty-six percent of our poll respondents have shopped on Jumia before.
Interestingly, a significant number of online shoppers utilize Facebook groups. At 32%, Facebook is the second leading online retailer in the leading e-commerce regions. Through informal entrepreneurs who utilize this leading social media channel to either sell through their groups or similar interest groups, Facebook is proving to be a formidable albeit odd player in this space.
Meanwhile, Mobile phones have become ubiquitous in Africa. The Sub-Saharan region is also home to some of the least internet connected nations in the world. Beyond the low internet penetration levels in some countries and the high data costs, e-commerce is portraying an opportunity for online retailers to reach the youthful African consumer population. Despite the numerous challenges that this nascent industry has faced in the region, there is a silver lining thanks to the expected rise in the use of technology in the content. Global e-commerce concepts such as the Black Friday sales are also picking pace in creating awareness among the target market as brick & mortar stores join in seeking a piece of this pie.
