Use E-commerce to fast track Nigerian economy, expert tells Buhari

<strong><a href=”http://itpulse.com.ng/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/super.jpg”><img class=”alignleft size-medium wp-image-826″ src=”http://itpulse.com.ng/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/super-300×173.jpg” alt=”super” width=”300″ height=”173″ /></a></strong>Following the down turn in the international price of crude oil and its effect on oil dependent economy like Nigeria, Oluwatayo Alofun, the media interface at Supermart. ng, an online grocery store has urged the President Muhammadu Buhari to focus on trade and commerce as part of efforts to diversify the economy. Oluwatayo said trade and commerce is fast becoming an indispensable component of the non-oil sector of the Nigerian economy, revealing that the wholesale and retail space currently accounts for about $100 billion. He quoted a report by McKinsey, which also predicted a $300 billion growth of the industry by 2030. “There is a need to create an atmosphere for buyers to buy more and sellers to sell more, when sellers are able to make more sales it leads to business expansion, which automatically creates room for more employments and also contribute to national growth,” he said. According to him, the current traditional wholesale and retail business in the country is generally unorganized. He said what e-commerce companies like Supermart.ng has, however done is to organize the market such that consumers can get everything they want in just one spot. He stated this is the reason why 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 which will be delivered to buyers as early as three hours of order. In order for this to be possible, a chain of different job roles has to function together. In the case of supermart.ng for instance, there are merchandisers who go out to take inventory of the products, there is also a team of personal shoppers who professionally picks the products and package them. After the packaging, there is a team of well-trained drivers who ensures that products are delivered in good condition to the buyers. A team of customer care attendants also exist to ensure that customers are satisfied with the service. In this way, e-commerce is creating jobs across multiple industry including operations and logistics. In essence, the use of e-commerce in the diversification of the economy will not only increase revenue but will reduce unemployment through creation of multiple jobs.