How competition among players is driving e-commerce adoption- Cheki MD

Ms. Tomi Hodonu, the Managing Director of Cheki, pioneer online marketplace for cars has said competition among players and huge investments is helping to boost e-commerce in Nigeria, an industry projected to contribute about 10 per cent, valued at N2.5 trillion to the GDP by 2018. She said, though e-commerce is still at the development stage, a lot of people are now aware of what the Internet can do for them, with many Nigerians feeling very comfortable shopping online, using the internet to gauge buying behavior, pricing and where to buy or sell.

As the majority of Nigerians continues to use the Internet on their mobile phones, buying and selling online will continue to increase

“E-commerce will continue to explode with major competitors with so much investment in Nigeria, being the most populous country in Africa. There is hardly any shop you enter these days that doesn’t have one form of e-commerce platform, even the buying of recharge cards have gone online,” she said in an exclusive interview with ITPulse in Lagos. She said as the majority of Nigerians continues to use the Internet on their mobile phones, buying and selling online will continue to increase. “It’s hard for people to visualize now, but if you look at what the ATM used to be some years ago, you discover that almost everybody is using it now. There is always a technology shift,” she continued. On what makes Cheki unique in the industry, Hodonu said Cheki is using technology to drive the business of buying and selling cars online, adding that good customer service, passion for car dealers and their ability to have more booths in the country is Cheki’s unique selling proposition. Recalled Cheki inked a partnership deal with Manheim, a US based the largest automobile auction company in the world. The partnership enables registered dealers on the Cheki platform to bid for buy and ship cars directly from the U.S.A, right from the comfort of their computers and smartphones.