Cashless Policy Drives On-Line Shopping – Survey

The Cashless Policy introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN) two years ago according to investigations has encouraged online shopping in most part of the country.
According to a survey carried out by Phillips Consulting recently Nigeria’s rising middle class and the rising number of Internet related devices and the CBN cashless policy have become major drivers of online shopping and e-retail.
The report which says the internet shopping grew tremendously between 2010 and 2012 said the local online shopping sector grew from N49.9 billion in 2010 to N68.4 billion in 2011 and N78 billion in 2012 representing a growth of 25 per cent every year.
The survey showed that the Nigerian middle class which currently stands 38.8 million or 23 per cent of the population and which earns between N75,000 and N100,000 per month was responsible for the increased spending on consumer products which accounted for nearly 80 per cent of online transactions.
At 38.8 million Nigeria’s middle class is about 76 per cent of total population of South Africa put at 51.2 million.
The success recorded in the online shopping sector has been attributed to the CBN cashless policy.
According to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Adibba Online Shopping Limited, David Allison, the value of online shopping in the county runs into millions of dollars.
“With the new cashless policy being gradually implemented in Nigeria things are looking up; people are getting warmer towards the idea of doing transactions online with several platforms springing up”, he said.
Allison expressed the opinion that Nigeria was more than 50 per cent ready for e-commerce.
He said despite Skepticism about e-payment, the sector was growing and would improve even as he said there were over 300 registered e-commerce sites presently across the country.
“As more people get enlightened on the business, it will reduce the burden of doubts”, he said.