If you are not creating something people need and want, you will struggle to grow your business. During the long Monday sit-at-home in the southeast of Nigeria, the region desperately needed e-commerce, but e-commerce startups barely thrived.
The Southeast, which includes the states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo, is renowned for its high level of commercial activity. It is also home to many micro, small, and medium-sized businesses, as well as native manufacturing and agro-allied companies.
The sit-at-home exercise was enforced by a faction of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in protest against the continued detention of the IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, who was arrested on the 27th of June 2021, purportedly in Kenya and brought back to Nigeria. Aside from economic losses, the exercise also reportedly led to the loss of lives and the destruction of properties.
Businesses were very slow every Monday in southeastern states, especially in the capital cities. Big businesses like shopping malls, plazas, and the big markets don’t operate on Mondays. Movements were slow because people became scared of being attacked.
E-commerce would have been a helpful alternative in the region. However, in the face of a two-year-old weekly sit-at-home that has gravely affected economic activities in the region, businesses still struggle to adopt online strategies for sales.
Why?
The majority of e-commerce players interested in the emerging market in the Southeast are unknown and relatively new. Advertising becomes necessary to generate awareness in a new market for them. However, the cost of doing this can be extremely high.
The e-commerce industry in the Southeast is still in its infancy, so companies entering it must be prepared to stick around for the long run. A common error made by players is to assume that internet advertising is sufficient. Only internet users are reached by online advertising.
An integrated campaign helps plan communication across a potential customer’s journey, from print to radio, TV, and online.
As per a survey published on Marketing Edge, on insights related to integrated marketing communication, Nigeria ranked 38th in terms of e-commerce revenue in 2021, coming ahead of Pakistan and behind Finland with $7.6 billion. Nigeria is predicted to grow at a rate of 12% annually between 2021 and 2025, exceeding the global average of 10%. The untapped market in the Southeast provides reasonable opportunities for both investors and startups.
Moving Forward
People are responding to emotionally charged content more and more because we have all experienced a pandemic that prevented us from forming social connections. The growing inclination among consumers to feel a relationship, even a friendship, with the brands they purchase calls for a change in strategy. This inclination is even stronger in the Southeast of Nigeria. Easterners respond to strategies they can feel, see, and understand.
When you combine all of those factors, you need to slightly diversify your marketing. It’s time to experiment with offline marketing, such as direct mail and newspaper and magazine ads. larger-than-life PR. Right now, that’s crucial to beating the competition and standing out in the region.
The use of e-commerce has yet to be fully utilized in the Southeast as both cash and physical goods still rule the market. However, e-commerce startups still have the opportunity to create a major disruption in the market.
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