How Lack of Trust is affecting Nigerian E-commerce Businesses

In today's world, commerce has shifted significantly towards online transactions. Gone are the days of buyers and sellers physically meeting at marketplaces to conduct transactions where establishing trust is not as challenging as it is now with the ability for buyers to visually inspect, touch, and often test products before making a purchase decision. The online marketplace has transformed into a space where transactions seamlessly transition from virtual to tangible with confidence.

The reality of today presents an even more seamless way to transact, where a vendor sells primarily online (e-commerce) without even owning a physical store, the online space gives the seller access to a wide range of potential buyers across different cities, states and even countries seeing that products can easily be shipped to anywhere around the world. However, with this advantage comes a notable frustration faced by online vendors—the constant challenge of TRUST, particularly from first-time customers.

In e-commerce, trust serves as the currency that propels transactions and sustains relationships. Read through to see the stories of vendors as they share their frustrations and the impact the trust issues have on their business.

Ayodeji,  a Gadget vendor shared his experience of how trust issues have significantly affected his sales, in a conversation with him, Ayodeji said, I sell Gadgets (high-end phones, laptops, and accessories) which are high ticket products, most of my sales come from my social media pages, and most buyers are in other states of the country so I waybill whenever an order is placed. However, it’s not easy especially for first-time buyers to release such a huge amount of their hard-earned money to someone they neither have met before nor patronised.

There was a time when a client wanted to order a MacBook, amounting to about a Million Naira, he had agreed to make payment in installments, but all of a sudden, he changed his mind about buying, he said, he would buy from a vendor around his locality. I lost this sale due to a lack of trust. I am happy that a platform (like Midddleman) is now in place to help us combat this challenge.

Another vendor Ruby, who is in the importation business shared her experience on how trust issues have resulted in loss of sales severally. She said the challenge I face with most first-time shoppers is due to their previous experiences of vendors not fulfilling orders after payment, delays in the fulfillment of orders, and also not getting exactly what was displayed at the time of advertising the product (what you ordered vs what you got).

She explained how a particular buyer had to request a video call with her to take a screen record of her face before making payment for the item. Ruby added I do not blame the shoppers, I have also been a victim of what you ordered vs what you got, and I understand exactly how they feel.

Midddleman is an online escrow platform that ensures secure transactions by acting as a trusted third-party intermediary, protecting both buyers and sellers while streamlining the transaction process for all parties involved.

Visit www.midddleman.co today to get started.