ecommerce site in
Cameroon
Website: www.jumia.cm
Website: www.kaymu.cm
Website: lamudi.cm
Website: www.cdiscount.cm
5.Lazoto
Website: www.lazoto.com.cm
Website: www.africa-shops.cm
website: www.cameroon-shopping.cm
website: www.carmudi.cm
website: www.jovago.com
E-commerce business in
Cameroon.
Pitfalls
and solution e-commerce Cameroon/Sub-Sahara Africa
Cameroon
e-commerce industry might be lagging behind most North African and a
sub-Saharan country such as Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria but it is growing very
fast and will eventually catch-up with other nations. This represents a great
opportunity for entrepreneurs and foreign companies to invest now.
Several local and
foreign companies are already expanding their e-commerce activities in
Cameroon. There are great opportunities in Cameroon for these companies though
these new entrants will be faced with intense competition; the major problem
will be local challenges.
For those
companies looking forward to establish an e-commerce business in Cameroon or
Sub-Sahara Africa, we have put together a list of 9 major pitfalls and
solutions.
Some of the major challenges faced by e-commerce companies in Cameroon
- Competition: there are several companies struggling to
establish a viable e-commerce business in Cameroon. You can find a bunch
of Amazon, Alibaba and EBay look-alike struggling to make a breakthrough.
Though bigger foreign companies have also started to make an entrance,
according to our analysis there is still no major player. The Cameroon
e-commerce sector is still in its early stages leaving enough room for
growth and development.
- Low
number of internet users: Cameroon has approximately 1.5 million internet users; this
represents 6.4% of total population with an 8% penetration rate (2013) up
from 1.4 % back in 2006. The high penetration rate shows that the future
is bright for those who invest now in their e-commerce ventures but will have
to target the long-term to expect substantial financial gain in Cameroon.
Low percentage of internet user simple means, clients will be difficult or
expensive to get, thus lesser revenue.
- Insufficient
security and low adoption rate of new online technologies: must e-commerce customers around the world
worry at one point about their personal and financial information they
share online and doubt the general security of many online shops. This is
even more pronounced in Cameroon due to several reported online frauds
making it difficult for many people to trust any online business. Many
Cameroonians prefer a cash and carry system. Buying online in Cameroon is
still and adventure for many, even the most educated.
- Lack
of third party infrastructure to deliver goods: e-commerce is more profitable when there is
already an efficient and reliable local postal and transport network in
place (see fig 1 below). The simple delivery of a package can greatly
affect the final price of a particular item. Cameroon still lacks the
necessary infrastructures that allow companies to operate at low cost and
let customers benefit from lower prices.
- Lack
of ICT infrastructure: the
lack of high speed internet connection necessary to surf online and make
purchases is absent in most parts of Cameroon.
- Underdeveloped
third part online payment systems: e-commerce goes hand in hand with online payment
systems often developed by third parties as demonstrated in figure 1
below. There has to be an acceptable level of secure online payment methods
to let e-commerce flourish but this is not the case yet in Cameroon.
Though a handful of banks are issues credit cards and the increase
presence of online and mobile payment system such as PayPal, MTN mobile
money, BICEC E-Pay, Afriland Bank I-card , Union Bank of Africa credit
card and a host of many other solutions, the wider part of the population
still have to be aware of the benefits of these services and given the
fact that less than 5% of Cameroonians have access to a bank account.
Fig 1 Major stakeholders in the e-commerce industry in
Cameroon. E-commerce is very dependent on services provided by third parties.
- Insufficient
website maintenance and promotion: to develop, maintain and market an e-commerce
solution require a lot of capital. Clients need to be able connect and
shop at their convenience, website need to be up and running 99% of the
time, Search engine optimization(SEO) techniques most be heavily deployed
and other online marketing strategies should constantly be carried out to
build and maintain the momentum throughout the existence of
the website. However apparent this might seem, many e-commerce website
especially local start-ups have the right idea but their business is
usually slowed down due to lack of maintenance of the websites, hence
frequent broken links thereby discouraging already hard to get clients.
- Difficulties
in reaching the right demographic and low purchasing power: Internet technologies are easily adopted by the
younger population (14-30) but they have a lower purchasing power since a
majority of them are still students depending on their parents. The older
generation is skeptical about making purchase online since the concept is
still relatively new to them yet they are the ones that make up majority
of Cameroons workforce and middle class with a reasonable disposal income.
- Number
of personal computers (PC) per 1000 inhabitants: Back in 2005 Cameroon had 11.39 personal
computers per 1000 inhabitants up from 3.19 in 2000
If we follow the
above PC acquisition rate there should be about 31 per 1000 inhabitants in
2015, or even more due the increase availability of cheaper PC both new and
second hand. Though Cameroon has the highest number of PCs per 1000 inhabitant
in central Africa it is still far from the average in Africa and very far from
the world average. More to that, increase number of PC per household does not
mean they have high speed, secured internet connection necessary for e-commerce
type of activities.
Solution to the above challenges
- Companies should not be
scared to invest in the e-commerce industry in Cameroon; instead they
should be more prepared and find creative ways around the many challenges.
No matter these challenges electronic commerce is slowing becoming the new
way of doing business in Cameroon. Companies that are capable of hanging
in there for a long time will reap the biggest benefits the growing
Cameroon economy and middle class has to offer.
- No matter the present
competition, the Cameroonian e-commerce industry does not really have a
leader yet, this leave room for ambitious e-commerce companies to step up
and fight for a market share.
- The very small number of
internet users should not discourage e-commerce companies, but it is
important to understand the demographics and the consumer behavior of
those people likely to have access to the internet and the type of
products and services they might be highly demanded. Besides, the internet
penetration rate and the number of PC per household is increasing
drastically, this might be one of the best times to move into this market.
However, more than one person can use a computer to make a purchase and
there is an abundance of cyber cafés in Cameroon.
- The lack of high speed
internet and ICT infrastructure makes it necessary to develop lighter
website and use simpler image formats to reduce download time, making it
easier for users to surf through websites thereby improving the user
experience and reduce the bounce rate. In short, your web store must be as
user friendly as it can get. All the fancy and unnecessary pages, heavy
files and widgets that could increase the page load time should be
avoided. Besides the ICT and internet infrastructure is rapidly developing
and you don’t have to wait until it is fully established before you come
in. Lack of online payment systems can be compensated by providing
different payment options such as, payment upon delivery, bank transfer
payment methods, partnership with banks and reputable mobile payment
companies.
- Lack of a reliable
shipping, transportation and delivery network invites companies to look
for creative solutions such as creating partnerships with local shops to
serves as pick up points, creating a physical store in some strategic
locations and investing more in their own shipping, transportation and
delivery network.
- One of the main
challenges in Cameroon that e-commerce ventures face can be solved by
frequent, consistent and resilient marketing and promotion efforts. To
target a wider audience, family type publicity should be done encouraging families
to make purchase together; this will encourage the younger generation to
help the older generation with a higher purchasing power to connect to the
internet. Workshops, seminars and conferences should be organized to
educate potential customers how to surf and buy online, inform them about
the security measures in place to safeguard their sensitive information.
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