Shopping websites in Nigeria now accept cash on delivery

Posted by Felix Okoli on Saturday September 26, 2015 at 8:12:28:

Back in the days when online shopping was hardly available, the few Nigerian websites that were available to potential buyers mostly required Nigerians to pay in advance before the item(s) would be delivered to the person but nowadays, thank God that we can hold onto our money and pay after/on delivery. Then they required us to pay in advance either with a bank deposit or transfer before goods will be delivered to us but now we are able to place orders online and only pay after it has been delivered to us.

The ability to pay on delivery has encouraged a lot of Nigerians to do online shopping rather than physically visiting local stores to cash and carry. This business model has made Nigerians trust online businesses more than they did in the past and trust is an important factor that can help keep a business in existence for the long term.

Shopping websites like Konga, Jumia, Adibba, Gloo, Supermart and others are all doing about the same thing and operating with a similar business model because they accept cash on delivery.

All a Nigerian customer wants to do if he chooses to pay after delivery is to first register as a member is it's the first time and afterwards place orders on the shopping website and choose his payment option as payment on delivery. The order would first be verified by the shopping website through a phone call to the buyer's registered phone number and after the buyer verifies or confirms the order, the merchant will then start to process the ordered items for delivery to the buyer. Apart from the purchase price, the buyer may also have to pay for the delivery cost if it's not for free and all that would be included in the price paid at the time of delivery. When the item is delivered to the buyer, he confirms that it's in good condition and then makes payment either with cash or card using a P.O.S. machine. No cheques are allowed for the pay on delivery service.

However, they have been cases when a Nigerian buyer places an order online, verifies it by a phone call, chooses to pay on delivery but declines to accept the order after the item has been brought to his address. Who then pays for the delivery cost on rejected orders? I guess the shopping website may have a policy for treating such unserious buyers such as by blocking their future orders or something like that since they have proven to be dishonourable clients and it may probably be easy to do using their mobile phone numbers.

Nowadays, in Nigeria, people can buy mobile phones, laptops, flash drives, clothes, shoes, books and so on without paying any money in advance but rather pay it after they receive their order.