A survey conducted by international online payment solutions company PayPal has revealed that about 65% of Nigeria’s over 50 million internet users already shop online. The survey also revealed another 24% of users are expected to do so in the future.
Of the online shoppers surveyed, 53% of Nigerians who have shopped online in the past said faster delivery of goods would encourage them to shop online more often, 40% indicated that safer ways to pay was a key driver, and 31% indicated lower product costs as a driver to do more shopping online.
The research shows that security of online payments and delivery costs are among main concerns preventing consumers from conducting more online shopping. 31% of those who have not shopped online give concerns about security of payments as a reason for not currently shopping online, and 27% say that the cost of delivery is a reason for not currently shopping online.
Fear over security of online payments means that cash on delivery is still the most used and preferred payment method when shopping online, with 39% of online shoppers using cash and 32% indicating it is a preferred payment method for online purchases.
Efi Dahan, Regional Director for Africa and Israel at PayPal, noted that online security matters.
“This is why PayPal provides a simpler, easier and more secure way to shop and pay on millions of websites around the world,” Dahan said. “The fact that PayPal does not share financial information with the seller when authorizing a transaction keeps the consumers’ financial details more secure.”
Furthermore, the research shows the overwhelming usage of mobile phones to shop online. 90% of online shoppers that own a smartphone or a feature phone have used it to shop online while 51% use their device to shop online once a month or more.
Shopping on mobile browsers seems to be the most popular way to do mobile shopping with 43% of Nigerian mobile shoppers stating a preference to shop using the phone’s browser, compared to 34% who prefer to shop from an app (and 23% who have no preference).
However, some barriers remain for mobile shopping. Security of payments was flagged as a concern to Nigerians with 30% of mobile shoppers saying security of online purchases from a mobile device is a reason for not shopping online using a mobile phone more often, while 30% also flagged concerns about internet usage costs on mobile as a barrier to mobile shopping.