Brands need to partner with e-commerce platforms – experts
By Abimbola Mohammed
The global e-commerce growth from 2021 is forecast at 16.8% bringing global e-commerce sales worldwide to $4.921 trillion. In 2020, global e-commerce growth rates hit 25.7 percent.
According to Bain & Company, a consultancy firm, e-commerce sale saw a significant boosts, accelerating its share of total sale to 30% by 2025, up from 12% in 2019.
In Nigeria, the current e-commerce spending is estimated at $12billion and is projected to reach $75 billion revenue per annum by 2025.
However, COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the growth of e-commerce platforms as consumers rapidly moved to online shopping to navigate the restrictions and lockdown which created opportunities to acquire new demographic online as more brands compete for their attention to retain customers.
As competition continues to increase in the new digital world where shopping journeys are compressed and making purchase easier than ever, one would ask why it is important for marketers to partner with e-commerce platforms to leverage first party data to drive growth and visibility.
Speaking with experts in the digital field on why brand marketers should partner with e-commerce website to drive growth and visibility, Temitayo Ige, Digital Brand Manager for Central, East, West Africa, Beiersdorf, opined that while Google is planning on phasing out third party cookies by 2023, it is important for brand marketers to build their own first party data while still leveraging e-commerce platforms that are available to drive brand growth and visibility.
Her words: “From 2023 Google will go cookie-less which means it is important for every brand owner, every marketer and advertiser to build their own data, but while doing that, preferably first party data, it is important to partner with e-commerce platforms to leverage their first party data.”
She said building first party data will help build a community of people marketers have relationship with and also give room to conduct survey to review their opinion about their brands.
“The great thing about first party data is that it helps you build community of people ‘you know personally’ and have one on one relationship with and have permission to send information to. Using first party data to reach out to your consumers will always be better in driving growth.
“Most importantly, every brand should look into building their first party data bank at the moment as much as possible and while that is ongoing on, partnering with an e-commerce platform that has a solid base is a way to go to help drive business growth.”
She noted that the type of partnership with the e-commerce platform has a role to play in driving that growth and visibility by always being ethical about people’s personal information.
Hear her: “Ethical marketing always means: don’t buy their data, don’t be intrusive, don’t spam the consumer, ensure that is done in an ethical way and very relevant and placing way such that you get the kind of result that you need from that partnership.”
On her part, Jennifer Okorhi, Integrated Marketing Manager, OPPO, said e-commerce platforms give brands leverage to sell more, adding that Nigeria has more young people who want to make purchases on the go.
“Basically, e-commerce gives its platform leverage. Nigeria, like every other developing nation, has a high percentage of upwardly mobile young people who buy things on the go and need to be catered to without much ado.
“More so, it helps with online conversion especially when it comes to sales and ease in shopping for specific products. Others include brand awareness, a more targeted niche audience.”
However, Olabode Oruku, CEO, Oruku Consultancy Services, noted that partnering with e-commerce platform should be based on where a brand is weak not a must-do.
“Partnering with e-commerce platforms depend on some entrepreneurs, not everyone needs that. The secret to success in every business is to focus on your strength, pay others or leverage their partnership in the area you’re weak. That complements your effort towards achieving success.”
Corroborating the foregoing submissions, Otiga Alia, Senior Sales Associate at Anakle, said smart business decisions are informed by data. “The big e-commerce businesses have rich data sets spanning the entire lifecycle of the customer journey. Africa’s e-commerce unicorn, Jumia, boasts of a growing 7 million active customer base. Smart advertisers not only go where the audiences are, but also base media buying decisions across several data sets.”
With the rise of social commerce, it is important for brand marketers to begin to pay attention and also partner with e-commerce website to promote brands not only on the shelves but also on line, while considering data control privacy.
RECOMMENDED ARTICLES
Comment
No comments found.