When one of our clients, Dr Muibat Adeniran, a certified obstetrician and gynaecologist, initially considered using online platforms to gain visibility and share informative, healthy discussions concerning women’s safety, she was aware that these platforms, such as Konga and Jumia, are often frequented by women. She thought her plans would be put into action. However, Dr. Muibat faces not one, but two challenges.
She was forced to realise that hiring a professional developer would cost her a significant amount to set up an e-commerce platform. The payment figure also contributed to her challenges, and due to the hosting malfunction, the website crashed, followed by a lack of local gateway payment. She was frustrated and disappointed with these challenges; it would be impossible to cope and compete.
Luckily, she soon became aware of WordPress and WooCommerce, which entirely solved her problem and raised her hopes that, without incurring much expenses, she could have a flexible/functional online presence, an undeniable local gateway payment option, and gain recognition from her target audience.
WHY NIGERIAN RETAILERS SHOULD CONSIDER WORDPRESS FOR ONLINE STORES.
- Flexibility and Versatility.WordPress allows you to utilise various payment methods, including debit cards, digital wallets, and bank transfers. Additionally, templates are easy to drag and drop, allowing for a seamless match with your brand identity. Plugins like WooCommerce enable you to create a user-friendly online store without requiring coding.
- Quick Support And Reliable Security. With WordPress, you receive support not only when needed but without stress. It also offers robust security, backups that protect your website against hackers. Additionally, all payment transactions are encrypted for secure payments.
- Manageable & Affordable. You can start small and scale as you expand your business visibility by utilising freely available plugins to achieve your brand objectives. Additionally, WordPress is an open-source platform that anyone can use for purposes aligned with CMT.
Key Features Nigerian Retailers Need in an Online Store
- Mobile-friendly design: As a business owner, ensure your business site is easily accessible so customers can navigate it easily. Eighty percent of your customers make purchases through mobile phones, so optimize your website for all screen sizes to ensure a seamless experience. After setting up everything, use your phone to see how your website functions on mobile phones.
- SEO optimisation: Building a website for your brand isn’t enough to rank high on Google and attract potential customers; you need SEO and optimized local content to upskill and get recognised among your competitors. With the proper research, SEO, and good marketing, you can rank your website high, give excellent visibility to what you offer, and convert customers through blogs, email, and social media content.
- Payment Gateway That Supports Nigeria. One of the best ways to get customers stuck is to put things in places. Be deliberate in enabling local payment integration systems seamlessly through reliable plugins, such as Flutterwave, Monify, and Paystack. These trusted plugins will allow you to accept customer payments via bank transfer, USSD, or debit card.
- Security and Backups. Your PCI DSS should be activated to detect sensitive data and handle it securely. Additionally, it should include fraud detection to notify easily. Your PCI DSS should be activated to detect sensitive data and handle it securely. Additionally, it should consist of fraud detection to notify users easily.
Practical Guide to Creating an Online Store with WordPress
1- Get a Domain and Hosting. A domain is the name of your business website, which reflects how potential customers will find your page, e.g., www.mydomain.com. Hosting, on the other hand, is where your files and domain name are saved, protected for better performance and security. Hosting services such as WohoGhost, Truehost, Domainking, and SmartWeb. Without hosting, it cannot function or be noticed, and for smooth running, they offers a reliable SSL certificate for security.
2- Install WordPress. After getting a hosting web and domain, you will install WordPress with one click and include all the necessary features to match your brand identity.
3- Install WooCommerce and Configure. It’s meant for displaying your product on an online store. Once WordPress is installed, navigate to the dashboard, click on ‘Plugins’, and search for WooCommerce to install it.
Easy Steps to Set Up a Product on WordPress.
- Click on WooCommerce> product> select product
- Type the product name, e.g., bag, polo, or shoe
- The product type should be stated as a simple product or a variation product, e.g., product sizes with comprehensive pictures
- product price, either for a discount or at the regular price.
- Set the product image and its link to publish the product.
4- Add Payment Gateways. A payment gateway is how you receive payments from customers willing to purchase products or services locally, such as.
- Paystack. This is one of the most highly recommended and sought-after payment gateways used for easy payment by African ‘entrepreneurs’ customers, irrespective of their location. With this local gateway, customers can make instant payments with ease. Their data and transaction records are easily accessible, providing a good clue to their identity.
- Flutterwave. It also helps business owners and individuals receive or send money through transfers, USDD, cards, and mobile money. Flutterwave enables Nigerian business owners to integrate their payment gateway with their e-commerce websites, offering payment options to receive money from customers, and facilitating transaction monitoring.
5- Customize Your Store. Your website should be well-designed and beautifully crafted, which gives a good impression and wows customers. That’s why using themes like Astra, Storefront, or Flatsome is the best way to customize your store. Additionally, consistent branding and professionally designed elements lend your brand relevance.
6- Optimize for SEO & Speed. It serves as an essential tool that enables you to rank high and provides keyword focus to use. With a standout SEO tool like YEOST or RankMath, you compete with big business owners because your website/blog is optimised, giving excellent readability and discoverability.
Tip to achieve this.
Ensure that you install and activate the caching plugin for fast loading.
COMMON MISTAKES NIGERIAN RETAILERS MAKE WITH ONLINE STORES
- Faulty Marketing Plan. Having a beautiful product and brand identity isn’t enough to catch desirable sales without visibility and traffic. What most business owners fail to take action on is having a brand with no name, signage, social media handles, and the absence of quality pictures, which can diminish and attract the wrong customers. Your takeaway here is to have call-to-action that your prospect will find dificult to reject.
- Wrong Back-up and Security Ignorance. Irrespective of your online store, big or small. Collecting customers’ information, including email addresses, phone numbers, and payment details, without proper protection is harmful and can lead to data breaches and hacking. To avoid this, activate an SSL certificate, update frequent plugins, use a strong password that is difficult to hack, and have anti-malware software to prevent virus or malware infections.
- Ignoring Mobile Optimization. Most of the online consumers use their phones for shopping. However, online business owners often fail to design their websites for mobile responsiveness, making it difficult for customers to navigate, which forces potential customers to opt for their competitor instead. To stand out on e-commerce in Nigeria, take the initiative and implement what works.
- Slow Delivery. Even though most people prefer to shop in their own zone, online business owners are making it difficult for consumers due to poor and slow delivery, which leaves a bad impression about the brand. When delivering products, prices, and timelines should be clearly stated to avoid any misconceptions.
- Lack of Return and Good Policy.
BEST PRACTICE TO GROW YOUR ONLINE STORE
- Leverage Social Media. Use WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter to market and promote the business. Don’t limit yourself to just one or two.
- Offer Multiple Payment options. Don’t rely on one method of payment. Utilize and activate ATM cards, transfers, and USSD as payment methods.
- Email marketing ads. Have a comprehensive list of email addresses from repeat customers. Once a week or a month, send them an explanation of the new offers available. This method stimulates customers’ interest.
- Track Performance with Google Analytics. Use this to monitor and understand how far the brand is progressing in sales, the number of current customers, deep data insight , user geographical location to make crucial decision in the future marketing.
Conclusion
If you are a Nigerian business owner looking to build and attract valuable visibility with ease and at a lower cost, WordPress and WooCommerce offer the perfect opportunities, regardless of your brand size. This platform ensures that it blends flexibility, scalability, and cost-effectiveness, giving you the best to achieve your brand’s aims and objectives.
