The Lion King | 11
Feature
Shopping Cart
Abandonment
…solving the online retailer/shopper’s
nightmare with UBA’s innovative Cards
By Kemi Fashina
B
elieve it or not, e-commerce is
finally upon us. Well, maybe it just
dawned on us in this part of the
world, because e-commerce has been
around for decades. A search on the
internet would tell you that the indus-
try existed even before giants such as
Amazon, eBay and Alibaba came into
reckoning. Hmmn… interesting news.
Ok, so this is Africa and in the past two
years or so, there has been a tidal wave
of everything “e” from e-banking to
e-commerce, e-dating, e-wedding
and hopefully we would not be having
e-babies anytime soon (thank good-
ness!)
The e-commerce indus- try in Africa
is said to be worth
several
billions of dollars
and if
that seems like
some
surreal theory to
you, the
recent statistics
on the
sales made
by Africa’s
e-com-
merce
sites
on
Black
Fri-
day, which surprisingly is an alien cul-
ture, will leave your jaw dropping. The
potentials are simply astounding.
To then imagine that these incredible
pieces of data represent only a fraction
of the huge opportunities available in
the phenomenal e-commerce space
could almost startle you out of con-
sciousness. Research tells us that online
retailers reach only a third of their
business potential because up to 70% of
online shoppers abandon their carts at
checkout.
Which online shopper is not guilty?
I must have done this a zillion times.
However, while it may seem that
this generation just takes pleasure in
cyberloafing, research shows shoppers
actually have genuine reasons for not
concluding purchases. These range
from unexpected final costs after the
shipping cost is included, better deals
elsewhere, site navigation and con-
cerns about payment security.
Let us face it, everyone gets sort of
nervy when you get to that point where
you are asked to enter your
credit card details. You con-
sider all the “what ifs?” What
if
this site gets hacked or what
if my card details are compromised
and some fraud happens?
So, not only are online retailers seeking
solutions to the cart abandonment
“syndrome” which continues to plague
them, shoppers are also screaming for
help on ways to get comfortable online
without being exposed to the possible
risks.
UBA’s partnership with Ixaris Solutions
and Ojapay on the deployment of virtu-
al prepaid cards to 19 African countries
offers hope.
Let us see 10 facts about the virtual
prepaid card that should get any online
retailer or shopper excited:
1:
It is virtual. This implies that it is
non-physical. What they cannot see,
they cannot steal!
2:
It is prepaid. This means that you
pre-load it and if you need financial
discipline like me, you just load exactly
what you need.
3:
It is secure. Remember this card is
not tied to your account so you will not
have any worries about exposing your
card or bank account details.
4:
It is flexible. When shopping online
with this card, you could use it once
and request a new one for subsequent
purchases or you could reuse the same
card in the future. Whose decision?
Absolutely yours!
5:
It is accepted domestically and
internationally.
6:
It is a gift. Think about it this way,
you want to surprise your girlfriend with
something unique on Valentine’s Day.
You can create a card for her, load
money on it and send to her to indulge
in shopping. Corporate organisations
can also take advantage of this card
by issuing it to their customers during
promos or loyalty campaigns.
7:
It is convenient. This is the invisi-
ble card that does all your shopping
without tagging along with you on your
every move.
8:
It does not discriminate. The virtual
prepaid card is not your traditional
bank card; you can get one even if you
do not have a bank account.
9:
It is low cost. This makes it easily
accessible by everyone.
10:
It is by UBA, Africa’s global bank.
This is perhaps the most critical of all
facts, because the strength of a prod-
uct relies greatly on the credibility of its
maker. UBA has proven to be a major
driver of payment cards in Africa, by
deploying an unusual yet effective seg-
mentation strategy for its card products
such that no matter who you are, there
is a UBA Card that suits your style.
UBA is poised for the delivery of ground
breaking e-commerce payment initi-
atives to millions in Africa… ARE YOU
READY??!
