Career
Ade Olabode: Here’s How Online Payment Can Improve your Business
Payment is big. Online payment needs disruption. These two statements can provide a backdrop to efficient retailing in the next few years. Nigerian banks have struggled to innovate just like other banks around the world hence the gross inefficiency in the payment system obtainable in Nigeria. Online payment is almost non-existent. Yes, we can say Nigeria has limited online payment. So how does this payment inefficiency impact you as a business owner?
Less sales revenue – you are in business to make money. You will lose some sales revenue if your customers are unable to pay for goods and services. This goes without saying. A typical scenario is where your customer has to contact you, then you provide invoice with payment details. Then they pay. This is inefficient as too many steps where you can lose that customer. This of course leads to lose of revenue for you. Now, let’s extrapolate. What if 100’s of this same type of customer coming to your online store. It means you will lose a lot of sales revenue. That’s just the simple, but sad truth.
Running out of stock – as a retailer, you will have to purchase your goods for sale. Assuming you can only pay with cash as your supplier has a broken payment system. You will regularly run out of stock to sell. This is just because of your inability to pay for goods seamlessly.
More debtors – yes, if you run a subscription based business, you will accumulate debtors faster than you are able to say Jack Robinson. More so, if you’re unable to set up a recurring payment mechanism to automatically get your monthly subscription fees from your subscribers.
I have previously written on the need to innovate within the online payment space . I wrote those articles from the perspective of IT solution provider, as you may be aware, I am a co-founder of PrognoStore.
Why would I be interested in Nigerian businesses having a robust and efficient payment process? I will share 2 ways this has made an impact:
Subscription fees
Of course the ultimate aim of being in business is to make money. New subscribers are normally given about 60 days free trial period then they are charged monthly subscription fees. We generally encourage these fees to be paid annually. This is because there won’t be a need to chase for these fees on a monthly basis. The mechanism to do this is just not existing right now.
Security
No one wants to walk around with bags of cash on daily basis. This is not an efficient use of one’s time. In any case, personal security and safety is no.1 priority. This can reduce the possibility of having your daily takings being forcibly taken from you. We cherish our safety but the very lack of an efficient payment solution puts the lives of business owners at risk.
Do you need some recommendations?
I know and understand that it might appear daunting to implement online payment. But trust me; it’s for your own good. You could be losing out on a lot of revenue. Let me know what you think in the comments.
P.S We launched PrognoStore to small business owners and if you’re a retailer, then you can still use the special promo code LAUNCHBELLA to get 60 days FREE .
Photo Credit: Foto.com.ng
