Businesses urged to leverage e-Commerce platforms
The country manager of Visa Cemea Holdings Ghana Limited, Adoma Peprah, has advised industries to focus on developing their E-commerce platforms and use them to market and sell their products to rake in the economic value such platforms present.
She noted that e-commerce, which boomed during the covid-19 pandemic, was still relevant and could serve as an avenue for businesses to expand their services and make more profit.
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Ms Peprah made the call when the acting Editor of the Graphic Business, Charles Benoni Okine, presented a report compiled from the first and third quarters of the Graphic/Stanbic Breakfast Meeting to her in Accra.
The Graphic Business/Stanbic Breakfast Meeting is the leading thought leadership platform offered experts in various sectors of the economy to share ideas and make suggestions that can help influence government policy on various aspects of the economy.
The event, which has been running for more almost a decade now, also provides members of the public the opportunity to discuss issues and share some insights as to what can be done to shape the economic direction of the country.
Ms Peprah noted that many people have understood e-commerce and have widely embraced it.
“E-commerce is progressing really well and I am happy about that,” she noted.
Challenges
In spite of the enormous benefits of the electronic platform, the challenges of e-commerce, including late delivery and also ensuring that the right items ordered were delivered, very much lingered.
She urged industry players to work out the challenges of e-commerce and make it a preferable way people would like to transact businesses or engage the service or purchase the products of industries.
She noted that the relevance of e-commerce was an ongoing conversation which industry players would continue to discuss.
Ms Adoma added that the introduction of E-levy might have eroded the interest for which people were engaged in e-commerce, but noted that people were finding ways around it so it did not affect their online businesses.
Talking about channels used to reach out to the youth on the usage of e-commerce platforms, Ms Peprah said most of the youth were engaged in gaming, which had become the new persona that they were spending a lot.
According to her, if that space is opened, much as it is meant for adults, that channel must be explored.
Mr Okine recognised the contribution of Visa to the country’s card payment architecture.
He said the Graphic Business, and its partner Stanbic Bank, will continue to offer their platform for insightful discourse that goes to inure to the benefit of not only the two parties but businesses across the country.
Mr Okine said the reports compiled were meant to ensure that whatever recommendations and suggestions were made at such fora did not remain on the shelves but are shared for further action.
He called for greater collaboration between Graphic Business and Visa Ghana to be able to help them reach students in tertiary institutions who will soon come of out of school into the corporate world.