GIG Logistics (GIGL) hosted a panel session on Optimizing Fulfillment for Social Commerce based on Logistics’ during the Social Media Week Lagos, 2020.
The Lead Expansion and Growth at GIGL, Odafe Ojonah along with a panel of 3 other Industry experts including Paystack’s production specialist, Tochukwu Ironsi discussed the optimisation of fulfilment for Social Commerce in Nigeria.
Fulfillment for Social Commerce
When consumers order goods, they want it as soon as possible. For merchants however, fulfilling those demands is easier said than done. Fulfillment for social commerce comprises different steps which must be performed by the merchant so that customers can get their goods on time.
While fulfillment may not be the most difficult aspect of e-commerce business, it directly impacts the bottom line of business. According to a report, 53% of shoppers say that speed of delivery is an important factor when it comes to evaluating their online orders.
At Social Media Week Lagos, the panelists spoke on the different areas they specialize in which individually affects the fulfillment of social commerce. They shared their insight on how to push the optimization of social fulfillment from their wealth of experience.
Always follow through with purchases
38% of shoppers will never shop with a retailer again if they had a poor delivery experience. When a customer visits an online shop, adds items to the shopping cart, and clicks the buy button, they immediately start looking forward to delivery.
When orders are cancelled or take forever to delivery, it drastically reduces customers trust in the merchant.
Speaking during the session, the founder of Business Lab Africa, Tricia Ikponmwoba advised e-commerce companies to follow through with purchases.
Following through with purchases essentially tells the customer that you are reliable and that will make them come back or recommend the merchant to friends
Establishing Payment links
From integrating payment gateways to employing payment on delivery model, there are various ways to complete e-commerce transactions.
Speaking on the ways to optimize fulfilment processes, Paystack’s Product Specialist, Tochukwu Ironsi, said it was better to employ a payment link to remove the hassle of going back and forth with customers
“You can create a payment link to avoid unnecessary back and forth with customers.”
Tochukwu Ironsi, Paystack Product Specialist
Building Business Trust
In order to meet the expectations and demand of customers, merchants must constantly be on top of their game building trust and fulfilling orders. Advising small businesses on ways to build customer trust,
Tricia, who is a marketing expert admonished SMEs to be registered.
She also advised them to adopt branding, stressing that people always want to know the individual(s) behind a brand.
“Do not run a faceless brand. Build your personal brand in to your small business. For big businesses, it may not really matter but for very small businesses, people want to know the face behind the brand.”
Tricia Ikponmwoba, founder, Business Lab Africa
Optimizing Fulfillment of Social Commerce through Logistics
Logistics is very important when it comes to the fulfillment of social commerce. It is the last step that gets the goods to the customer. It is also the part that the customer gets to see and base their judgement on.
Therefore, having good and reliable logistics providers like GIGL, who prioritize good customer experience is very essential to the fulfillment of social commerce.
Also, GIGL makes it easier for merchants to get their goods to customers by providing an elaborate system that allows them to input the goods they want to be delivered. The platform also allows them to track, view the progress of the goods in real-time and get a delivery notification once the delivery is completed.
However, since the process of fulfillment for social commerce involves many factors. There are occasions where one may fail and goods are either delayed or fails to deliver.
Ojonah explained that GIGL has a system in place to deal with such a situation especially if it is an error on their end. He added that they have a call centre that will reach out to the customer.
He also added that they have compensation packages like credit back and discount on the next delivery for their merchants.
Showing successful social commerce fulfillment
When shopping, customers constantly search for trusted and reliable merchants to buy from. This is why the star system of grading services affects customer choice merchant to order or buy from on e-commerce websites like Jumia and Konga.
However, there are other methods of building customer trust. According to Tricia, when merchants complete delivery and the customer is happy or satisfied, the merchant should take social proofs like videos, pictures or written testimonials that will show potential customers that you can be trusted.
Other points of note discussed at the panel session include back end integration services business, where Tochukwu revealed that any business can register to use Paystack.
The panel also discussed how to reach your target audience, where Tricia explained that meeting the audience where they hang out, use of sampling strategy and social media ads are good methods of reaching an audience.
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