With the daily internet evolvement, the world wide web has enveloped every aspect of our lives. E-commerce is one concept that is new in Nigeria but is gradually making an impact in our day to day routine. The inconvenience of going to the market or a plaza to buy things can be very challenging; having to deal with cost, weather conditions, bad road and lots of traffic etc., but with online shopping it’s effortless. Online markets are an incredible way to purchase almost anything you need with just a click away at your comfort; it’s amazing really.
With every Nigerian company keying into this, and with different online shopping sites emerging every day, it becomes difficult to know which would give you exactly what you bargained for. One site that understands this challenge is Konga.com. Launched in July 2012, by Sim Shagaya, Konga offers services that stretch to everything, their products include; books, mobile phones, clothing, shoes, computers, home appliances, fridges and much more.
Konga’s services aim to certify optimum levels of convenience and ensure customer satisfaction which entails: lowest price guarantee, 7-day free return policy, order delivery-tracking, dedicated customer service support, and many other premium services.
The company introduced a service called Konga Mall, which allows other retailers and traders to have their own storefront on the Konga platform, giving them the opportunity to benefit from the traffic to Konga’s website and its logistics infrastructure.
Konga had a tough time on 29
th November 2013. The site crashed and remained offline for 45 minutes following unprecedented traffic to the site in response to its “Fall Yakata” (version of Black Friday) promotions. Sales on that day were the same as the total amount of sales made in the whole of December 2012. To prevent the same occurrence in the future, Konga increased its server capacity.
In December 2013, Konga was selected as one of the African technology startups of 2013 by HumanIPO. And by May 2014, Konga reached one million likes on its official Facebook page. Same 2014, during the black Friday, termed Konga Yakata sales, ₦50 Million worth of orders were processed every hour with more sales generated from Konga’s mobile app. Konga.com won “Online Retailer of the Year” award and “Best Emerging Brand of the Year” award at Marketing World Awards 2013. At the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry 2014, Konga won “Most Innovative and Impactful Brand in the Retail Trade Sector” award.
Shaaya, the founder of konga.com, believes that being able to interact with a human behind the system is essential in building trust with people in a young market as online transactions, and as such, customer service is readily available. As Konga continues expanding, it proves that customer relation is paramount as they improve regularly with customers shopping experience.
