2016 Trends

Saltside Technologies: Nils Hammar's 2016 Trends

The BRIC countries have become the darlings of investment in recent years, particularly when it comes to eCommerce.

However the huge populations, increasing disposable income and growing ubiquity of mobile phones in underserviced markets like Ghana, Nigeria, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh is providing new opportunities in these areas. As more and more people get online in these countries, individuals and small businesses are empowered to reach new pools of customers, creating successful and sustainable business that addresses major issues faced in these areas. 

Which developing or emerging markets (regions / countries) do you cover?

Saltside powers online marketplaces in four countries across Africa and Asia: Sri Lanka (ikman.ik), Bangladesh (bikroy.com), Ghana (tonaton.com) and Nigeria (efritin.com). These websites are free to use and provide people and businesses with the opportunity to connect with customers across their country through classifieds listings.

What are your main hardware and/or services focus areas?

In each of the regions we operate, we run an online classifieds marketplace, much like Craigslist or Gumtree. The websites give users the chance to buy and sell products on a secure platform. Currently mobile phones are the most popular product on Saltside sites; over 96,000 are being advertised across its four platforms.

The challenges in these areas are very different to those in the west. The biggest customer concerns in these underserviced markets are fraudulent postings and insufficient delivery structures. There is also a lack of trust in online payment methods.

To combat this, Saltside platforms conduct a manual verification of every seller, coupled with a cash-on-delivery process. This reassures users that goods can be transported via a team of couriers easily and in a completely trustworthy manner.

What are the top market and customer trends that will drive change in your area during 2016, and why?

In a lot of developing countries, the cost of data is much more expensive than in the UK, which has resulted in a slower uptake of the internet. In Bangladesh the government is taking steps to change this and has launched a new initiative called Access 2 Information (A2i). The initiative aims to build a digital Bangladesh through delivering internet services to citizens across the nation. It has the potential to change the way the society works by giving people access to basic communications and eCommerce capabilities.

In other markets the growing ubiquity of mobile phones means more and more people are using mobile technology to operate and build businesses, even in remote areas. This provides opportunities to businesses to build awareness and reach new pools of customers, whether they’re selling property, cars, electronics or even livestock!

This is particularly evident for women, where we’ve seen an increase in female entrepreneurs setting up shop online selling things like homemade cakes. The online marketplaces provide women and housewives, who are otherwise unable to contribute financially in these developing and often male orientated environments, take an active role in adding to their household income.

With more people adding to household finances, there will inevitably be a rise of disposable income. In Bangladesh, there are 92.4 million people who are currently living above the poverty line, meaning that more people will be able to buy and sell products online. As well as this, the median age in Bangladesh is 24, meaning that the country is filled with twenty somethings who have disposable income and may choose to invest in their own business and become an entrepreneur.

What changes need to be made to speed up developments and what can hold them back?

There are a number of factors that hold back eCommerce in underserviced markets like Ghana, Nigeria, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Fraud is such a huge issue in Nigeria that the government has implemented strict laws on the withdrawal of US dollars, in an attempt to limit corruption. However, this means businesses are unable to pay for Facebook advertising, which requires US dollars, meaning they lose a huge part of their online marketing strategy.

People are also reluctant to buy products advertised online for fear they may be fake. There’s only limited use of credit cards and mobile money, which means that most transactions and sales need to have a physical element to them.   

Efritin.com. is currently working with the police to try and eradicate fraud. A large portion of the site’s employees are engaged with manually checking who is advertising and verifying that what they are selling online does exist and is being sold at a fair price. The cash-on-delivery platform also means transactions are physical, and not completed until the good have exchanged hands. This is helping to build a sense of trust in the platform.

Which technologies will be the most important in emerging markets in 2016?

One of the greatest opportunities in these countries at the moment is the ubiquity of mobile phones, which has been widely discussed and is only set to increase. It is enabling the rise of mobile money services like m-Pesa and bKash, which are sweeping across African and Asian markets. The popularity of these apps signifies a move towards societies that are slowly learning to trust certain technologies and realise their full potential.

The advent of solar power is a less well-documented technology, but likely to have a similarly huge impact. This is because one of the biggest problems facing businesses in these regions is that they often struggle to find a regular and sustainable energy service. Without power they are unable to connect to the internet and their sales and communications channels are severely hampered. Most businesses in Nigeria, for example, have their own generators in place instead of relying on the grid, which is often unable to reach all of the rural and remote areas. Running a generator is not cheap, so more businesses are turning to solar panels to source energy. This is likely to increase in 2016, especially with the launch of singer Akon’s recent solar power initiative: Akon Lighting Africa.

Nils Hammar is the founder and CEO of Saltside Technologies.



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