Might be wrong but I think COD is used to drive consumer confidence in advertorials as against actual sales. So the consumer confidence strategy tops de sales strategy in its deployment.
2 Likes
Weird indeed. I also can’t remember the last time I got a pay on delivery offer on DealDey. My friends, I and some other people buy regularly on DealDey. This to me is the future and people will gladly pay before delivery.
But businesses that delay or fail to deliver products (on time) will have a had time surviving–that is the reason they’re sticking with pay on delivery.
1 Like
like when DealDey delivers you a ticket for a play, 3 days after the event 
Wondafu…
I am also wondering why ecommerce companies simply can’t do both.
If trust is an issue, then there must be a middle ground. Sort of.
If a consumer wants to buy an item through COD that is 25k, then can’t you (ecommerce company) force the consumer to pay N2k upfront first by card?
That way if the consumer is not pleased with the item you can deduct delivery charge and get your product back.
Also, you’re not going to be gravely worried that you lost a ton of money if the delivery is late or you would like a refund.
4 Likes
It’s another way to tackle the problem, but, in my opinion, meeting halfway should definitely not be about 10% of the selling price. What do you think? 
Anyway, thinking from a practitioner point of view, implementing such a system will escalate the complexity already involved in eCommerce payment and accounting processes. This will require you to redesign the order management system which most eCommerce company try to avoid.
Thinking from the end-result perspective. Will this improve the overall confidence and trust of the consumer? If the customer doesn’t want to pay before delivery (or doesn’t trust ecommerce payments), then I don’t see any significant results to be achieved asking him to pay a “deposit” which is still online and still tantamount to paying before delivery.
1 Like
I like this idea. If something is very expensive you can hold money. Sort of a ‘deposit’ fee.
1 Like
Haha. Trueee. Which is why i put “Sort of”
Also I thought the general problem was, consumers not willing to pay online because they don’t trust companies to send refunds (which takes a long while).
Or they don’t trust ecommerce companies to actually deliver a good.
Not that they’re simply afraid of paying online (which some consumers are. No doubt).
My solution was catering to the former. As for solving consumer confidence, that’s whole another headache that i would rather not get into since i don’t own an ecommerce site.
As for complexity of implementation, it is something that has to be weighed on returns. Would you rather burn more cash for non-deliveries or introduce a complex system?
Been fighting the urge to reply on this thread judging by how feisty the discussion has gotten…but the urge has overpowered me.
Loads of commenters (@akindolu , @sufianuopeyemi , @adeplusplus and others) on here are agreed on what the underlying issue which has necessitated COD is:
- Failure to deliver or late delivery by some companies
- Lack of customer satisfaction in goods delivered and long wait periods for refunds
It’s plain and simple. Nigerians don’t trust that e-commerce companies will deliver on time (I once bought a tie off Konga that came 3 weeks after I ordered), or that the goods will match the description or quality of what was advertised (I once bought a charger for my laptop off Jumia…it was the wrong specs that was delivered). So in my personal experience, there is a valid reason for mistrust.
Is the solution COD? I do not think so, COD as everyone has just said only works for the big boys…it kills the bootstrappers and the startups with shoestring budgets who need the cashflow to survive, and can’t afford the high return rates of COD.
So what’s the solution? Well, I think it’s plain and simple (to me at least). Make it legal.
5 years ago I did my Masters Dissertation in Online Consumer Protection in Nigeria (I have a Masters in Computer and Communications Law, this is not a brag, i’m explaining my background so it hopefully creates a presumption that I know what I am saying). In my dissertation back then I reviewed all the laws on Consumer Protection in Nigeria and tried to identify the ones which could be applicable to eCommerce. Sadly there were very few, and those which were POTENTIALLY applicable, didn’t offer much protection.
A commenter, @onyeka I believe, mentioned that the problems are universal and referenced an issue she was having with a UK based retailer…with respect, I disagree that you can make the comparison…the problems MAY be similar, but the protection afforded the consumers in the UK are very robust. In the UK, there’s the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 (amongst a number of others), which deals extensively with things like cancellations, refunds etc. We do not have that or any similar legislation in Nigeria.
Now, do we need to wait for Government to enact such legislation? No, we do not. Entrepreneurs can take the bull by the horn and include these protections in their Refunds policies and Terms of Conditions…but sadly a lot of online companies in Nigeria do not. How do you expect the consumer to trust you when you haven’t bound yourself to certain service levels via your Ts&Cs!!!..
I recently did some research on Ts&Cs and refund policies of online companies in Nigeria, and what I have seen in most of them is quite frankly appalling. I will not name any companies, but my advice is you read the company’s Ts&Cs before you purchase anything.
When I read @lanre_akinlagun’s interview I was impressed and happy that someone was speaking up against the monster that is COD…but since this thread is concerning drinks.ng, I guess it’s my duty to also mention that I was pretty disappointed with their Terms & Conditions and refund policy on their website…it was non-existent
6 Likes
That’s quite a thorough answer Tunde that has revealed quite a big flaw in online entrepreneurship in Africa. I can assure you 99% of Africans just copy paste disclaimers and T&Cs from Googling. Drinks.ng, which has received close to 100m Naira in funding has even just disregarded the damn thing. Lanre there I have to just call you out and say that it’s absolutely pathetic for you to come out crying about how haphazardly Nigerian consumers have been treating you when you yourself are treating them haphazardly too. How can a heavily funded e-commerce company just have blank T&Cs and delivery information pages? The negligence comes from African consumers not being litigious like in developed countries. Trust me if a few companies get sued by consumers and their claims are granted, that’s the only time African entrepreneurs will start taking T&Cs seriously
5 Likes
That was quite an exposition @Tunde_IO. I support @lanre_akinlagun 's stand on COD but quite appalled by his indifference and lack of respect for his customers by not offering a legally-binding T&Cs, Return Policy, and Delivery Information. Iya mmi!! 
2 Likes
I think KongaPay is helping secure the right of consumers on Konga.com and any other merchants that start using KongaPay.
I have been using KongaPay on Konga.com and getting delivery of my items a day latter or two–faster than if I did POD.
Dealday is the worst online shopping platform in Nigeria. Most of the products they advertised are either fake or knockoffs.
I don’t think you can eradicate Cod. eCommerce startups should work on earning their prospective customers trust.
The reason why people like us prefer Cod is because we are not sure if what we saw is what they will deliver.
This thread is very insightful. Thanks to every contributor.
There are two sides to every coin, let’s not forget. Companies who use COD must have carefully planned it out. They are in the best position to say how profitable it has made their businesses.
But for me, I see COD killing startups in no time. What I fear most about the strategy is spending all you can for uncertain outcome. I guess that is my entrepreneur heart talking.
The customer part of my heart says grass is always greener on the other side. Thus, you receive stuffs that don’t match your expectations as raised by pimping of items on e-commerce websites.
Both parties are trying to reduce risk as much as possible.
My take is there should be partnership between business owners and payment processors. Business owners should provide awesome customer service and what plus when they promise to deliver goods. They should try to surpass customers’ expectation always.
Payment processor should come closer to those using their platforms. Parting with your money is not easy, but when you know your money is in the hands of someone you can easily approach, you will feel relieved.
Let’s set a good standard for e-commerce in Nigeria. Let all players play according to the rules. Let us provide cover for customers against service failures. This is a collective responsibility. Neither sellers nor payment processors can do this in isolation.
This is the kind of problems escrow services are built to solve.
Now, if only we had one…
2 Likes