Chat commerce, key to growing Nigerian businesses – Van Rensburg  

Nigerian businesses can be successful and better managed if there is a cost effective way of handling transactions, reducing purchasing risk by increasing social interaction and personalization of shopping experience through chat commerce.
This was the view of the Chief Commercial Officer, Clickatell, Hannes Van Rensburg who spoke to newsmen in Lagos recently.

Describing Nigeria as a laboratory of ideas, Van Rensburg noted that Clickatell understands emerging markets and has comerevolutionize the narrative on chat commerce. He noted that the company has the right digital connections that will enable companies engage in chat transactions.

He added that the company is already doing business with banks and telecommunications companies and their solution has been deployed to enhance transactions for Nigerians. “The reason why e-commerce companies in Nigeria are struggling is because the population of Nigerians that uses the internet on their laptop and PC is very limited compared to the number of people that uses their cell phones and this will facilitate chat commerce in Nigeria. This will aid the growth of businesses within the Nigerian market.”

He urged Nigerian businesses to embrace Clickatell, according to me, “I don’t think e-commerce will fail in Nigeria, but I think chat commerce will be significantly more successful because we are ready to partner and excited to work with Nigeria”, he said.
According to him, the chat application is developed in a way the consumer knows the individual on the other side.

Van Rensburg said, “It is encrypted, just like WhatsApp is encrypted end to end. The way that the authentication is done, if you get a new phone, and you want to install a new WhatsApp application, then you have to go through authentication process. So there is inherent security built into chat applications. So it would be more natural, it is secure”.

They don’t have to think about password and where to store the password, and how many times they have to change password because it’s built into the system. We were the first company in the world that started loans on chat banking on WhatsApp in the world. So Whatsapp is a long term partner for us and we have a long relationship with WhatsApp“.
The CCO thereafter assured that the company will continue to work with Nigerian banks, telecom companies while reiterating its focus on the commerce part of chat commerce.