The number of online buyers in Africa rose by 18 percent yearly on average from 2014 to 2018, compared to a global average of 12 percent, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
The continent’s young, urban, and digitally connected population is driving this expansion. As more Africans get access to the internet, McKinsey research estimates that online shopping may account for up to 10% of retail sales (worth about $75 billion) by 2025.
E-commerce businesses are sprouting up to capitalize on the continent’s expanding online consumer base as more people get access to the internet. The need for a faster and more seamless shopping experience is also increasing as more people buy online. Despite the rise in online shoppers, the ecommerce sector is still plagued with a lot of challenges.
OurPass and the abandoned shopping carts
In the retail sector, abandoned shopping carts are a common occurrence, and it is one of the primary problems that ecommerce businesses encounter. Around 87% of online shoppers abandon their carts during checkout if the process is too long or complicated. Some e-commerce businesses fail to keep their sign-up, and checkout processes as simple as possible. When potential customers leave a site before completing their order, it’s lost revenue for any business.
In Nigeria, Samuel Eze is solving this checkout problem through “OurPass.” OurPass is a one-click checkout for digital commerce in Africa. It is a mobile app that enables consumers to shop with one click thereby reducing abandoned carts and increasing sales for merchants. All you have to do is to sign up on OurPass once and you’ll never have to do that again.
How does it work?
OurPass makes buying online faster, safer, and easier for consumers. For merchants, the platform increases sales conversion rates. The platform is built on a wallet system to enable easy checkout.
Users can:
- Download the app on play store and sign up
- A verification code will be sent to both your Email and phone number
- Users will be prompted to create a 5 digit transaction pin
- After signing up, a virtual account number is automatically assigned to you. This virtual account number will be used to fund your wallet through bank transfer or your mobile app
For users to check out from a store, they’ll need to fund their wallets. This can be done through their virtual account number or by adding their bank cards. Once they check out, the money moves into the merchants’ wallets. Merchants enjoy instant settlement of payments on the platform.
On the homepage, when a user clicks “checkout” they will be able to see platforms accepting one-click checkout” with OurPass. the startup has a couple of merchants on the platform and recently acquired Storemia, an online storefront provider. Users can shop from thousands of merchants available on Storemia and enjoy free delivery to any location.
Apart from the seamless checkout process offered by OurPass, users can also buy airtime, data, and pay for TV subscriptions. Users can also request for money from other OurPass users via the username tag.
Ourpass acquired Storemia
With the acquisition of StoreMia by OurPass, merchants can create their own e-commerce website and product. Merchants will only need to sign up on the web platform, provide their KYC details and install the OurPass check out button.
Speaking on the acquisition Bolu Oluwagbesan, founder of Storemia said, “The coming together of Storemia and OurPass is one of the revolutionary mergers in the Nigerian tech space because both products are very complementary. Storemia in itself is the easiest and fastest way to create eCommerce stores. “OurPass is the fastest checkout tool for eCommerce stores so when you bring the power of Storemia and the power of OurPass together, then you have a super product.”
How to use OurPass as a merchant
As a business owner, you can Integrate OurPass checkout into your e-commerce website and let your customers check out in one click. The integration is free. For businesses without a website, you can sign up on storemia as a seller and create your store on the platform. Samuel noted that the company charges a 0.8% transaction fee capped at N1000.
The company has also partnered with logistics companies like MAX.ng and Gokada to offer free deliveries to users.