Integrated identity system enhances efficiency of E- commerce, says entrepreneur

An entrepreneur, Lola Masha, has said an integrated identity system is necessary to enhance the efficiency of e-commerce platforms in Nigeria.

Masha, who is the Country Manager, OLX, an e-commerce platform, said this when she paid a courtesy visit to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos.

She said the biggest challenge in e-commerce in the country was the difficulty in verifying identities of users and promptly investigating scam-related cases.

“When we first rolled out in 2012, we assumed that what would work in Argentina, Brazil, India, where we currently have operations, should also work in Nigeria.

“But we learnt very quickly that Nigeria is a very unique market and we can’t simply expect the same model to work in Nigeria as well.

“The major challenge is the fact that in Nigeria, currently, we don’t have a good identity system.

“If you were in a few other countries you either have a national ID(Identity) number, social security numbers, or some sort of information that ties each person online and offline.

“And frankly, that has made our work quite difficult.

“We need to then find other ways to identify our users to know if we should keep you out or if we should allow you transact on the platform.

“So, that has been one challenge for us”.

According to her, online fraudsters are another challenge to operators of e-commerce, saying that certain measures have been implemented to ensure safety of buyers and sellers.

“We now use the OLX marketing tool to educate users on how the classified channel works and the best techniques to deploy.

“Every single ad (advertisement) that goes live on the platform is checked and verified on a 24-hour/7-days-a-week basis by a team of full time staff to ensure it meets our requirement.

“We have also partnered with a private security outfit to ensure offenders are fished out if for whatever reason someone slips through.’’

She, therefore, urged the public to report suspicious advert for prompt investigation and invalidation.

“We have a feature on the platform where users can report such adverts to OLX,’’ Masha said.

NAN reports that OLX is an e-commerce platform that facilitates the sale and purchase of various items.