In their report on electronic commerce in the ECCAS (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Gabon, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome, DR Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, and Angola) for 2021, the GSMA (global body that brings together telecom operators) and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), have provided some data on social commerce (the use of social media for e-commerce transactions) in Cameroon.
“The importance of social commerce is particularly evident in emerging electronic commerce markets (…) where it represents the bulk of electronic commerce activity. A survey conducted in Cameroon found that 88% of those surveyed had purchased items through WhatsApp, while 68% had purchased through Facebook,” the report says.
According to the same source, social commerce allows SMEs to formalize some aspects of their business while operating in markets that lack some of the regulatory and infrastructure features associated with electronic commerce. This can provide more value to participants in the informal sector, which is estimated to number roughly 2 billion people globally.
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“Research by the GSMA has found that more than a third of social commerce providers target women, rural or low-income groups as their primary user base,” the report says.
One of the major limits of social commerce, according to the report, is that most platforms are not yet intended to conduct end-to-end transactions. As a result, they’ll need more help with logistics, delivery, and payments, which might cause friction in the online shopping experience for both merchants and customers.
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WhatsApp’s supremacy in social commerce in Cameroon contrasts with Facebook’s popularity. Indeed, according to the findings of a research published on March 1, 2018 by Médiamétrie, the French leader in media studies, 64.6 percent of those polled choose Facebook, which always comes first, followed by Google+, Instagram, and Twitter.
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Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer