16 Mar African Payment Gateway Perspectives on the effects of COVID-19 on eCommerce Verticals and Online Payments
As a leading African payments team we were thinking through the effects of COVID-19 on our eCommerce and Online Payments industry and thought we would share our insights with you. It looks like the only way to beat this thing for the moment is to stay at home. How does this affect online business? Travel is off limits for now, so no airline processing and no hospitality bookings - one of the biggest eCommerce verticals in Africa. No gathering of people so ticketing for sport, events and conferences is off the table. Restaurants can only resort to home deliveries so they are possibly moving online. Consumers will be spending a lot of time at home, and won’t be able or allowed to go out. This will likely drive up the volume of home entertainment, courier and home deliveries and catalyse the provision of education, and p2p conversational services like counselling. We will see a sharp increase in the use of phones, messaging, email, Skype, Zoom and Hangouts which will put strain on the provision of internet services. People will be spending a lot more time on social media and watching DSTV, Netflix or downloaded series. No weddings until further notice and most likely a baby boom. Remote workers are in a good position. Not much has changed for them. Certainly for our company African Payment Solutions and Europe Payment Solutions it is business as usual. Our team has been remote working and remote provisioning payment services very successfully across Africa and around the globe for many years. We see no change to our modus operandi except for the growth in pureplay digital businesses and businesses going online. Micro loan companies are likely to benefit from a cash squeeze for consumers who are laid off or put on short time and needing to feed themselves. Credit card balances are likely to increase to take up slack. From a utility perspective there will be higher levels of domestic electricity and water consumption. We will see an increase in the number of cards issued and enabled for online as consumers who are used to going into the shop to pay their bills. They will become proficient at online payment and purchasing. We hope that gives you an idea of the new world of eCommerce and payments catalysed by COVID-19. It’s all good. People will become more digitally connected and capable. Home working means more time and appreciation of leisure and familyness. If you are a multinational eCommerce company expanding to or across Africa, click here to get paid at the checkout with card and mobile money by more than half a billion African consumers. Thank you to designer Emma Philip for the cover picture Our African Payment Solutions services include:
