E-commerce is the way to go if we want a developed community with a better living standard for people. An impressable number of e-commerce startups have opened up in recent years. The opportunities are humongous and some people have been trying to make the most out of them but there are many problems with the e-commerce startups in Nepal currently.
Logistical barriers
The terrain of Nepal already creates many logistical problems for e-commerce startups but coupled with poor logistics and delivery partners, it becomes a certified mess.
The sellers and the e-commerce sites probably never hear what troubles the customers have to face while trying to get their things delivered. The non-existent address system has also made the delivery of goods more problematic. This is one of the biggest problems with the e-commerce startups in Nepal.
This accounts for a huge Prospects for Logistics startups in Nepal.
Scam during sale and Phony discount offers
Big e-commerce websites launch big shopping festivals and sale but it ends up doing more bad than good. As a customer, I have found so many items whose price has been increased to offer higher discount and the next day, the price would be the same even with a lower discount.
he prices of the same products could be way lesser in the markets. These petty tricks used by sellers give a bad impression on the e-commerce website altogether.
Although this is not something that the e-commerce site does but it is their role to monitor the discount offered to customers and make sure that sellers do not cheat.
Lack of market research
E-commerce is a budding entrepreneurship destination for many people. They jump into the business thinking it is an easy job because so many people are doing it and they already know what their customers need. That is a wrong approach and that is not how big businesses are made.
A lot of thinking has to be given into every aspect of e-commerce from ensuring the product quality to keeping the price at par with the market.
High delivery charge
The delivery charge of products ranges from Rs. 50-200 and sometimes it can be higher than the price of the product itself. This is one of the biggest problems with e-commerce startups in Nepal. High delivery charge results in a massive customer turnover or churn rate.
From food delivery starts to product or services based startups, all of them need to figure out a cheaper way to deliver their products.
Facebook and Instagram businesses
A large number of unregistered social media businesses have sprung up in recent years in Nepal. Some of them are real businesses with good products but not all of them. The lot also includes several phony businesses looking to scam people. This results in the overall distrust towards e-commerce in Nepal and affects real businesses big time.
However, we should not disregard how easy social media has made for people to start small businesses. It comes with a great opportunity but the consumer has to be smart enough to not get scammed.
Distrust and Dissatisfaction among customers
The customers are either skeptical to try e-commerce for the first time or are already dissatisfied by it. This also creates a negative word-of-mouth ripple effect in the society preventing other potential customers to try out e-commerce. The ecommerce startups in Nepal need to actively engage in getting more people to trust their platforms and deliver all that they promise.
There are more problems like poor website interface, poor returns system, payment gateways problem, and many more. The current e-commerce startups in Nepal as well as the new ones to come need to focus better on market research, customer satisfaction, monitoring the sellers. The key is to ensure that your customers are satisfied and your marketing campaigns do not seem like a hoax or empty promise.
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