E-Business
Building Trust: 6 Ways to Create a Credible eCommerce Website

Ecommerce or internet commerce is becoming efficient day by day. There are more than 5 billion online shopping portals and this count is elevating everyday, stressed Kanu Iroegbu, a Certified Digital Marketing Consultant.
According to him, one of the most important ingredients for an ecommerce site is its design. “The website design should be adorable and at the same time, understandable. A stunning website exerts a pull on the visitors at their first sight.
“The website design is an important aspect for intensifying the traffic to the site. If the website has all the essential elements that are requisite, then the time a visitor stays on the website also increases.
“As we are moving with time the numbers of online users are continuously increasing. This rising trend of ecommerce serves as good opportunities to gain maximum profit for online retailers on the other hand it also help in facilitating users. The below article give a brief overview of an insight to the online retailers that help business owner in carrying out the business at right direction,” he said.
Although eCommerce is seeing exponential growth, Iroegbu said that, users are becoming careful when making purchases online. With so many helpful guides available, people can determine very quickly, often within a split second, whether a website is authentic or not. So, what can you do to provide customers with piece of mind?
Thus, he identified the six (6) factors which can help eCommerce websites demonstrate their legitimacy online.
1. Real Reviews from Real People
A great way to establish that you are running a legitimate business with great products is to ask your customers for reviews. Although this may be hard to believe, humans tend to trust each other and believe it when others say that a certain product is great. In fact, it’s better to feature reviews of other people on your website than slick marketing copy. According to a great infographic from PeopleClaim, after search, ratings and reviews are the second most important site feature and 71% of customers agree that reviews make them more comfortable that they are buying the right product.
In the age of social media, it’s quite important that reviews are validated; so, it’s a good idea to link it to the reviewers Twitter or Facebook profiles. A tweet or post from a Twitter or Facebook fan will lend credibility to your brand, more than an anonymous post ever could. Despite all the positives, reviews can and will often be bad. It doesn’t matter if a small minority of your customers don’t like your products. What matters is how you handle these customers. Don’t ignore their comments or feedback, provide positive assurances, and you may even turn an angry customer into a loyal one.
2. Celebrity Endorsements
Similarly, you can also request famous influencers to write a few words about your product. If a potential visitor sees a review of your product from a celebrity, they will immediately associate your product with a trusted face. Skin care brand Proactiv has a page dedicated to celebrity endorsements. Although you may feel as though the testimonials on this page are paid for (and they probably were), these are still famous people who are willing to entrust an important asset (their skin) to Proactiv.
3. Press Mentions
Being recognized by your customers is great for validation, but it’s also useful to highlight any media coverage you get. Simply putting logos of the websites that have featured you is an effective way of telling visitors that your product has been reviewed by professionals. Tictail does a great job of this by providing small images to all the blogs and newspapers it has been featured in, as well as picking out choice quotes.
4. Social Engagement
Since the prevalence of social media, nothing is more powerful for a brand than an army of vocal followers. Facebook’s “Facepile” plugin is an aesthetically pleasing way of showing all your product’s fans. The “faces” on the plugin aren’t chosen at random; if the visitor is logged into their Facebook account, the faces are usually of their friends. A familiar face can go a long way in providing legitimacy on a website.
The number of Facebook fans or Twitter followers you have should not be the only barometer of your brand’s success, but it offers visitors an unbiased, quantitative metric as to the authenticity of your site. If you only have a few hundred followers it could be that your brand is new or not enough people care about it. In contrast, if you have thousands of followers it’s clear that a lot of people find your products useful.
5. Putting a Face to your Brand
Highlighting the different people in your team is important in building trust. If your employees are using social media and have their own personal web presence it will add legitimacy to your website. It’s also going to make it highly unlikely that such a user is a scam artist. Displaying the team members in a prominent manner also demonstrates that the company is being transparent. In contrast, scammers will usually obscure their identity, hiding behind layers of anonymity.
6. Social Proofing your Products
Social proofing is an important concept in both offline and online retail. If a potential customer is shown how others have contributed, they will be provided with a cue on how to act. In offline retail, store owners may suggest that their stock is almost sold out, indicating popularity for a particular item. Similarly, in an online context, eCommerce websites can use tactics to point potential customers in the direction of popular products.
E-Business
BPP Partners NDPC to Strengthen Data Protection

Dr Adebowale Adedokun, director-general, Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), has reaffirmed the bureau’s commitment to data protection in Nigeria.
He disclosed this in a statement at the weekend by Zira Nagga, head of Public Relations, BPP, following a courtesy visit by a delegation from the National Data Protection Commission (NDPC).
Adedokun stressed that data protection is vital to Nigeria’s economy and development, particularly in areas such as demography, health, education, and other key sectors.
He emphasised that no country should leave its data unprotected, as it plays a crucial role in future planning and national development.
“Data governs the world. It is essential to technological progress and must be protected for a country or business to be taken seriously,” he said.
Adedokun described the visit, aimed at fostering partnership on data policy implementation and protection, as timely and aligned with national goals.
He said the BPP would collaborate closely with the NDPC to boost data development, capacity building, and enhance the procurement system.
“The BPP will support compliance as part of the ‘Nigeria First’ Policy, although it is not a core procurement eligibility requirement,” he explained.
He suggested a hybrid training model to help build strong capacity in data protection, privacy awareness, and policy understanding.
According to him, a dynamic training approach will reduce logistics costs and improve public confidence in data safety and privacy.
Dr Vincent Olatunji, CEO, and national commissioner, NDPC, praised Adedokun and the BPP for supporting data protection initiatives.
He said the partnership supports President Bola Tinubu’s vision and will strengthen data privacy across Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).
“The collaboration will create awareness and train BPP staff to ensure a firm grasp of data protection principles and policies,” he stated.
Olatunji said the NDPC would establish a working group to finalise a Memorandum of Understanding beneficial to both institutions.
He added that President Tinubu signed the NDPC into law on 12 June 2023 to uphold citizens’ rights and protect national and business data.
Olatunji also noted that strict legal measures were in place to enforce data protection and ensure full compliance nationwide.
Both agencies agreed to form a team to sign the MoU and focus on capacity building and data management in procurement and beyond.
E-Business
FG Mulls Fibre Optic Layout to Bridge Internet Gaps

President Bola Tinubu said that his administration has initiated a project to install fibre optic cables across the country, aimed at enhancing the socio-economic development of Nigeria.
His plans were contained in a speech he delivered at a joint session of the National Assembly in commemoration of Democracy Day on Thursday, June 12.
He said the fibre optic layout is part of other projects being embarked on.
“In addition, we have embarked on an ambitious project to lay fibre optic cables across the nation, a transformative step toward bridging the digital divide and fostering greater connectivity.
“This initiative promises not only to enhance the speed and reliability of internet access but also to revolutionise how businesses operate, how students learn, and how communities stay connected,” Tinubu stated.
He maintained that by extending this critical infrastructure, his government is empowering entrepreneurs, enabling digital education, and providing the tools for our youth to compete in a globalised world.
In a most recent report on Internet connectivity, The ICIR pointed out how Nigeria has faced setbacks in its deployment of fibre optic cables and needs a transformation.
The challenges revolve around vandalism, inadequate coordination between road construction and telecom infrastructure, and varying right-of-way (RoW) charges across states.
Among industry experts, these issues impact network outages, increase repair costs, and hinder broadband expansion efforts.
It has also further threatened the digital economy, leading to slower Internet speeds, dropped calls, and unreliable connectivity among others.
E-Business
African Startups Raised $345m in Funding in May

African startups raised more than $345 million across 65 deals in May, more than double the amount raised in the same period of last year, according to a report by Briter, a research and business intelligence firm.
The report disclosed that both the number of deals and participating companies declined, confirming a growing trend of fewer companies raising funds in larger sizes.
It said fintech attracted the highest share of funding in May, accounting for 34 percent of the total, while cleantech followed closely, driven by a debt deal from Sun King. The company raised $80 million (in local currency) to expand clean energy access in Nigeria.
“Equity remains the primary instrument in terms of total value. There’s no doubt about it; in fact, equity deals with disclosed amounts captured more than half of the total funding volume in May.
“However, debt financing is increasingly proving its weight. Although it accounted for only 8 percent of all deals, it represented 32 percent of the total funding, highlighting the typically larger size of debt transactions. With the rise of specialised vehicles targeting early-stage businesses, debt is becoming an increasingly important part of Africa’s innovation funding landscape,” it said.
Briter’s report added that grants continued to play a vital role in early-stage support, especially in the education technology (EdTech) sector. The Mastercard Foundation led the pack in grant activity, funding a new cohort of EdTech innovators in Nigeria and Kenya. Each selected startup is set to receive $100,000 in grant funding, in addition to mentorship and business development support.
Multilaterals also made a strong showing in May, it said. The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), a World Bank Group member, issued a $179.6 million guarantee to CleanTech firm KOKO Networks. The support will help scale its clean energy solutions across Kenya.
“This deal not only demonstrates growing international confidence in African climate ventures but also signals a promising pathway for other asset-intensive startups in clean cooking, agriculture, and renewable energy,” the report said.
From a geographic perspective, Egypt emerged as the continent’s fundraising powerhouse for the month, contributing 51 percent of all funding raised. The country recorded 12 deals across equity, debt, and bond instruments. Notably, FinTech platform MNT-Halan raised $50 million through a bond issuance, further illustrating the diversification of capital-raising mechanisms in the region.
Outside Egypt, funding was distributed across Africa’s three other key markets, which are Egypt, Nigeria, and Kenya, with limited activity recorded in countries such as Ghana, Tunisia, Morocco, and Uganda, each registering between one and three deals.
In terms of exits, the African tech landscape continues to mature. Three companies—Baobab+, Qardy, and Shopa—were acquired in May, bringing the total number of exits this year to 22. This already surpasses last year’s count for the same period. Qardy was acquired by Catalyst Partners Middle East (CPME) in a disclosed deal valued at $23 million, the report added.
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