It is common knowledge that the emergence of e-commerce in Nigeria has greatly influenced the buying and selling behaviours of Nigerians, and Africans at large. While there is still a large number of online shopping sceptics habitually resistant to this innovation in business, many people are adopting the idea of buying products online and getting them delivered to their doorstep.
Social media is one of the online portals you can buy and sell products of all kinds with little or no restrictions. Everywhere in the world, doing business on social media has become a norm, especially for small and medium-sized businesses that want to generate more leads to accrue huge profits from their businesses.
The top social media platforms for buying and selling products are Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. This is owed to the potential of the features enabled by these social media platforms to generate leads, convert sales, and increase profits.
Instagram can be termed the “powerhouse for online sellers” because of its wider reach which accommodates over 1 billion active users every month. It is believed that over 80% of Instagram users follow a business brand and they interact with the brand about 10 times more often than Facebook. Moreover, you can use features like Instagram Stories and the Buy Now button to pitch your business on Instagram.
In the case of Facebook, you can use strategies like retargeting ads, post promotions, and Facebook Marketplace to generate leads and increase sales on Facebook. In the meantime, Pinterest also contributes to social media business growth in such a way that you can use strategies like promoted pins and promote contests to enhance online businesses via Pinterest. The great features of Pinterest in accelerating social commerce corroborate about 60% of millennials who report that they discovered products via it.
Following the trajectory of the steady growth of the online business via social media, there is a need to provide a simple and secure payment infrastructure that would enable buyers to pay for a specific product and get the product as and when due. This brings about Escrow as a Service that is being offered by Peppa to businesses operating on the radar of social media platforms.
Peppa is a social commerce that, on its right, is making peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions safer for Africans by adopting Escrow as a Service as a tool to eliminate possible fraud when buying and selling on social media platforms.
Peppa, in its experience, functions as the third party that holds and collects payment from buyers to be released to the sellers when buyers are satisfied or on agreement grounds. As such, Peppa creates a bridge of commitment between sellers and buyers as a way of striking a balance between the purchasing power of customers and the credibility of buyers.
Escrow as a service that Peppa offers comes at a time when customers are losing confidence in Payment on Delivery (PoD), with some pitfalls that have emanated from unsatisfactory delivery of some products that elicited the narrative of the local parlance, “what I ordered versus what I got.” This has made many customers seek a refund, costing businesses a significant loss.
In some instances, some buyers can make payments for a product, and the seller may take weeks before making a delivery, while some sellers may even abscond with the money. So social media platforms are a funnel that has enabled businesses to grow while not satisfying customer demand.
However, Peppa’s Escrow as a Service is already disrupting the status quo of social commerce in such a way that Peppa acts as a middleman between a social media vendor and its buyers, and the vendor will not receive payments for its sales until the purchases of its customers are met satisfactorily.
How Much Power Do Customers Have With Peppa’s Escrow As A Service?
When buyers use the payment on delivery (PoD) feature, it is of their volition to either receive the product or not when delivered to them. Customers still have this power with Peppa albeit with coming to terms with the fact that they have parted some money when making payment for their products.
But the apt understanding of Peppa being the third party here and holding the payment until delivery gives a sigh of relief to the buyer and also provides a likelihood for a reduction in return rates sellers will incur, so far there is no breach of agreements.
Trust is a major value that African businesses must earn from their customers, as such Peppa is bolstering secure payment on social media platforms with the bid to build a robust payment gateway and marketplace where buyers will be satisfied, trust the online vendor more, and become an existing customer of the business without fear or doubt.
For instance, I’m always wary of buying products on social media platforms since the time I ordered and made payment for a size 44 black shoe with an online vendor on Instagram. It is not only that the seller delivered later than expected (3 weeks after payment), a size 42 black shoe of a different design was delivered to me. All efforts to return the shoe proved abortive as the seller didn’t have a store address.
However, the advent of Peppa’s Escrow as a Service has rejuvenated my trust and quickened me to buying products on social media, particularly on the Peppa marketplace, as I can be sure of getting satisfied with what order.
How To Use Escrow As A Service On Peppa
Create a Peppa account
Create a store or connect to your online store
Access and use the EASE API documentation to use escrow service on Peppa
What Are The Key Benefits Of Escrow As A Service On Peppa?
1. Secure Payments For Both Sellers And Buyers
The Escrow as a Service feature of Peppa is beneficial to both buyers and sellers. Peppa holds buyers’ payments until all transaction requirements are met satisfactorily. Also, sellers that use Peppa are guaranteed Peppa truly holds the money before delivering products to buyers. As such Peppa fosters fairness and mutual satisfaction with this approach.
2. Reduction Of Transactional Risk
Using Peppa as your escrow service reduces the danger of a failed sale for both buyers and sellers. Peppa assures buyers that their expectations will be realized or the payments will not be released. Therefore, these agreements cover products that are expensive and fragile or perishable.
3. Additional Benefits For Peppa Escrow Customers
At Peppa, our mission is to make commerce work for everyone while adding our culture of autonomy, responsibility, and ownership to make our escrow service formidable. This means your funds are duly protected, and once your funds are ready to be released, we’ve got you covered with additional fraud protections.
Conclusion
Earn more and risk less with escrow service by Peppa that enables the buyer and the seller to have a win-win transaction as regards the buyers getting satisfied with their purchases and the sellers earning more trust with enhanced credibility of a business.
However, it is important to note that Peppa is open to buyers and sellers that want to access its escrow service to forge a sustainable trade on social media platforms.
