Small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) are the mainstream of global business because it is largely business-to-customer (B2C) ventures that function to meet wholesaling and retailing demands. Therefore, we can not overemphasize the potential of SMEs in boosting local and international economies.

The role of SMEs in Africa is progressive in being the bedrock of African economies in the light of SMEs accounting for 80% of jobs in Africa. This also comes at par with over 44 million micro, small, and medium enterprises in the continent.

A preponderance of SMEs leverages e-commerce and social commerce platforms to pitch their products and services to a wider African audience on the internet. This means that putting up your products and services on the internet is the most lucrative way of generating leads and growing your business in this digital age.

Africa has a young population with most SMEs skewed towards this population that largely prefer online shopping to walking to physical stores to make purchases. As such, SMEs are always critical in designing their products and services towards meeting the demands of the young African population.

Meanwhile, some SMEs in Africa are still struggling to grow their businesses because of some bottlenecks they encounter in the process of getting their products and services to the teeming African customers. It is in ameliorating some critical challenges and boosting the sales of SMEs that Peppa is providing solutions to African SMEs with products like Escrow as a Service , Online Marketplace and online storefront to improve businesses, and in turn, maximise profits.

How Can Peppa Help Small And Medium-Scale Enterprises In Africa?

There are a variety of ways Peppa can help improve SMEs in Africa, although it is important to put into consideration the demography and geography of the target audience of every business. Nonetheless, Peppa is a one-stop social commerce platform that enables the credibility of businesses and improves the satisfaction of customers interacting and buying various products via the platform.

1. Business Verification And Vetting

Peppa provides an online service for confirming the identity of the buyers and sellers in a transaction. The availability of identification, compliance status, and comprehensive company reports saves a small firm a lot of time, effort, and money. This KYC and identification procedure gives the supplier new opportunities to generate more leads and increase the profits of SMEs. Additionally, because credentials are verified, it allows buyers to transact with merchants while remaining secure.

2. Suitability For A Range Of Businesses

Peppa supports a wide range of businesses within the purview of SMEs. Therefore, this platform is not exclusive to any particular business. You can use Peppa online storefront to sell products like electronics, household items, fashion and beauty products, groceries, mobile devices, laptops, and whatnot.

We have a state-of-the-art online storefront that is customizable and which can be linked to your Instagram account to display a wide range of products that you sell to a wider audience in Africa.

3. Escrow Services

The provision of escrow service is one of the raw ingredients of stamping credibility in social commerce. Peppa understands the need for having this feature in online business, especially on social platforms that have been a hotbed for fraudulent sellers and buyers.

Peppa offers Escrow as a Service to act as the neutral middleman between the buyer and seller of a particular product. The function of Peppa is bounded by ensuring that the agreement of purchase between a seller and a buyer is not breached.

For instance, if you are buying an electronic product from a seller that uses Peppa as its escrow agent, the seller will not receive the money you made for the purchase until the buyer is satisfied with the product of purchase. So Peppa enforces credibility and seriousness of business with the seller while upholding the trust of the customers.

4. Business Financing

Capital is the powerhouse of every business, regardless of size. That is why it is important to plan SMEs around the capital, which is the core factor of production in the economic sense. But is it every budding business that can afford a starting or maintenance capital for SMEs in Africa?

Peppa provides business financing to enable the sustainable growth of SMEs in Africa. We understand that SMEs are the fuel that drives the African economy, as such emerging businesses require some level of financial support to aid the production and sale of products to the larger African customers.

5. Improved Lead Generation And Boost In Sales

In corroboration of the vision of Peppa, which is to be a leading P2P commerce enabler in emerging markets, we are keen on providing sustainable lead generation for customers using our platform for their business. This is why sellers using Peppa online storefront are provided with the option of either creating a store directly on Peppa or linking their Instagram to the Peppa store.

The sophistication of our analytics towards understanding the buying behaviour of customers trading with sellers on our platform enables an increasing turnover of sales.

Conclusion

The influence of SMEs in Africa is pivotal in the development of African business and we can not shy away from the fact that most SMEs need ways of support and improvement over time. Peppa is providing a sustainable solution for SMEs in Africa to grow their business through its products like Escrow as a Service and Peppa online storefront.

You can create a Peppa account to get started and grow your business.