Challenges of E-marketing for SMEs in Africa
Despite the above-mentioned prospects that e-marketing offers for SMEs in Africa, its challenges cannot be overlooked. They need to be stated so that they can be addressed appropriately so they can procure maximum benefits for these SMEs.
Bostanshirin gives the following points as some challenges that e-marketing for SMEs in Africa can pose:
2. Lack of face-to-face contact:
Lack of personal contact is another deficiency of online marketing which has been addressed in online marketing research and literature (Goldsmith and Goldsmith, 2002). Internet transactions involve no embodied, personal interaction and that is why some customers consider electronic modes of providing customer service impersonal and enjoy the experience of shopping in a brick and mortar, physical store. They prefer to talk to store personnel in a face to face manner, touch the related product with their hands, and socialize with other customers. Virtual marketplace cannot provide for this function of offline shopping and lacks personal interaction.