Web Challenges
Since inception, the Web has recorded tremendous success in the likes of Amazon, eBay, Google and Facebook to mention but a few. Further, the recent times have shown that Web access has increased due to the increase in the number of people having access to the internet.
With more people gaining access the internet, issues to do with security become eminent. In this day and age, business and social alike websites will request one to input personal data gain access to their site. One would say it a good tool to use for the purposes of collecting data. But the question is how much data you can collect.
From yesterday class, I realized how impactful the web is and how much reliant we as users have become. With the assertion of security I raised above, the web will have to address that we as customer have when using the web.
A case in point is that of our family airline (flyzambezi.com). Over the years we have realized that Internet Marketing if harnessed well will greatly improve the company’s bottom line. I got to realize that not only will we use the internet for business, but also use Zambezi’s website to market other affiliate companies.
Now most of our customers are very skeptical with making online bookings. They would rather draw cash, drive to the travel agent and have their ticket issued. First time walk in customers are encouraged to use online ticketing but alas, they still come back. When asked, their response is “we don’t trust the internet”. Further, they say it is usually hard to distinguish a genuine or fake website. Once beaten, twice shy.
Other challenges that the web is yet to face is that of user gravitating to mobile Apps. More users are now using phone or tablet Apps to access the sites. The trend is also growing in Africa with 84 million mobile handsets capable of using the internet.
According to Pingdom, a site motoring firm, the percentage of mobile usage in Africa soared from 5.81% in 2012 to 14.85% in 2012. Currently six African countries Zambia - 47.09%), Sudan (44.95%), Nigeria (40.65%), Zimbabwe (37.95%), Ethiopia (31.79%) and Kenya (29.2%) are among the global top players in the countries with the highest share of mobile traffic. You may wish to note that Africa has the highest share among the top ranking nations beating Asia, which has only four countries present on the top ten lists with India as number one.
The web is a very interesting topic that I can discuss hours on end. We in the third world countries need to be educated how secure most sites are and the benefits of using the web. I will share more data on emerging markets in the next coming editions…
