In today’s world, the global economy is moving from the human to human interaction, the real world to a computer simulated environment where various users at the same time and independently explore and participate in activities – the virtual world.
Prior to the covid-19 pandemic, the incorporation of the online world to business operations of some organisations both public and private was seen as a needless investment and a thing for the future that is far off from now. However, the pandemic pushed the future to the presence. Today, the restriction of movement as precaution in curtailing the spread of the virus halted most businesses. For the businesses that have maintained online operations activities are less affected by strict measures imposed by authorities.
In Nigeria during the lockdown, while both public and private businesses are hugely affected, Lagos State, the commercial hub of the country was able to capitalize on technology to generate IGR.
In April, the Lagos Inland Revenue Service (LIRS) generated N25 billion through taxation, at a time there was total lockdown. The Head of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Rasheed Olu-Ajayi, said the service leveraged on technology. He said the service’s business was very good due to the automating processes.
According to a recent study, the likes of LIRS were able to continue in business even in the face of restriction of movement as a result of social presence in business to business online chat dialogues.
Olu-Ajayi said LIRS has a business continuity plan by documenting products, events with which staff work. He said technology tools were invoked with lots of staff working from home and interacting with taxpayers.
The study carried out by researchers from the University of Eastern Finland, explored social presence in business to business online chat service. According to one of the researchers, Jonna Koponen from the university, lack of social presence may be one of the reasons company’s online sales are not growing.
The study revealed that the behavior and goals of customers in online chat dialogues varied depending on the state of the customer relationship. Therefore online presence and frequent online interaction with customers build confidence and fosters relationships that translate into successful business transactions.
“Social presence plays a key role in e-commerce. Earlier studies have shown that social presence increases the customer’s trust in the website and in the seller and it also provides support for the customer’s decision to purchase,” Koponen said.
