Online services : E-commerce gaining ground

Mauritius is known as a cyber island since the early 2000s, but e-commerce and online services have taken their time to take off, especially in the public sector. However, there is now accelerated development in online services. E-shopping and e-services have finally entered our way of life.

E-commerce and online services are not yet widespread in Mauritius but the trend is gaining ground and becoming popular among the population. Entrepreneurs in the information technology sector have been launching new websites and other service portals for quite some time now. If the e-commerce seems to be booming, this is mainly to two reasons: firstly, more and more Mauritians now have access to credit cards, compared to the situation ten years ago. Secondly, access to internet is more ‘democratised’. Other reasons that explain the boom include higher interest for online shopping, especially among the youth, greater awareness through the media and advertising, higher technological penetration, and the possibility of saving time by having online recourse instead of doing the rounds of shops.

In the public sector, many organisations are already offering a number of services online, saving people the need to move to offices. The ‘moving data not people’ concept is now a major feature of our economy. Two public institutions with the most advanced online services are undoubtedly the Mauritius Revenue Authority and the Companies Division. Almost all transactions with the MRA and customs can be done on the net, and the Companies Division has followed same by allowing the incorporation of companies and filing of documents online, as well as payment of various fees. It is also possible to check the credentials of any company with a few clicks and obtain precious information instantly, such as the names of shareholders and directors, the registered office and the last financial statements. The Mauritius Revenue Authority even holds online auction of seized, abandoned and unclaimed goods, in a fully transparent way.

Transport

Taxi owners have been protesting against illegal operators (commonly referred to as Taxi marron) and tour operators who are allegedly taking the jobs of taxis. Faced with such a crisis, the minister of Tourism, Anil Gayan has announced the future introduction of an online platform for taxi booking to be managed by the Tourism Authority, to enable tour operators book local taxis. While most countries have got their ‘ola’ and ‘uber’ cabs, Mauritius is lagging behind with its archaic ‘taxi stand’ system. At a point of time, the idea of the British ‘minicab’ system was raised to solve the ‘taxi marron’ problem, but there was no outcome. While the authorities have never thought of innovating in this field, private entrepreneurs have already been implementing online booking systems. For example, we have such sites as www.taxicabmauritius.com, www.taxiservices.mu, www.taximauritiustours.com, www.taxismauritius.com or www.taksimauritius.com. Chances are that perhaps even the National Transport Authority, the body that regulates taxi services, is not aware of such platforms currently in operation and some of them even being recognized by Tripadvisor. There is also a website that conveys information on bus services and bus routes in Mauritius.

In 2010, Fabian, a German student, visiting Mauritius, faced much difficulty in understanding our public transport systems. He therefore decided to develop an informative site on local buses to guide users, especially tourists. http://www.mauritius-buses.com is an important tool that provides adequate information.

Shopping

Local shopping websites are now becoming more and more popular. Who hasn’t seen, alongside our motorways, giant billboards of priceguru.mu or buynow.mu? These portals offer a wide range of products, from electrical appliances to gardening equipment, from mobile phones to clothing, from furniture to beauty products. Other sites operated by supermarkets allow online purchase of groceries, such as www.savegenie.mu and www.theshop.mu. Other popular shopping sites are www.moodesign.mu and www.mycart.mu. High street retailers are also present on the web, for example www.galaxy.mu and www.tfp.mu, allowing online purchase of furniture and electrical goods. On the fashion side, we have www.meanwhileinmauritius.com and www.tropicalmiss.com, among others.

Last minute deals

Deals.mu and marideal.mu are the favourite sites of shoppers and customers looking for last minute deals, especially in the leisure sector, while ordermanzer.mu has proved to be a hit in the fast food segment. This site arranges to have your favourite dish delivered to your door from selected restaurants and fast food outlets.

Matrimonial services

Finding your soul mate online is possible thanks to online matrimonial agencies such as www.shaadimauritius.com, www.marryme.mu or www.imatrimony.mu. More and more people are registering online in order to find their perfect soul mate.

Online banking

Online banking is a well established feature in our banking sector as almost all banks operating in Mauritius are providing online services. In the insurance sector, some companies such as Quantum Insurance allow the possibility to do all transactions online.

Public services

Public services departments are striving to improve their services. Local authorities are now offering many of their services online, such as paying for trade fee. However, some councils have a wrong notion of online system. For example, in order to be able to pay your trade fee online, you must first register in person at their office, bringing along a set of documents.  In such cases, it is more convenient to just visit their cash office and pay the trade fee on the spot!

International sites

Mauritians are more and more familiar with international sites such as Ebay, Amazon or AliExpress. Many people also purchase items such as spare parts or accessories from Singapore online sites. Access to PayPal from Mauritius has greatly enhanced e-commerce as PayPal excluded Mauritius in the past.

E-Licensing

As the economy increasingly becomes digital, online services will further develop, especially with the future introduction of the E-Licensing platform, under the forthcoming Economic Development Board. This platform will allow citizens to make almost any public service application online (permits, licences, clearances etc) and do a follow-up in real time.

The risks of online Shopping

Subheer Ramnoruth, an expert in the field, explains that online shopping is expected to grow to $ 370 Billion in 2017 and the top sites still remains Amazon, Alibaba and eBay! “No doubt, it’s an amazing market for businessmen but since there is a lot of money at stake, the web has also turned into a lucrative hunting ground for “online thieves” – or cyber criminals as we now call them.  That’s why, despite the undeniable conveniences of mouse clicks shopping, it has time and again also sprouted negative headlines. In USA alone, computer users have suffered damages of close to $8.5 billion dollars over a period of two years.”

He recalls that unlike in traditional shopping, the online buyer has to rely on images on his screen/ website which are not rock solid guarantee. He advices online shoppers to wake up from the slumber of being naive that whatever we see is true. This truth is not applicable online as the reality is virtual!  He sets the following guidelines:

• The first precautionary measure that one needs to adopt is the use of more and more of common sense

If the price of an item which is normally sold for USD 400, is being advertised for USD 25, then, instead of being interested, one needs to be suspicious. The page could be a fake website that is trying to fool the buyer. Once you submit your credit card information, your financial details are compromised. Not only the purchased product will never reach you but the credit card information would also be used by the cybercriminal. Since we are always at risk and exposed, it is advisable to use a credit card with a low credit value. Even if the card is compromised, the loss would not be huge!

• Malware

Even if the online shopper is vigilant, there are other dangers lurking in the background. Attackers are using increasingly complex and intelligent malware that works automatically to capture sensitive financial data. For example, through the use of a malware commonly known as Trojan horse, a cyber-criminal can capture the data that is being typed on your keyboard and transmit it to the cybercriminal without your knowledge. These malwares are very often transmitted by emails containing attachments and are downloaded or activated once the user clicks on it. But malwares can also reside on unsafe websites in a disguised manner and when clicked upon, they are installed – without the user’s knowledge or permission – on his phone, tablets or laptop.

• Beware of hotspots

We have also recently seen an upsurge of hotspots which along with their conveniences has its dark facets as data that travels on these unprotected networks can be quite easily intercepted. At airports or in shopping malls which contains Wi-Fi hotspots, is it highly advisable not to conduct any online financial transactions as the risks of your financial data being compromised are extremely high.