How does Social Media Trend affect E-commerce Growth: A Comparative Study on Buyam.cm and Aleigro.com

This paper explores the evolving landscape of e-commerce and social media trends in Cameroon, highlighting the intersection of digital technology and consumer behavior in a rapidly evolving market. The fast-growing middle-class population and increasing internet penetration resulted in a significant growth in both the e-commerce and social media usage. The most important trends are the rise of mobile commerce accelerated by the widespread adoption of smart phones and mobile payment solutions, the influence of social media platforms as effective marketing and sales channels. This article addresses Cameroon's e-commerce giants by comparing and contrasting them (Buyam.cm and Aleigro.com) using Noise Analysis. Buyam.cm focuses on increasing and satisfying its customers nationwide. Meanwhile, Aleigro.com focuses on penetrating other African countries. Both had similar constraints with infrastructure and logistics. A comparative study was conducted to analyze qualitative data and understand the current state of Cameroon’s e-commerce sector. The study sought to pinpoint key factors for its expansion. During the primary data collection, which involved 13 interviews, the main emphasis was on websites, user comments and reviews, social media engagements, and performance-related metrics. All sources of publicly open information were thoroughly scrutinized. The result provides evidence to establish that social media trends played a vital role in growing e-commerce marketing nationwide. Buyam.cm and Aleigro.com used different methods and business models to interact with their customers and grow their business.