E-commerce is an excellent sales channel for many businesses. From serving retail customers to selling business-to-business, online sales can expand and grow your revenue, build customer loyalty, and reduce costs.
Adding some e-commerce features can lower costs and improve your business management. E-commerce introduces advantages such as digital inventory tracking, better customer data, experimenting with sales and limited products, building an online reputation, and lowering operational and labour costs.
And customers like e-commerce. Online shopping grew a massive 30 percent in South Africa during 2022, according to World Wide Worx and Mastercard. But it can be daunting and risky, so how do you start your e-commerce plans?
You can run your own e-commerce service, use a reputable e-commerce platform, or even move products through one of SA's prominent e-commerce marketplaces, such as Takealot. With Amazon poised to arrive on our shores, digital sales will become a big part of successful businesses.
Where do you start?
Avoid those e-commerce pitfalls with the following steps:
Look at how others do e-commerce: Before creating your e-commerce platforms, learn more about it. Look at the e-commerce services you use—what do and don't you like about them? Pay attention to areas such as ease of use, simplicity, customer support, recommendations, and payment options. Gain a sense of what you want your online shopping to deliver.
Start small: It's tempting to put everything online at once. Rather pace things, give yourself room to experiment and learn, and scale up your online store over time. Don't jump in with both feet unless you are prepared to learn many lessons the hard way.
Choose a platform: You can build an e-commerce store from scratch and add complementary services such as payment gateways. Alternatively, you can join an online retail platform that sells your products for you (and take a cut). In the middle, you can pay to use an e-commerce platform and build your store on it. This last option is often preferred because you keep control while the platform takes care of risks like security. Using a platform doesn't absolve you from dealing with risks and operations but will make it much easier to keep on top of such things.
Invest in design: People buy from brands they feel they can trust. First impressions matter, so put some budget aside for design. That includes your logo but extends to the look and feel of your e-commerce site. Does your business use specific colours, fonts, and decor choices? Pay attention to such details, and they will extend the vibe of your business to online shoppers.
Digital marketing is crucial: You can build it but don't expect anyone to come unless you do some marketing. Digital marketing (search engine ads, social media campaigns and email newsletters) and search engine optimisation (SEO) are powerful ways to reach customers. Physical representation and marketing are also important—your e-commerce shop isn't isolated from the real world.
Look into logistics: How will your products arrive at customers once they pay? Where are you storing your products? How long will it take? How much extra will it cost (and do you absorb those costs)? Good logistics is crucial for a satisfying online shopping experience and one of the main ways to build customer loyalty. Many logistics companies offer special services for e-commerce vendors.
Think about support: When shoppers enter your physical store, staff can tend to them and ask their questions. Online sales also need such support. It can be a chat window, a phone number or a WhatsApp channel. Try to make it as immediate as possible.
Experiment: Once you open your online store, your journey has begun. You'll find that you are not as limited as with a physical store. You can carry smaller batches of products, sell on consignment, and host flash sales. You will have access to data on customer behaviours and can spot retail trends. You can quickly pivot and sell trendy items. The best e-commerce businesses experiment.
These tips give a good idea of what to expect when embarking on your e-commerce adventure. Going online with retail sales is one of the best things you can do today, and it's not something to be feared—just respected. Take things at your pace, start small, research, and talk to partners like Vodacom Business, who have the experience and services to make your digital retail plans a reality.
