Monthly Archives: April 2013
Till = Tablet – Is SA Ignoring the Need for Responsive Websites and Online Stores?
It seems as if the whole world has recognized the need for responsive sites and nowhere should that acceptance be more evident than in emerging markets such as South Africa, where most of the new online data consumers (and the next generation of online retail consumers) first got online via a mobile device. Yet established players are hesitant to switch systems and seem to hoping all those pesky small devices are just going to go away. The good news is: “They’re not!” According to both predictions and sales reports, tablets are not the future, tablets are the NOW. T-Commerce (online sales made via tablet devices) grew by almost 100% in 2012 and I’m curious how 2013 will shape up. While I think Microsoft may have been a bit early with an immersive, mobile-oriented OS, it is plain to see that if the largest software developer is creating flagship products targeting mobile devices, than perhaps we should too. The mobile trend is here to stay and it is only a matter of time until the till becomes the tablet. Romero, of bitesizebschool.com says: ”Mobile/social/wireless communication is what people are buying, not desktops. Laptops, tablets, phones and peripherals will work better together in the months to come. Cables are and will continue to disappear.” Author: Jonathan Novotny Jonathan Novotny is Author, Speaker and Social Entrepreneur in Africa. He currently heads up www.changetheworld.org.za and is co-founder of www.cloudsales.co.za .
CloudSales Promotional Material
CloudSales for Business View the CLOUD B2B BROCHURE
Client Tutorial – Online Store – Domain Transfer v1
Domain Transfer: If the desired domain for the Online Store is currently registered in your personal email address, then please follow these instructions: 1. Create a PLAIN TEXT email. MS Outlook: Create a new email > Select the options tab > Select Plain Text (under the Format section) GMAIL – New Compose: In the lower right corner you will see a downward arrow. This is “More options”. Click on it and select “Plain text mode”. GMAIL – Old Compose: By default this is “Plain text”. 2. Insert this email address: coza-admin@co.za 3. Insert this as subject: your-domain-name.co.za 4. Cc this address: domains@cloudsales.co.za (This is step is optional, it is just so that we can see if there was any mistake, and rectify it next time around) 5. Paste text: Insert exactly, (do not change anything) directly from the attached .txt file. Copy all the text and insert into body of email In order to select all you can use the Crtl +A command. Open txt file, click anywhere in text and press the “Ctrl” button, while holding it down press “A” key. Then copy and paste as instructed. Send the email. 6. You should receive a response within 5 minutes. Forward the response to me. Thanks!
Package Add-on Features
Professional Add-ons for Online Stores Features Chart Legend: Included in Package Not Eligible in Package Starter Add-on @ R29.- per month PRO Add-on @ R49.- per month Add-on Description Setup Fee STARTER Add-ons . . . R –.- R 299.- R 299.- R 299.- R 299.- R 299.- R 299.- R 299.- R 299.- R 499.- PRO Add-ons . . . R 499.- R 499.- R 499.- R 499.- R 499.- R 499.- R 499.- R 499.- R 499.- R 999.- R 999.- Domain Services . . . R –.- R –.- R 199.- R –.- Starting at R199 Starting at R199 Starting at R199 Professional Investments/Integration R 499.- R 499.- R –.- R99 per month R –.- R199 per month R99 per month R 1199.- R 499.- pm R 1899.- R 699.- pm Professional Services for Online Retail Feature Description Total Cost R1999 Once-Off Total Cost R2999 Once-Off R1799 pm R1799 pm R1799 pm R1899 pm R1899 pm R1899 pm
The Yuppiechef cult: how a startup sparked a religion
The Yuppiechef success story has been well documented, but until now, no one has been able to explain exactly how the kitchen utensils e-tailer has managed to evoke the type of fervent support that has catapulted the Cape Town company well into cult territory. Yes, cult. Exhibit A: a Pinterest page dedicated to customers who have submitted photos of their pets in Yuppiechef packaging. The running theory is that Yuppiechef has mastered the art of customer service. It’s a strong hypothesis. Yuppiechef boasts 99% positive feedback — read worship — on customer service watchdog Hellopeter, as well as a consistent stream of accolades awarded on the basis of irreproachable customer service. Consider then that 60% of Yuppiechef purchases are from repeat customers and it seems an open and shut case — Yuppiechef is indeed a “customer service business who happens to sell kitchen tools”. Yes, perhaps being extra courteous and efficiently dealing with customer queries can explain the 300% year on year revenue Yuppiechef recorded in 2011. In 2012, Yuppiechef added to its staff of 16, reaching 54 by the start of 2013 — perhaps free delivery of its select product range, strong social media engagement and the handwritten thank you cards that accompany every purchase grew Yuppiechef’s revenue enough to sustain 38 new employees. Perhaps. A reliable source revealed to Ventureburn that Yuppiechef is currently recording gross annual revenue of R80-million with a 20-30% profit margin. When we approached the stealthy kitchen utensils e-tailer for comment, Yuppiechef marketing director and part owner, Paul Galatis, opted to keep the company’s figures private. Yuppiechef is not at liberty to discuss its financials, but then again, the company’s culture doesn’t particularly lend itself to that kind of thing anyway. “We don’t celebrate or measure our financial results. Instead we celebrate the constant stream of positive customer feedback that customers send to us and post online and we share it on a daily basis within our team,” Galatis told Ventureburn. We remain intrigued to have not received a flat out denial of the rumour, however. In 2011 Galatis revealed that Yuppiechef was “verging on profitability.” Given this knowledge, Yuppiechef’s confirmed 100% year on year growth in 2012 and the reliability of our source, we started exploring an alternative theory for the company’s apparent surge. Yuppiechef is a quiet overnight success, six years in the making. Today, the company boasts social numbers such as [...]
Online Store Theme Options
RESPONSIVE THEMES Metro Theme Store Demo Details Metis Theme Store Demo Details Toys Theme Store Demo Details Sapphiro Theme Store Demo Details NON-RESPONSIVE THEMES Caramella Theme Store Demo Details ApolloTheme Store Demo Details TG Diablo Theme Store Demo Hera Theme Store Demo Dragon Theme Store Demo Taweret Theme Store Demo
Full Product Comparison Chart
Permanent Online Store Features Feature Description 1 Users 2 Users 5 Users Single Dual Checkout Full Checkout *Care Packages 2 Hours Email Email & Phone *Care Packages *Care Packages DIY R 299.- R 499.- R 999.- Initial Online Store Setup Feature Description 3 15 35 Add-on Add-on *Care Packages 2 Hours Add-on R 1995.- R 2995.- R 4995.-
Getting Started in Ecommerce: What’s a Shopping Cart?
The ecommerce shopping cart is a software package that accepts customer payment and shipping information and facilitates the distribution of that information to merchants, payment processors, or others. At the surface, an ecommerce shopping cart is really something that every beginning online merchant intuitively recognizes. For example, almost no one would consider opening an online store without having made a few purchases online themselves. In the course of buying books from Barnes & Noble or clothes from Gap, that new ecommerce entrepreneur no doubt encountered a shopping cart. From the consumer’s perspective, an ecommerce shopping cart may seem like little more than a web form, little different than an email newsletter subscription or an online registration form. BY ARMANDO ROGGIO at Practical Ecommerce
5 Planning Tips for Physical Retailers to Migrate Online
As physical, brick-and-mortar retailers contemplate the online marketplace, they should consider their online stores in the same sense as if they were building another physical location. While it probably won’t be nearly as expensive to begin selling online as it is to build another physical outlet, the same degree of planning is involved. The article in the second installment of series where I assist physical, brick-and-mortar retailers migrating online. The first installment, “How Small Brick-and-Mortar Retailers Succeed Online; 4 Keys,”we published last month. Here are five planning tips for brick-and-mortar merchants to consider prior to opening their first online store. 1. Analyze Your Resources If you’re a busy retailer, you’re likely working long hours. It’s tough running a retail business, and the last thing you can imagine is piling more work on top of your plate. So, look around. If you have employees, ask them what experience they might have with computers, design, social networking and advertising. Even those with nothing more than an internship at an ad agency probably picked up enough to contribute. Almost everyone I talk to has a relative that “builds websites.” If you have one of these in your family tree, talk with them about your plans. But before engaging them to help you, emphasis the importance of your objective and ask them for examples of their work, just as you would any outside provider. Also, you have to consider not only the initial creation of your online store; the ongoing operational aspects of running an ecommerce operation means processing daily orders, managing online advertising, answering customer inquiries and updating product information. These are all functions of your current retail operation. Start out by cross-training your current staff to handle the online equivalent of their off-line responsibilities. For example, whomever handles customer inquires should respond to emails from your online customers; the person who manages product marketing in your store could learn how to update your online product presentations. Use the experience and knowledge you currently have in-house. 2. Consult Your Suppliers You may find that not all your suppliers will allow you to offer their products online. Usually most of them will, although they may have stipulations regarding price, presentation and shipping. While the number of distributors who drop ship is growing, there are still many in niche markets that don’t. To sell their products, you will have to maintain an additional inventory in [...]
E-Commerce Companies Bypass the Middlemen – NY Times
When the founders of a start-up that sells eyeglasses online, Warby Parker, began investigating why designer glasses cost several hundred dollars, they discovered that everyone in the process was taking a cut: designers, manufacturers, brands, wholesalers and retailers. Warby Parker’s Manhattan headquarters includes a showroom. The company plans to open a stand-alone store soon. But what if they left out most of those people? “I had been to the factories and knew what it costs to manufacture glasses and knew the cost didn’t warrant a $700 price tag,” said Neil Blumenthal, a founder of the company. Inspired by glasses they found in their grandparents’ attics, the founders sketched a few frames, hired the same Chinese factories that make designer glasses and started selling directly to consumers online. By doing so, they eliminated enough of the cost to charge customers just $95 a pair. Warby Parker is part of a wave of e-commerce companies that are trying to build premium brands at discount prices by cutting out middlemen and going straight to manufacturers. They make everything from bedding (Crane and Canopy), to office supplies (Poppin), nail polish (Julep), tech accessories (Monoprice), men’s shoes (Beckett Simonon) and shaving supplies (Harry’s). The result is generally cheaper products for consumers and higher profit margins for the companies. Big retailers discovered long ago that controlling the supply chain benefited their bottom lines, which is why companies like Wal-Mart and Whole Foods sell many products under their own brands. At Macy’s and Kohl’s, such “private label” brands make up almost half of their sales. Start-ups have traditionally struggled to match those efforts. They do not have as much brand recognition as big retailers, and persuading consumers to take a chance on, say, Warby Parker eyeglasses instead of Prada’s can be difficult. “The challenge is, if you’ve never heard of the brand, you wonder, ‘Should I buy it when it’s 20 percent cheaper?’ ” said Raj Kumar, a supply chain consultant at A. T. Kearney. “Or should I buy a brand I trust?” What is empowering the upstarts now is the Web’s ability to reach lots of consumers without the costs of operating physical stores as well as a change in manufacturers’ willingness to work with small brands. The founders of Deal Décor, whose model was to sell furniture directly to customers, worked at Target and Home Depot Direct before starting their company. They said they saw an [...]
