Tag Archives: shop
South Africans embrace online shopping and Cyber Monday
This year saw a rise in online spending across the globe, with USA reporting a 20% increase in online shopping on Cyber Monday as shoppers snubbed physical retail stores in favour of missing out on the holiday queues. Locally we are coming to the party, with recent report showing that 9.5% of South Africans are planning on doing their festive shopping online in 2013. Picking up on this trend, Style36.co.za and 5rooms.com, two of SA’s leading online fashion and furniture retailers, proved that SA is indeed embracing online shopping by breaking their sales records in one day with the launch of their Cyber Monday campaign. Offering customer the opportunity to shop top local and international brands at up to 80% off for 24 hours only, the campaign not only showed that South Africans are shopping online but that they are willing to spend large amounts of money when given the right opportunity. Style36, SA’s ultimate online style destination, set a record number of sales, receiving over 5000 orders in just 24 hours. For the first time ever, the site received over 100 000 visits in one day, a clear indication that South Africans are curious and excited about the prospect of shopping online. Online furniture, homeware and lighting store, 5rooms, went on to record their biggest sale day since inception in 2012 with close to 1000 orders being placed in the 24 hours provided. In total South African consumers spent over R3 million shopping on these two online stores alone. “We are very pleased with the results of our first ever Cyber Monday campaign and judging from the results we achieved, South Africans from all over the country are embracing online shopping. The most positive aspect of the campaign are that we not only managed to give our already loyal shoppers what they want that being incredible deals but also increased our customer base by over 60% in just 24 hours, introducing an entirely new audience to online shopping,” says Remo Giovanni Abbondandolo, Head of Marketing at Style36 and 5Rooms. Cyber Monday in SA proved to be one of the biggest online events of year a promising indication as to where e-commerce is headed in this country. If companies like Style36 and 5rooms continue to set the standard locally, South Africa is sure to hit the big time on the world stage in coming years. This article was contributed to [...]
MasterCard Online Shopping in South Africa [Infographic]
Here you will see the latest trends in online shopping in South Africa and the impact which both good customer support as well as the credit card penetration is having in the online retail economy.
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 Shopping Stores SA
The best online shopping stores: When it comes to tech startups, ecommerce is at once an easy and tricky space to play in. It’s easy, because to get going all you really need is something to sell, a good design and the right plugins. It’s tricky because people are trusting you with their money. You have to make sure you have the right security, and can guarantee delivery. It’s also not easy to stand out in a market like South Africa where broadband penetration remains comparatively low, forcing you to compete for place in a crowded space. There are a few that have done so well. They sell a wide variety of products, but generally occupy specific niches. The South African ecommerce awards recognises these sites on an annual basis. This year’s winners included sites owned by mega-corporations, while others are more independent. 1. Best ecommerce store — YuppieChef This online store claims it is “dedicated to making the world’s best kitchen tools available to South Africans”. According to the awards’ judging panel: The Yuppiechef website is a pleasure to use with fast, accurate search results and crisp clear images. The site is informative and the ordering process is streamlined and efficient. The delivery experience is incredible, ensuring satisfied customers. Customer service is responsive and attentive whether it’s over the phone, email or online chat. We loved the mobile site. 2. Best ecommerce services website — Bidorbuy The online auction site is an ecommerce stalwart in South Africa, having been around since 1999. In early 2011, it bought group-buying site UbuntuDeal “We enjoyed the fast and secure online shopping, an awesome mobile site and timely responses to customer queries,” said the judging panel. 3. Best group-buying site — Groupon SA The company might not be faring so well internationally, but the SA franchise maintains that it’s in it for the long-haul. With the like of Naspers’ Dealify and Avusa’s Zappon out of the game, it definitely had less competition for this award than it would have a year ago. “The website is easy to navigate with a wide range of deals of which the ordering process was extremely quick and straightforward,” say the judges. 4. Best classifieds website — Property 24 The online classifieds game is seriously hotting up, around the world as well as in South Africa. Some think they might even be the thing that finally kills off newspapers. According to the judges, the Naspers-owned [...]
