Payments in Africa

What to Consider When Taking Your Business Online

Expanding online works well with retail businesses as well as those whose services allow the customers to self-serve. This has especially worked for businesses in the hospitality and travel businesses. Embracing e-commerce gives your business the opportunity to expand and reach new customers. When considering whether to go online as part of your expansion plan, here are few things you should think about:

1. Do you really need to go online? – Are your current customers also online shoppers? Where can find them online? Do you have the marketing and operational resources to see a reasonable return on investment from your online shop? Understanding the purchasing decisions made by your customers and the resources available to you will help you come up with better plan for your online shop.
2. E-commerce gives you a global footprint - Due to the global village created by the interne, a potential client from any part of the world can access your products. You open up your business to opportunities from all over the world that can add to your revenues. This however presents its own set of challenges, including language barriers, payment options, marketing for different markets, expectations of service delivery and more. Understanding this could help you plan accordingly.
3. Lowers overhead costs with better planning - while initial costs can be high, a well-executed e-commerce business can help cut down costs associated with running an brick and mortar. Going online can help cut down on a number of costs such as salaries, office etc. However it also needs detailed planning, especially for retail stores that deal with lots of traffic and need to deliver items to customers. You must dedicate yourself to offering high quality goods and services to earn the trust of your customers.

While going online might be daunting for many businesses, a well executed e-commerce store can help grow your traditional business in leaps and bounds.

At Pesapal we support African businesses looking for convenient affordable options to help collect payments from their online stores. We currently support payments for HotPoint Appliances, Green Spoon Limited and Purpink and many more.