sunsewa:
nice one,have an interest of backing my wholesale and retail office with e-commerce,how viable.

shikaan:
nice... am doing a research on this presently.

hahn:
Nice one @ op.

The issue of trust is a very important issue. There are lots of clients who have had terrible experiences and lost their money during online transactions. There are lots of scammers out there.

Even e-commerce site owners have issues trusting clients because when you offer payment on delivery most clients will only dissappoint you. I've made several deliveries where the client wouls say, "I just want to see what it looks like. I will buy next year". Lots of clients don't keep to their word. You might schedule. A meeting for 10am and the client ends up showing at 2pm.

Another problem might be due to the fact that lots of clients don't know much about shopping online. Even after spending lots of time and money on my website, most clients don't know how to navigate through pages and even place an order. I h made more sales via whatsapp and bbm than my website.

Also, Nigerian clients want it all. Someone will placed an Order for something that's worth N2,000 and will expect free shipping, even if he/she lives in Kano and you're based in the North, and payment on delivery.

But we'll get there

SPG4U:
[size=20pt] I own an e-commerce store too

Initially it was a great challenge, almost all the challenges the OP stated, but I was smart enough to create a website for my store and also went ahead to set adverts..yes I paid for advert placements and today my e commerce store is a success story


I now sit back and make money easily

OP I will follow this thread and together we can swim around in pool of knowledge and wealth,


U can also c my signature [/size]

anuforo:
@ OP, please do I have to get all my goods down physically before embarking on e-commerce as a beginner?

nov19:
Doing a nice job bro.... Am learning a lot from you as I plan to start selling online... Too

Keep it up....

But if I may ask, how do u package wristwatches for delivery that did not come with a branded Box - cos I waz told by a wholesaler that I may hav to buy wristwatch boxes to pacKage my wristwatches...

What do u advice ... Pls...

anuforo:
@ OP, please do I have to get all my goods down physically before embarking on e-commerce as a beginner?

Vicben:
Thank you OP and follow Internet billionaires. I've always had this idea of starting an online shop but have never really summoned enough courage to venture into it.

This is an eye opener, reading about people's success stories.

phonesNgadgets:

Bro, thanks so much for sharing your experience. This is a first hand information. I must tell you I have made good sales from facebook by using facebook ads and while promoting the page, I included my contact details which made it easier for customers to ask more questions and place orders directly. Though facebook ads does not automatically leads to sales, but you still benefit from it, because the popularity of your page increases as you promote a post or page.

True. I first started with facebook and I've generated lots of sales from both free and paid advertising

About your website, maybe you need to dedicate a page on your website to orientate users in how-to of your page, you may even create a post. This is one of the challenges I will write about my in following posts.

Yeah. I'm going to add a FAQ page to it and I've also set up a blog on the website so it will act as a blog and e-commerce website

Meanwhile, let's stay connected and tackle issues like this together. The wealthiest man in China has experienced all these and his e-commerce site is recording order way beyond e-bay and Amazon at the same time. He is Jack Ma. Founder of Alibaba.
Sure, we gotta get there.

True that

phonesNgadgets:
... Wow! Thank you for taking your time to read my previous post. I never expected it will hit the front page. I just had a shot, and voila! It works. Thanks to the super moderator who created a chance for wider coverage. I also want to thank those who have shared very meaningful experience, I have learnt a couple of lessons from the experience of posters here. I am really glad. I will take my time to reply to most of this posts as time permits me.

Now, let's continue from where we stopped, at least I have recorded some inquiries and a single order today but e no matter; sometimes, profit from a single order surpasses 10 orders. Yeah, for real. It has happened to me in several occasions,particularly sales recorded from those high end products. Though you have to settle some scores to make it happen.

...MORE CHALLENGES I FACE

LOGISTICS: If I tell you say e easy, na set up! If you remember, I mentioned that the first successful order I recorded was delivered to Ibadan,Oyo State. See, I had to risk my life and travel down to Ibadan to deliver this good. This happened because:

(i) I lacked some essential knowledge of carrying out delivery operation in a risk free way.
(ii) The potential buyer was a very good negotiator Ooo and if I risk sparing even little amount of money to pay commercial taxi driver to do the job, my profit margin will slim down or it may even end up a loss-win situation, with the loss arrow on my board; and I really wanted to sell to this guy. By and large, I risked everything including my precious time and life to deliver the good, and it turned out to be a win-win game.

Just of recent, I sold a watch to Aba,Abia state and the good was scheduled to be delivered within 48hrs. Base on the information I got from the courier company EMS, I fed the buyer back that good will be delivered within the scheduled time (48hrs). The buyer was in China, wanted to buy the watch for her Madam in Aba( who know if it was a birthday gift? ) and EMS wanted to spoil show

I have used EMS' service a couple of times because there shipping charges are cheap compared to other reputable courier firms, and in those occasions, they didn't disappoint me; but at times, cheap services may burn your fingers. EMS nearly mess the show for me because the good was delivered 2 days behind schedule. Till today, EMS never give me a specific reason to what causes such delay.

If not for good customer service that I gave to the buyer and madam, the experience could have turned out sour. I had to give the buyer every account of what happened from date and time I dispatched the package to EMS and I also sent copy of the EMS receipt to him via whatsapp. He also gave me the phone number of her Madam so as to update her of the the delivery status. As a sharp guy, I took my time to update madam of the delivery details and apologized for the delay.

Meanwhile, a copy of thank you note ( handwritten with a calligraphy pen ) by the CEO himself was included in the package to build an informal relationship beyond seller-buyer relationship. This will make customers to feel free and give any question or suggestions they feel may benefit both parties. ( I get a copy of the letter in case you wan see as the package be )

The buyer and her madam were pleased to have done business with me, but I learnt my lesson. Even if the services of DHL,UPS and FedEx are higher than EMS, as long as I will have more value for what I am paying for, I will go for the best.

As time goes by, my street smartness and reading habit has shaped me to become a better negotiator and go-getter. I have been able to understand how to carry out delivery with little risk and low budget. Though transportation and logistics is still a major challenge affecting both small and big businesses in this part of the world, yet we can still find our way around it and make the best out of it.

Sorry, I have to take a leave again! Phone is ringing, SMS,BBM and whatspp notifications, smart watch vibrating (e-mails arrived ) all at the same time I've got to attend to them, probably more orders or credit alert.
See you guys soon.

phonesNgadgets:
... Wow! Thank you for taking your time to read my previous post. I never expected it will hit the front page. I just had a shot, and voila! It works. Thanks to the super moderator who created a chance for wider coverage. I also want to thank those who have shared very meaningful experience, I have learnt a couple of lessons from the experience of posters here. I am really glad. I will take my time to reply to most of this posts as time permits me.

Now, let's continue from where we stopped, at least I have recorded some inquiries and a single order today but e no matter; sometimes, profit from a single order surpasses 10 orders. Yeah, for real. It has happened to me in several occasions,particularly sales recorded from those high end products. Though you have to settle some scores to make it happen.

...MORE CHALLENGES I FACE

LOGISTICS: If I tell you say e easy, na set up! If you remember, I mentioned that the first successful order I recorded was delivered to Ibadan,Oyo State. See, I had to risk my life and travel down to Ibadan to deliver this good. This happened because:

(i) I lacked some essential knowledge of carrying out delivery operation in a risk free way.
(ii) The potential buyer was a very good negotiator Ooo and if I risk sparing even little amount of money to pay commercial taxi driver to do the job, my profit margin will slim down or it may even end up a loss-win situation, with the loss arrow on my board; and I really wanted to sell to this guy. By and large, I risked everything including my precious time and life to deliver the good, and it turned out to be a win-win game.

Just of recent, I sold a watch to Aba,Abia state and the good was scheduled to be delivered within 48hrs. Base on the information I got from the courier company EMS, I fed the buyer back that good will be delivered within the scheduled time (48hrs). The buyer was in China, wanted to buy the watch for her Madam in Aba( who know if it was a birthday gift? ) and EMS wanted to spoil show

I have used EMS' service a couple of times because there shipping charges are cheap compared to other reputable courier firms, and in those occasions, they didn't disappoint me; but at times, cheap services may burn your fingers. EMS nearly mess the show for me because the good was delivered 2 days behind schedule. Till today, EMS never give me a specific reason to what causes such delay.

If not for good customer service that I gave to the buyer and madam, the experience could have turned out sour. I had to give the buyer every account of what happened from date and time I dispatched the package to EMS and I also sent copy of the EMS receipt to him via whatsapp. He also gave me the phone number of her Madam so as to update her of the the delivery status. As a sharp guy, I took my time to update madam of the delivery details and apologized for the delay.

Meanwhile, a copy of thank you note ( handwritten with a calligraphy pen ) by the CEO himself was included in the package to build an informal relationship beyond seller-buyer relationship. This will make customers to feel free and give any question or suggestions they feel may benefit both parties. ( I get a copy of the letter in case you wan see as the package be )

The buyer and her madam were pleased to have done business with me, but I learnt my lesson. Even if the services of DHL,UPS and FedEx are higher than EMS, as long as I will have more value for what I am paying for, I will go for the best.

As time goes by, my street smartness and reading habit has shaped me to become a better negotiator and go-getter. I have been able to understand how to carry out delivery with little risk and low budget. Though transportation and logistics is still a major challenge affecting both small and big businesses in this part of the world, yet we can still find our way around it and make the best out of it.

Sorry, I have to take a leave again! Phone is ringing, SMS,BBM and whatspp notifications, smart watch vibrating (e-mails arrived ) all at the same time I've got to attend to them, probably more orders or credit alert.
See you guys soon.

iMerchant:


Congratulation on your successful sales.

Make I book space, take chair and table.

Make I go get my Biro and book to jot down lesson.

LordTrezy:

Op I sent a pm to you, please check your mail. I'll contact you on whatsapp through the number on your profile. Thanks

theplushist:

Please tell me more. What do you mean huge debt?

elujah1:

kindly throw more light

anuforo:
@ OP, please do I have to get all my goods down physically before embarking on e-commerce as a beginner?

Speakdatruth:



d little I can say is dat most of d e-commerce sites making noise on TV n billboards are in debt, for some d investor's fund has not been recovered even until now and to some on loan, d concentration is not on paying but maintaining wots left of d original business model. it's not really easy maintaining d structure when u're big, but yet it depends on ur masterplan n ability to shift grounds

HeelsEmpire:
Now, for any budding e-commerce founder/owner, you all have probably read it all from the OP and other great contributors. This is no cake-walk!

NO! you won't get as BIG as the big J and K in one year. The earlier you wake up to that reality, the further we can get on with this contribution. Please do not open an online store just because everyone is doing it, or you think it's a cool idea or perhaps you think you'll be making lots of money.

Starting out an ecommerce requires lots of discipline, a douse of hard work and smart work. Lots of failures along the way too, but eventually after graduating from Persistence class and going through all that trouble to get your brand known, the rest becomes easy from there on out.

There are actually rules to owning/running an ecommerce site, in my humble opinion, these are some of the things we've learned over here at Heels Empire ;

1. Be honest with your customers from the jump. You would be offline before you even get started if you start off being dishonest to even a single customer. Bad news does travel really fast! In Nigeria, people refer other people whenever their needs have been properly met by a particular company or brand. Cultivate this goodwill.

Just like the OP mentioned, if that shoe you're about selling is made in China, but has a 60‰ quality rating, please let the customer know upfront. This saves you lots of headache.

2. Go crazy on your customer care/support. So you got a buyer to trust you enough to buy off you, but most businesses never check back with the customer to be sure they're enjoying their purchase. And those that do only do so only after a sale has been made. However, you should learn to check with the customer 2 months down the road. This also helps you as an e-commerce owner reaffirm the fact that your supplier(s) sells quality products, hence giving you a morale boost when trying to convince a customer to buy off you.

3. Relax on the paid advertisement. I know some seasoned vets here would choose to differ on this one, but we've learnt the hard way! Don't get me wrong though, I'm not telling you not to spend money advertising, all I'm saying is.. Don't start out throwing money you can't afford to loose on advertising. Paid advertising is a science that requires lots of metrics. Until you know where your potential customers hangout, please apply caution when paying to get traffic.

Websites like Nairaland and Facebook Ads offer the best cheapest ways to validate your paid ad campaigns and peoples perception about your product or brand. This point requires a long post all by itself!

4. Come correct with that website . Lol! Someone is probably wondering "what the heck is she talking about?!?". Here is what I mean.. Nigerians are getting into the e-commerce and online shopping frenzy. So budding e-commerce owners just want to jump online and make bank, hence they do so with a terribly built website. The truth is, the way your website looks does say a lot about those at the helm of affairs to customers. A shabby looking website isn't a good way to win customers trust.

If you can't afford a good web developer to give you that great-looking online presence, I'd advise you start out with platforms like Kaymu, Konga and Jumia. Heck, Gtbank also offers similar platforms for people to own their own stores without the web designers wahala. So make good use of those platforms!

I can go on and on about the things I've learned over here, but then again boring you all with these epistles surely isn't my intent. Lol!

Nice thread by the way, OP!

I have to run before my "Oga at the top" fires me for not getting stuff done.

phonesNgadgets:


Chairman, I admire your style. You shall know a great entrepreneur when you see one. I read your brilliant post sometimes ago, yet you are here to learn from other people.

That's one of the qualities of good business leader. Keep it up. BTW no just take paper and pen oo. Abeg add your own contribution o!

On a serious note, I really learning from the thread.

franconian:



The Gtb platform, how does it work? Please throw more light on this!