IMerchant's Posts
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hahn:Welcome on board. |
skentelelady:Thank you for the question. Because of resources you should start cash on delivery within your locality. You still need to leverage the power of marketplace like Konga for nationwide delivery. The truth is that cash on delivery increase sales. From my experience, out of every 10 orders, 9 will choose to pay on delivery whereas maybe 1 might pay ahead. With the recent change on Konga marketplace, you can now self-fulfil meaning you get order on Konga, go deliver it to the customer yourself, collect your money and pay Konga later there sales commission. Also platform like konga have the capacity to deliver nationwide, so leverage the platform to sell and deliver nationwide. Konga gives you the choice to select which state of federation you wanna sell to. If you don't want to do cash on delivery to let say Yobe State, all you need do is disable shipping to Yobe on your SellerHQ and people from Yobe will not be able to buy your product talkless of paying on delivery. How do you get crowd to your website? You really do not need people who are not ready to buy to start visiting your website. What you need is identify your target market and create awareness that you have start business. Your target customers are already on Facebook, therefore start a Facebook page and advertise your online store using Facebook ads. Open Instagram account, to post your product pictures with tips. Ask your web designer, to incorporate email marketing into your website. You can start with a free account on Mailchimp. Start collecting email addresses of your visitors, give them incentives to sign up. Offer discounts to your mail subscribers and also give discount to first time buyer to encourage them to come buy again soon. Don't worry, I will soon share how to increase your email subscribers, how to use coupon and discount to drive sales and how to get result from Facebook ads. Stay tuned. |
techmart:You can send me a mail. |
techmart:Thank you and Welcome on board. |
Marketplace - Why only selling on Konga, Jumia, Kaymu, DealDey and SMEMarketHub is like Gambling. Why should you start your own store from scratch when there are marketplaces out there like Konga, Jumia and SMEMarketHub that can offer you instant sales. If you choose to sell a popular item/product on Konga for example, chances are that you will be able to generate massive revenue. And it's also true that you can make pretty decent money on platforms like Jumia, Kaymu, DealDey, SMEMarketHub, Facebook and Nairaland as well. Why the heck would you ever want to own your online store when you can easily sell your items/products on this platform? Why bother trying to establish your own customer base when you can leverage someone else's and make a profit with little or no effort? If you're a new comer or already selling on these platforms (marketplace), the answer isn't always obvious and Yes, I have a store on Konga and Jumia. Its very tempting to be comfortable on this platform. It is very easy to go straight for where the money is and make some short term profits. It was not an easy decision to transition away from this platform. They have created a brand. They have millions of buyer already. But the bitter truth is, when you sell on Konga, Jumia and SMEMarketHub, you don't own your own store. They reserve the right to manage your shop listings however they want. They can ban you anytime, they can delist your store without notice and they held your sale proceeds (funds) in escrow for days. That's not to say that you shouldn't sell on these platforms but in the long run, you should not put all of your eggs in the same basket in someone else's hand. Let me highlight my experience selling on different marketplace: 1. Kaymu - This is the first marketplace I ever used in my life. I just bought some products on Aliexpress and was looking for a platform to sell. I register on Kaymu and listed my products. I received my first order after 2 month of listing. The first sale was a wonderful experience. That was the first time I ever earn a passive income and have the believe that this might work. The first sales was from a customer who reside in Ojodu. I called the customer to confirm he actually need the product before I arrange for delivery. The first sale went well. I deliver the product, collect my money and believe me, I was feeling on top of the world. I went ahead to make couple of sales on the platform but I was not happy with the turnaround time of each order. I eventually abandoned the platform when I discovered a new jewel and a sale machine. 2. Konga - I was so happy to discover konga.com and quickly sign up as a merchant on the platform. This brought some relief because sales start rolling in the following week after listing my products. It was so unbelievable. I was out of stock within 3 weeks. Sales was good on konga but I wasn't getting my funds immediately like Kaymu. Then, Konga only payout twice a month (15 & 30). The payout system was a bad news. As a small scale seller, the konga payment system was not favourable. I have to wait for weeks or months after selling before I get paid. I was out of stock but couldn't source for new products because my money is held in escrow at Konga. I love the volume of sales but hate the delay payments. Therefore, I start looking for new solutions. I start looking for a platform that will give me what konga is offering in term of sales and quick pay out system. I couldn't find any platform that offers what konga was giving me so I challenged myself to create one instead of looking. Note - Konga have made several changes on their platform. Now you can self-fulfil. You can now get orders on konga, deliver to customer yourself, pocket your money and later send konga commission for selling. 3. Jumia - I joined Jumia to expand our customer base and increase my store's sales. Although my experience on Jumia was not very good because every single product I sold on Jumia were returned with no reason. All I get was delivery failed. My account manager was not helping matters too. Maybe I am a bit unlucky with Jumia or I just don't understand the platform because I just couldn't understand why all orders shipped were all returned. Everything I get is "Delivery Failed" on the platform. Why did the delivery failed? I don't know. How can I solve the problem? I don't know. I try to reach out to my Jumia store manager but no good answer is forthcoming. I will keep working to see how to make the platform work for me like konga but as at this moment, Jumia isn't working for me. Jumia is a wonderful platform sha. Conclusion It is a good idea to start selling your products using other people's platform. This give you the opportunity to test the market and build your brand but remember you do not truly own your own business using marketplace. Without notice, you could have your account banned by contravening just a single rule on the platform. When you own your own business, you can not get banned. When you own your own online store, you don't have to fight for and beg to have your store reinstated. When you own your own online store, you get to decide when and how you sell your own goods without paying commission for sales. Creating your own customer base sounds like the harder path to take and it often is. But it is the best way to ensure the long term viability of your business and online store. And who says you can't own your own online store and sell on all these other platform? Because you can.......Konga, Jumia, DealDey, Kaymu and SMEMarketHub are just marketplaces and you should diversify. #FoundOnKonga Konga.com/buymart #BestPriceOnJumia /buymart |
Someone asked that I should share my marketplace experience. I will put my thoughts together and share my Marketplace experience. Be expecting the next article soon. MARKETPLACE - Why only selling on Konga, Jumia, Kaymu, DealDey and SMEMarketHub is like gambling. Please stay tuned. |
Ademat7:Jumia & Konga do not have physical store. What Konga have is called drop-off centre for Konga Express Delivery (K-Express). K-Express is a courier company owned by Konga.com to handle delivery with other courier partners like DHL, UPS, CourierPlus and the others. If you are just starting, there are several platform you can use to build your online store. There is OpenCart, WooCommerce, Volusion and BigCommerce. The cost implication depends on your requirements. Basically the cost implications are: 1. Domain Name Registration 2. WebHost 3. Theme Those are the 3 major cost you will incur plus cost of web designer. Strategies: 1. Start a Facebook page 2. Print and distribute fliers 3. Advertise your store on your social media account. 4. Advertise it on your BBM and WhatsApp 5. Send broadcast. Ask friends to tell a friend about your store. |
......... What should I write about today? Suggestions are welcome until 1pm. Please make sure your suggestion is related to the subject matter. If you have questions too, kindly ask? If na more clarification una need do ask. While I am still thinking about what to write about today? |
FREE SHIPPING I love to pay for shipping! Said no one ever. Shipping is one of the running cost of having an online store which buyers do not want to borne. Naira is losing value. It is no longer money but currency and shipping costs are increasing. If you choose to charge for shipping, even a nominal fixed amount, like 500 naira, you risk a buyer abandoning his/her cart for free shipping offer from another store. Offering free shipping on your online store could lead to the risk of losing money on a sale but the landscape is getting increasingly competitive. The big boys in the industry are offering buyer free shipping so why should you charge buyer for shipping an item/order. The honest truth is that Free Shipping is a key strategic decision that can affect your online store sales and overall bottom line. If you're a new comer here are few things to consider before offering free shipping to your customers: 1. Cost of Shipping - If the cost of shipping an order is high you better seek alternative means of shipping your orders. 2. Speed and Fast Delivery - Buyers want their orders delivered asap. If free shipping will lead to delays, its better to offer express shipping for a fee. If the buyer really want it bad and fast he/she will pay for express shipping. 3. Pay On Delivery - If you don't want to declare bankruptcy soon don't offer free shipping with cash on delivery. If you do, make sure you have enough capital to waste on shipping and returns. 4. Distance - if you must offer free shipping with cash on delivery, make sure you limit the distance to cut your loss. If your store is located in Lagos, you can offer free shipping plus cash on delivery within Lagos and ask buyers outside Lagos to pay ahead if they want to enjoy free shipping. This method help you cut your loss. The Right Shipping Strategy: 1. Free shipping with no restrictions - This method is guaranteed to boost your online sales and increase conversion rates. But be warn that it will likely reduce your profit margin. 2. Free Shipping with Conditions - This strategy allows buyers to reap the benefits of free shipping while encouraging them to buy more or pay ahead for order on your online store. If they buy more, they save on shipping. This is great for your online store because it increase a customer's average order value while enhaning your bottom line. 3. Flat Shipping Rate - This is a good alternative to free shipping. Offering your customers a flat rate encouraged them to spend more without worrying about shipping costs increasing with their order size. 4. Customer Pay - You have to be very careful and cautious if you want to use this strategy. It simply implies that you incorporate shipping fee into product price. The implications of this strategy is that your product will be pricey and too expensive thereby discouraging customers from buying. Conclusion Most customers look for free shipping before adding product to cart. Experience also show that for whatever reasons, a free shipping that saves a customer 500 naira is more attractive and appealing to many than a discount that cut the purchase price by 1,500 naira. |
.......... Today's article will drop soon. Please bear with me. I wanna go to Old Trafford now to show my support for Manchester United. Manchester is Red. ................ Free Shipping loading ........... 90% completed. |
MilesMolesey:@MilesMolesey - Thank you for joining the conversation. Hope you learn one or two good things that will help you build or run your online store successful. |
INNOVATE OR DIE. I was born and grew up in a small town within a big city. We have the largest landscape in the sub Sahara Africa. Believe me, Ibadan was blessed. A single governor had not rule Oyo state twice until Ajumobi won his reelection in the last gubernatorial elections. No wonder, all is Thank You message and bill board had #Koseleri (It has never happen before). No elected governor have ever grew up outside Ibadan. If you have to occupy the seat of power in Agodi, you must be born, live or grew up in Ibadan. Am not here to really talk about the government or politics of my state but about 2 giants (organisations or corporations) who has the largest market share in Ibadan when I was growing up. I grew up in the era when TV stations do not start broadcasting until 4pm. If you dare switch on your TV set before 4pm, be ready to stare at rainbow with alien gibberish noise until 4pm when the national anthem start. After the anthem, a presenter shows up on your screen to read the station programme for the day. NTA & because rules the TV waves. They control all the TV audience. You don't have a choice, if you must watch a TV programme, you either tune to because or you switch to NTA. The two corporations are mafias, they have all the control, viewers have no input. You just have to take what they give you or you switched off your TV and silently go to bed. Then came a private TV station called Galaxy TV. Galaxy battle this two giants but failed because of its short reach. Galaxy however won some battles but lost the War. They eventually became obsolete when they start dictating like the Big Cabals (because & NTA). Now in Ibadan, those local stations (Galaxy, because & NTA) lost the war and have a long way to catch up with their new competitor, who now rules. What Went Wrong? How does a corporation that had 95% market share lost its powers so fast. It's very simple, in business you either innovate or die. Monopoly will not last forever. People will eventually demand for change. They will be ready and willing to pay the price to receive the value that the change will bring. The moment you lost touch with your target market, your business is dead. You open the door for competition instead of making the barrier of entry stiff. |
LaRoyalHighness:@LaRoyalHighness, Welcome on board. Hope you learn one or two vital things that will help build or run a successful online store in Nigeria. |
Cash On Delivery. This is the most prominent system of payment in Nigeria eCommerce ecosystem. Because of trust issues, the buyer isn't ready to pay ahead for an order. He/She is more conformable paying cash on delivery when his/her order arrived. You can't really blame the buyer, because this is Nigeria where corruption rules. The system is corrupt and nobody want to loss his/her hard earned money to fraudster online. Nigerians are innovative and very cautious. We like new things but don't want to loss money. We are all raised and trained to believe that Cash is king. We use cash for everything. Despite all the shortcoming of using cash daily, we just couldn't find a good alternative because we don't trust our system. Why do Buyers/Customers want or prefer Cash On Delivery. 1. They have trust issue: Yes, they are not sure about your genuineness. Will you disappear after payment. Will you deliver my order after payment. Will you deliver quality product after payment. What happens if the quality you delivered is below the standard I (Buyer) expected. How quickly will I get a refund. 2. Cash is King: Cash rules in this kingdom called Nigeria. The buyer was trained with a Cash and Carry mentality. Go to a shop with your cash, carry the item you want then pay cash. 3. Am not ready to risk my money. I might be willing to waste my megabytes (mb) surfing your website but am not ready to risk my money on you stranger. 4. Refunds & Returns - Experience they say is the best teacher. When banks introduced a new way of banking with better convenience people were pleased with the new development. Now I don't need to visit a bank to collect cash. All I need do is visit any of there new machine, insert a card tied to my bank account, punch in some numbers and viola the machine dispense cash. Cool innovation. But something went terribly wrong, customers start losing money fast and banks were not refunding the lost money. To make matters worse, they start blaming the customers for negligence thereby transferring the loss liability back to the cardholder. At that moment, the confidence in the new system vanished. Millions were losted and hard earned money gone the drain. This experience left a sour and great displeasure in customers thereby making it hard to transact business with any other payment system aside cash. Impact of Cash on Delivery in the ecosystem. If you have an online store, you already know that if you don't offer Cash On Delivery your conversion (Sales) will be low. If you're a new comer, here are the lessons you need to learn: 1. Cash on Delivery increase sales. 2. Cash on Delivery leads to high rate of returns. 3. You can and will loss money offering cash on delivery. 4. A high percentage of buyers asking for cash on delivery are not ready to buy. 5. Do not be surprised when the buyer claimed he/she doesn't have money at the point of delivery. The delivery cost is a waste and you have to borne it. 6. Cash on delivery increase your cost of doing business because courier charge extra for that service. 7. Make sure you have some insurance and minimum threshold if you offer cash on delivery. That's the end for today. If am in good spirit tomorrow, I might share more about FREE SHIPPING. |
.............. I'm a test dummy of ecommerce business in Nigeria, sharing what works (and what doesn't) so you know exactly how to build your ecommerce business better. I started an experiment on May 29, 2014 that later turns to business. When I start, I was having fun and never take it serious. I have a mindset that it will soon fail and I will learn my expensive lesson. I never knew anything about wristwatches but I choose the niche market. Like I said earlier, I was just having fun. 1 year after, am still here having fun and making extra (you know now) with minimum effort. This thread was created to share my experience and the journey so far. I might occasionally share plans for the future ( and I might not) but be rest assured that I will share what works for me, what frustrate me and how I cope as sideprenuer. I will also try to answer your questions but please be patients if I don't answer immediately but I will eventually answer. |
flyca:You have some very good point, most of the things listed above are doable but practically impossible considering the infrastructure and customers buying behaviour. I have been at both side of the coin, so let me try and answer some of your questions or clarify your observations. 1. You have a great point here. Every eCommerce site owner knows that pictures and product details leads to more conversion but however, having to much pictures slow down server and the load speed of your website if you're on a budget. 2. One of the major headaches of owning/starting an eCommerce site aside logistics (Shipping & Delivery) is inventory. Even the big boys in the industry (Konga & Jumia) couldn't carry all inventories until they open their platform to small merchants who now sell variety of items that you never thought it will be possible to buy online. 3. The number one headache in the industry is logistics (Shipping & Delivery). I have never see a customer or buyer who love to pay for shipping including myself. I don't like to pay for shipping too. The suggestion of having pickup centres in major cities is good but it work best with large retail stores like Mrp and others. They offer pickup (Click & Collect) service. All you need do is visit their website, buy your stuff and visit their nearest store to pick up your order. If you aren't a larger retail store, the best thing to do is improvised and improved your customer service which include giving customers ability to track their goods. 4. Having random product pop up at cart oy checkout hurt conversion. Online store owners care a lot about conversion and don't want to distracted their customer with many CTA (Call to Action). Also consider that a lot of shopper don't have high speed internet when shopping online in Nigeria. |
All I see on this thread are adverts or some ponzi scheme luring people to come loss their hard earned money. The op said, "Post your business opportunities, be helpful without demanding rewards in financial terms. Show someone the way. Point them in the right direction. Anyway, this is mine. Business opportunities are all about risks and if you have fears of losing your money, I suggest you stay as an employee. Business is about information and how you interpret the information. There are several business opportunities around us. You should not have 'people blindness' look around you what do you need that take a great deal of time and effort to get. You can start a business by getting those things in bulk and selling them to other people in your environment. If you need it, other people need it to. Be Bold. Be Audacious. Be Fearless. Start Small Dream Big. Note - Will be observing and be back to share how it all started with 10k last year. |
mulante:Interesting. Its quite good for business. There are lot of factors that determine or affect buyer's decision. If they truly and actually do this advert, then it means Konga is actually leading and Kaymu is playing catching up. They are also indirectly advertising Konga to their customers. |
Promhize:My point is: 1. The website you posted was wrong. You can cross check it. 2. Spark & Weide have the same watch designs for their product line. You can check it out. You can check out Weide website - http://www.weidewatch.com/wh2309-miyota--men-sports-watches.html Thanks
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Promhize:The correct website is http://www.shark-watch.com/ Beside you can get Weide watch of the same design. Enjoy your Shark. |
larhnrey:Click on Mastercard Enter your card details (Card Number, Expiry Date, CVC and Name on Card) That is all |
koredex4love:That's the best advice anyone can give you when it come to importation. Buy in small quantities first because this will allow you know the following: 1. The quality of the product. 2. The marketability of the product. 3. Scalability of the product. 4. If things went wrong, your loss will be minimal. 5. Buying small gives you the ability to test and use the product yourself. Because from experience, you cannot sell what you don't use. |
desmondblaze:Okay sir. But you haven't answer our numerous questions (i.e. @dav8id & @omoteamac) If you are not selling ebook what are you charging NGN5,000 for. (Abi na access fee to read your thread on Nairaland) I am also curious to know what you sell on Konga. Your store name and how you cope with the travel stress from benin to lagos to drop your Konga orders. I will also like to know how you manage your Jumia store (Abi Jumia dey come pick order from you in Benin) How do you collect your return products from Konga? Also Dav8id asked a valid question which you haven't answered. Please answer our questions sir. Thanks
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omoteamac:You are welcome sir. I glad I can be of assistance. Hope you have tried it and getting results. |
@Joseph Profitsng @profitsng @desmondblaze Please we wan learn this profitable business oooooo How much is your ebook? ![]()
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Well, it is quite possible to sell an item you bought for $5 for NGN 8,000. However, the op is not straight forward. He his more interested in selling ebook from informations he got for free here on Nairaland. I don't really think he his grounded in importation business. He his an information marketer who deals in multiple products with different moniker on Nairaland e.g. @profitsng etc. He sell GSM database, fiver, forex now importation. To op, answer this questions: 1. You order on Aliexpress show just 1 item and your Accepted tab on Konga show multiple orders. how is that possible selling 1 item you bought on Aliexpress multiple time on Konga (Abi una be Jesus who feed thousands of people with 5 loaf of bread. )2. To show that you are genuine, upload your Konga Delivered tab. Accepting orders or shipping orders doesn't mean the customer pay for the item. 3. Show your "Konga Account Summary" page where your Escrow payment is showing. 4. How do you manage to travel from Benin to Lagos everytime you have an order on Konga. To people who have questions about importation check this thread: https://www.nairaland.com/1186199/it-yourself-importation-guide-free To Start selling on Konga, check mastercee layman guide to selling on Konga thread: https://www.nairaland.com/2050819/ultimate-guide-selling-imported-goods Well, for the op, incase you want to come for me, attached is my konga store screenshot. Peace Out
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TechtraGadgets:Do you still have Meizu Mx4 in stock? |
Opeyemi5:With complete accessories. Please send your whatsapp number. Let us talk business |
brownkad:55k |
dramaticspeak:iPhone 5s - 60k |
), look at new fashion styles, easy wares, know what the latest in town is and bounce out, no haggling. So I decided to visit some famous Nigerian online shops, and from my observations I will like to make the following suggestions to Nigerian Online Shop owners.
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