Teljoy’s strategy to claim the online pie and Kiswahili leads #AfricanLanguagesDay — Cheryl Hunter’s weekly pick of all things new!
Tag archives: Ecommerce
Clicks ’n Tricks: Amazon set to spark social shopping
by Charlie Stewart. Amazon Spark takes products that are available from the retail giant, blending them with an Instagram-style feed.
#OpenAfrica: ICT, Africa’s silver lining [interview]
an #OpenAfricaMag interview. Peter Allerstorfer chats about the investment potential of ICT in Africa in general, and ecommerce in specific.
An ad agency just bought a fashion business
by Herman Manson. Area 213 has fulfilled the promise of founder Ben Wren to invest in an ecommerce business.
Motive: How to choose an ecommerce platform
by Matt Roux. Here’s a toolbox of seven questions to help narrow down the choice of available ecommerce platforms.
Naspers’ new play to grow SA’s ecommerce market
by Herman Manson (@marklives) Efinity is a new South African ecommerce fulfilment service, built by Media24 ecommerce on the back of experience gained through its consumer-ecommerce plays, Spree.co.za and ShopGuru.
Media Future: Lack of confidence hampers online shopping
by Arthur Goldstuck (@art2gee) The potential audience for online shopping is growing at its fastest rate ever, but that also means more likely shoppers who are still being scared away.
Naspers results shows strong internet growth
Naspers group has released its annual results for the year ended 31 March 2013. Revenue growth came in at 27% to reach R50bn (from R39,48bn)- mostly thanks to growth in the internet division and revenues from its internet units exceeded that of pay television. The depreciation of the rand also had a positive impact on revenue. Trading profits for the year were flat at R5,7bn as development spend accelerated to R4,3bn.
Equity-accounted associates, Chinna based Tencent and Russia based Mail.ru both reported positive growth and contributed R7,3bn to core headline earnings. Internet revenues expanded 80% to R34,6bn. Trading profits from the internet segment were 44% higher at R6,2bn. Ecommerce revenues doubled to R11,4bn.
After group buying shake-out CityMob changes direction
by Herman Manson (@marklives) CityMob, the group buying site started by three entrepreneurs in Cape Town in early 2011, has made a significant change in direction as the shake-out in the group buying market continues.
Although profitable at the time the trio – Luke Jedeikin, Claude Hanan and Daniel Solomon, had decided to move away from the mass discount, quantity over quality focus in much of the group buying space. As their competitors closed up shop, including the Naspers backed Dealify and the Avusa backed Zappon, the CityMob founders had already identified their key differentiator and were planning the relaunch of their business as an online design retailer specialising in ‘flash sales’ (time-limited sales).
It was a natural evolution for the business which had specialised in sourcing high quality deals with top brands in its group buying days. Self funded to date, it didn’t have a massive database of users as some of its competitors had, and very little marketing budget, so all that was left was to compete on was product.
The entry of Groupon into the South African market shortly after the launch of CityMob helped the team up their game and taught them so hard business lessons as well, says Jedeikin, the MD at CityMob. As questions were raised as to the sustainability of the group buying business model, the entrenchment of Groupon as the dominant player in the market and deal fatigue starting to set in amongst businesses, CityMob needed to not only differentiate itself but also needed to find a position with a much higher barrier to entry, hence the move into selling products rather than vouchers.
E-retail: Local brand activity marks a shift in how clothes are sold online
by Arthur Goldstuck (@art2gee). The arrival of a Mr Price shopping cart on both Web and mobile sites, and new initiatives by Edcon and eBucks, mark a shift in how clothes are sold online.
For much of the past decade, online clothing retail in South Africa has seemed like the toddler party that the big kids avoided. Start-ups, newcomers and unknowns dominated, while the established brands either stayed away or made only a grudging appearance.
Edgars had a web site with a shopping cart, but it was more of an apology than a serious online store. The likes of Stuttafords, Truworths, Jet, Foschini and Mr Price were entirely absent from e-commerce.
Recently, in one week, three major brands have come to the party, and getting dressed will never be the same again.
The biggest splash was made by the chain that is increasingly positioning itself as cool and go-ahead: Mr Price. Even their new web site address reflects that image: MrP.co.za. It claims 18 000 items in its catalogue, and allows customers to choose by size, colour, brand and … trend. Delivery choice is wide, from home to Post Office to nearest store.
Payment option is even wider, including credit card, COD, gift vouchers and account. More important, returns are allowed within 30 days, via store, Post Office or courier.
Probably the single most important option in all of the MrP bouquet, however, is it’s mobile site. It uses a web development standard called HTML 5, which allows the site to look the same on any phone browser, regardless of model. But the real killer app, so to speak, is not the mere fact that it can be used on a phone: it is that it looks great on a phone. It appears inviting, and that is the first step in convincing potential customers to become paying customers.