Category: e-commercce

Posted on in Build your business, BUSINESS, Digital business, e-commercce, Social media

3 Digital Marketing Strategies That Will Save You 20 Hours Every Week

As an entrepreneur, you know that time is money. That’s why saving 20 hours per week is essential if you want to grow your business faster and easier. Discover three digital marketing automation strategies that will free up valuable time so you can focus on other aspects of your business.

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Are you struggling to keep up with the demands of digital marketing? You’re not alone. Small businesses and entrepreneurs are often so busy that they don’t have time to focus on their marketing efforts.

Don’t worry, though! There are ways to automate your digital marketing so that it doesn’t take up all your time.

As a digital entrepreneur and marketing coach, over the past ten years growing online businesses, I’ve learned precisely how to save 20 hours a week with automatic digital marketing processes, which I’m here to teach you. By implementing the three following automation strategies, you can free up valuable time to focus on other aspects of your business. Let’s get started!

1. Social media marketing automation

Automating your social media marketing is one of the fastest and easiest ways to save time in digital marketing. There are many tools available that allow you to schedule posts, monitor engagement, and more.

At the beginning of each month, create a calendar by planning 30 days worth of social media content ideas. For example, each day of the week, you should vary your content by type (i.e., educational, entertaining, inspiring, tips and tricks, behind-the-scenes, etc.). This will help keep your social media audiences engaged and interested in your posts while making it easier for you and your team to create the content.

Similar to how manufacturing facilities streamline production processes by batching work, the same technique should be applied to your marketing efforts. Instead of creating marketing content from scratch and posting to social networks daily, batch your workload by producing content in one sitting and then schedule your posts for the rest of the week. This will make it easier for you and save you a lot of time so that you can move on to other areas of your business.

When filming videos or shooting photos for social media, aim to capture a variety of content that can be reused and repurposed for various posts. This will cut down on the content creation time, as you’re utilizing one shoot for multiple pieces of content.

You can also share UGC (user-generated content) featuring your company’s products or services (either by hired content creators or real customers), which shows social proof while giving you easy-to-post original content that doesn’t require extra work or effort on your part.

In addition to these social media marketing tips to save time and energy, you can also reshare posts from several months ago. For example, if you had a popular post on Instagram from at least 3-months ago that got a lot of engagement, repost that with a slightly different caption now. This drastically cuts down on your content creation time, helping to attract a wider audience of potential new followers interested in your business.

2. Automating email marketing

Automating your email marketing is a great way to save time and increase efficiency while staying in touch with your customers and prospects. You can use an email automation platform like Flodesk, Mailchimp or Constant Contact to create automated campaigns that send personalized emails to your subscribers based on their preferences and interests.

For example, creating an email sequence workflow that automatically is scheduled to send to people who opt-in to your email list is the absolute best way to streamline your email marketing process. It’s also important to segment your audience lists so that you optimize your email workflows — this way, you know where each person is in the customer journey experience.

For example, if someone opts into your email list by signing up for a lead magnet (such as a free ebook), then you’ll want to add them to a cold lead list (since they’re just learning about your business). That way, you start to warm them up through emails before selling them on your products or services.

By comparison, if you set up an audience list of past customers, you can remarket to them by offering reward-based promotions (such as exclusive Thank You coupon codes) to encourage them to purchase again.

As you can see, setting up audience lists makes it easier to create different types of automated emails that drive brand awareness, boost sales conversions and incentivize repeat purchases.

3. Implementing content curation tools

Content curation is another excellent way for entrepreneurs and small business owners to save time on digital marketing. Using a content curation tool, such as Buzzsumo or Curata, you can quickly find and share relevant content in your industry without spending hours researching articles and sources. Content curation tools allow you to easily search for the best content related to your target audience, save it for later use, and share it on social media.

In addition to sharing industry-focused content, you can also share inspirational quotes that relate to your target audience’s mindset. For example, suppose you’re selling beauty products geared toward women. In that case, you might consider quickly creating a beauty image (even a stock photo will suffice) with a caption by an empowering female icon (such as Coco Chanel or Marilyn Monroe). Women are inspired by motivational messages from these figures and will often engage with this type of content on social media (by liking, commenting, and sharing it). This is an easy, effective way to create content that gets results quickly.

These are just a few simple ways that automation will help you save time in digital marketing. Implementing these strategies will allow you to focus more energy on other important business areas while growing brand awareness for your company and acquiring new sales leads.

Wrapping up

We at ShopShipShake have been working with businesses like yours with fulfilling experiences. We offer one-stop services, including an efficient supply chain, over 10 thousand of China’s suppliers, over 1,000,000 SKU and more. With a successful track record of over 100,000 clients, we are sure to deliver your orders requirements.

Let’s get in touch to build, sustain, and grow your businesses! If you would like to know more details about us, please contact us:  blog.shopshipshake.com. If you are interested in cooperating with us. Please register on: https://shop.shopshipshake.com/shop/register/business

This article partly refers to: https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/3-digital-marketing-strategies-that-will-save-you-20-hours/441524

SA must address shortcomings to unlock e-commerce boom

Read time 4min 00sec

Continued investment in e-commerce infrastructure will help accelerate growth of the industry in SA, says David Kusel, head of product at PayFast.

Kusel was speaking yesterday at the PayFast eCommerce Virtual Summit, hosted by the Insaka eCommerce Academy, and highlighted some of the ingredients needed to further grow the e-commerce industry in SA.

Like in the rest of the world, the COVID-19 crisis lit a fire under the local e-commerce space, leading online retailers to reap the benefits of this major shift in shopping trends.

A World Wide Worx study revealed SA’s e-commerce sales reached a tipping point in 2020, growing by 66% from 2018.

Last year’s Mastercard Economics Institute: 2022 Economic Outlook found South African consumers bought up to 30% more online in 2021, compared to the year before, with a significant surge in e-commerce subscriptions.

Unpacking whether SA has what it takes to match China’s e-commerce growth − which currently sees more than 50% of its retail sales taking place online − Kusel said the country must resolve the challenges around e-commerce, including infrastructure shortcomings.

“Infrastructure is the backbone for any commerce. For example, the SSS’s marketplace has grown hugely…”

“Checkers Sixty60 is another prime example where a huge brick-and-mortar retailer has embraced online and helped bring the e-commerce industry to South Africans.”

The PayFast exec told the virtual audience that online retailers need to get creative in building their businesses to meet the needs of consumers, adding that solving challenges around delivery and logistics in the informal economy is necessary for local e-commerce growth.

“We need to get creative on how we solve this,” he advised. “There’s some great new technology…and other ideas out there that are starting to resolve this. We can’t unlock more than 50-60% of our economy to e-commerce unless we can solve this.

“E-commerce is here to stay in South Africa. If we can solve some of the challenges…I think we can get a lot closer to that 50% that China’s been able to achieve.”

At the same event, Toluse Akinlabi, retail account manager at Google, shared insights into SA’s online shopping trends.

Akinlabi indicated local shoppers have settled into a new normal and there’s no going back to the way they shopped before.

“Globally, more people than ever are shopping online, with 61% more shoppers buying online in the holiday period in 2021 versus 2019. With more people shopping online, differentiation is becoming key.

“Shoppers are using more online information to enhance their in-store experience, and touchpoints that would’ve normally been seen as awareness, engagement or education channels are becoming purchase channels as well. There’s a real convergence in terms of the shopping journey that we’ve never seen before.”

Referencing the findings of Google’s Smart Consumer Report, Akinlabi said in the wake of the COVID-19 period, online remains the preferred way of shopping in SA.

More than two-thirds of shoppers shopped online in 2021, a huge jump from 2020, she noted.

“The habits formed during the initial stages of the pandemic are here to stay. In fact, 87% of shoppers believe they’ll stick with their changed purchase behaviour going forward.”

Akinlabi indicated the report shows e-commerce is “consistently” on the rise in SA, even for fast-moving consumer goods.

“We’re seeing a huge increase in people buying online in the consumer electronics space, home and garden, and fashion. Food and groceries has seen the largest jump since 2020, with five times more people doing their shopping online versus instore.”

She further stated the main reasons people choose online shopping methods is for convenience and home delivery. Another reason is that it’s easier to make a choice and find a specific product.

Akinlabi pointed out that people are buying more on their smartphones, increasing mobile shopping. This trend is particularly seen in the food and groceries, and home and garden categories.

“Mobile shopping on apps is really high and people are used to buying these new categories on their phone.

“While mobile sites are still a key purchase channel, consumer preference is increasingly shifting more towards mobile apps. We’re seeing the shift towards app-purchases a little bit more so than mobile site purchases.”

Wrapping up

We at ShopShipShake have been working with businesses like yours with fulfilling experiences.

We offer one-stop services, including an efficient supply chain, over 10 thousand of China’s suppliers, and more. With a successful track record of over 20,000 clients, we are sure to deliver your orders requirements.

Let’s get in touch to build, sustain, and grow your businesses. If you would like to know more details about us, please contact with us: www.shopshipshake.co.za

If you are interested in cooperating with us. Please register on:https://bit.ly/3ks0m1M

Posted on in e-commercce

The shift to e-commerce in South Africa

For the past decade, e-commerce (online retailing) in South Africa has gradually been gaining some traction with limited adoption due to consumer fears of parcel theft, online fraud, high mobile data costs and challenges with last-mile delivery.

In 2019, South Africa’s e-commerce industry was in its infancy stages, accounting for 1.4% of the total retail spending and 8% of total card payments spent in the retail space. In 2020, e-commerce spending grew by 30% while the average brick and mortar (or physical spending) decreased by 12%.

Due to the national lockdown imposed by the government in response to the pandemic, traditional retailers needed to reform their business models to draw their customers in without the enticements of malls. This accelerated the need for digital innovation, shifting consumer expectations to increased online consumption enabling South Africa to follow global trends.

This pushed the pace of change into hyperdrive with some business models thriving and others suffering early retirement. By the end of 2020, South Africa saw a 50% to 70% growth in e-commerce, with an increased uptake in online retailing, click-and-collect and video streaming. Furthermore, online spending on goods and products (other than travel and accommodation) doubled in 2020, reflecting a 102% increase.By 2021, the industry had witnessed an additional 39% growth, with e-commerce accounting for 14% of the total card payment sales.

According to FNB Merchant Services statistics, total online sales increased by 55% in 2020 driven by increased spending in less traditional e-commerce industries. By 2021, online spending had grown by another 42% with robust transaction values reaching 500 million. By 2025 the value of e-commerce transactions is expected to surge by 150% reaching R225bn, in response to a shift in consumer behaviours.

The market is estimated to reach R400bn by 2025, facilitated by over 1 billion transactions annually. Currently, e-commerce card purchases are at 8% of the total card purchases in South Africa. However, in the next 5 years, this value is expected to grow to 20% with an annual average growth rate of 16%.

Continued growth expected

Currently, the South African online e-commerce industry is estimated at just under R200bn per annum and is continuing to grow rapidly, with companies such as Takealot, Checkers, Pick n Pay and Woolworths adapting to meet new consumer habits. Clothing, electronics, footwear, household appliances and health products were amongst the most popular categories in South Africa’s online market, with groceries having witnessed a 54% increase since 2019.

Accordingly, 64% of South African consumers had bought groceries online for the first time and 53% had made their first online purchase from a pharmacy.

The pandemic acquainted South Africans with online shopping, highlighting its convenience while enabling the growth of the e-commerce market. The frequency of online shopping is set to increase; however, the focus of retailers needs to be on creating an omnichannel shopping experience; that provides consumers with a blended shopping experience of in-store and online shopping.

Furthermore, key stakeholders in the market need to innovate and invest to overcome the challenges in the industry as insecurity remains high. Looking ahead, South African businesses that will succeed in the new world will be those that have demonstrated an ability to seamlessly meet new consumer demand preferences, shifting their bricks and mortar services to online while addressing some of the key challenges the industry experiences.

Wrapping up

We at ShopShipShake have been working with businesses like yours with fulfilling experiences. We offer one-stop services, including an efficient supply chain, over 10 thousand of China’s suppliers, and more.
With a successful track record of over 20,000 clients, we are sure to deliver your orders requirements. Let’s get in touch to build, sustain, and grow your businesses.

If you would like to know more details about us, please contact with us: 

www.shopshipshake.co.za

If you are interested in cooperating with us. Please register on:https://bit.ly/3ks0m1M