“The best way for small businesses to differentiate themselves from the convenient-but-impersonal experience of Amazon is to offer a personalised service – and build personal connections.”
This is the view of 1-grid head of local web hosting Thomas Vollrath after Business Insider leaked documents showing that the United States retail giant Amazon will launch in South Africa in 2023.
According to the report, Amazon plans to launch its online marketplace in five new countries by early next year, even as it dials back parts of its retail business in the US. In Africa, this could mean greater competition for the likes of Jumia, the continent’s biggest e-commerce platform.
Vollrath believes for local small businesses, this will impact margins and market share when it comes to making online sales – particularly for those who are new to the e-commerce game.
To compete with Amazon, entrepreneurs need to focus on what they can offer that global companies can’t, adds Vollrath, an internet entrepreneur. “Use your website, social media, and delivery notes to tell the story of your business. This is the best way to really connect with consumers and make them feel good about buying from you.”
One of the main drawcards for shopping via Amazon for South Africans will be generally low prices and massive discounts, made possible by the sheer size of the company and its inventory. To counter this, local businesses, who aren’t able to compete when it comes to pricing, can leverage the country’s strong preference for homegrown products that are proudly South African.
Southafrica local wearing
“This strategy should extend to all of your choices – from the payment platform you use for checkouts, to the domain extension on your website. A .co.za domain, for example, tells customers that you are based in South Africa and that you in turn support local yourself. While these may seem like small elements, they have a cumulative effect when it comes to your brand story,” says Vollrath.
Local sellers to integrate with Amazon
Another tactic for local sellers is to integrate Amazon into their e-commerce strategy. Amazon will be rolling out their Sellers Marketplace as part of the local launch, which gives South African businesses an opportunity to get their products onto the biggest sales search engine in the world.
“The saying goes that if you can’t beat them, join them. Depending on fees and registration processes, this might be a good approach for certain businesses. The key to success here is to highlight the quality and unique nature of your product, compared to others on the Amazon platform. It’s also important to maintain a web presence so that potential customers can learn more about your product, read up on FAQs, and even contact you directly,” says Vollrath.
Given that the announcement was leaked prematurely, there are still a lot of questions about how the Amazon rollout will affect the South African ecommerce landscape. However, one thing is certain – business owners need to start planning for the retail giant’s impact on the local market if they want to succeed in standing out.
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 with us: www.shopshipshake.co.za
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E-commerce sales are down, a lot, while shopping behaviors continue to shift. Experts explain how the space will evolve further this coming year.
Inflation will compel consumers to research more and spend less, according to experts / Adobe Stock
The Covid-19 pandemic saw e-commerce growth spike, big time, but myriad issues have since created a historic drop in digital sales.
Obviously, consumers have been returning to brick-and-mortar stores – albeit not at the pre-pandemic levels. But there are other significant factors at play, including supply chain issues, low consumer sentiment and rising inflation.
The end result? A forecasted $95bn less in e-commerce sales in 2022 compared with last year, according to the Economic Times. This is after e-commerce soared at least 20% every year between 2010 and 2020, per eMarketer.
So, what’s next? Experts have identified three trends that will shape the landscape over the next year.
1. E-commerce and in-store shopping will have divergent roles in consumers’ lives
Yes, many shoppers around the world were eager to leave the house and return to the stores, but their behaviors have changed. Online and in-store shopping have come to serve distinct purposes for shoppers and that trend will only continue.
“Globally, we continue to see in-store shopping occur with consumers,” says Jacquelyn Baker, chief commerce experience officer at VMLY&R Commerce. “However, the role of the store has changed for shoppers. Consumers can have whatever they want, when they want, on-demand, digitally. For purchases beyond everyday essentials, meanwhile, the store serves more as a showroom for inspiration and ‘retailtainment’. Physical stores play a tactile purpose for consumers to immerse themselves in brands and experiences that ignite the senses and bring joy.”
While stores can offer their own speed and convenience, they are often relied upon for surprise, says Piers Fawkes, founder and president of the retail consultancy PSFK.
“Online has become a place of specificity and efficiency and real-world retail, discovery and delight. As a result, shoppers expect e-retailers to provide a sophisticated, personalized shopping experience. In contrast, personalization is not as big a deal offline. People already understand a store’s offerings and they go there for surprise and serendipity.”
2. Inflation will make consumers research more and spend less
Inflation is on the rise globally. In the US, for example, the Labor Department reported that inflation rose 8.3% since last August, which was worse than economic forecasts. This has already impacted overall consumer sentiment and most likely will affect their spending habits in the future. “Inflation concerns are very real,” adds Baker. “Currency has to stretch much further than it used to and that will continue into the next two years.”
The direct result will be a greater emphasis on researching everything in order to make an informed decision. “Brands that emphasize their marketing investments on searchable content that demonstrates consumer value will prevail,” says Baker.
At the same time, stores will benefit as they become hypersensitive to the added expense of digital fulfillment – such as rising shipping costs and delivery fees, says Baker. “The ancillary expenses of convenience will become cost prohibitive to some consumers or will be deemed unnecessary to others as they work to stretch their money further.”
Overall, brands and marketers should pull all the data they can from 2008-2010, advises William Margaritis, senior vice-president of digital and e-commerce at Reprise Digital. “What did consumers do then? How did they react? How did your brand react? What worked? What didn’t?
“What we are about to see will be similar. Large purchases will be put on hold while small luxuries will be seen as economic ways to splurge. 2008 was fantastic for drugstore cosmetics brands, upscale snacks and any other daily luxury that won’t break the bank. 2023 will likely repeat that.”
3. Live and social shopping becomes a bigger part of the mix
Still, the momentum for online purchases is unstoppable. However, the way consumers buy digitally will continue to evolve, quickly. For example, livestream shopping is picking up speed.
“Social shopping is becoming more prevalent and can be done on various platforms – such as Amazon Live, TikTok Shop/Live, Instagram Live and Twitch – and also on a brand’s own website,” says Travis Johnson, global chief executive officer of Podean.
“Brands should think about what their approach is – do they have spokespeople?Do they have great locations to stream from? What products would they sell? How would they use the content after the stream has ended?”
This trend represents a shift in control for brands. “Younger generations find authenticity and trust in different places than older generations,” says Margaritis. “Predominantly, they trust their peers and they trust influencers. As brands reduce spend and are less present in the shopping conversation, peers and influencers will rise…
“Social commerce and live commerce have already become regular means of shopping in Asia and are rising rapidly in Latin America. The US and Europe won’t be far behind.”
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 with us: www.shopshipshake.co.za
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In South Africa, 94% of online information searches are made via Google. This means that the data gleaned by the platform is an incredibly accurate measure of what South Africans are searching for – as well as when and possibly why.
That information can be accessed via Google Trends and used as a powerful tool for digital marketing.
Targeting and testing
The challenge at the start of any campaign is deciding who it is targeted at. Marketers can put in a few geographic locations, target specific devices and add some demographic and psychographic targets like age groups and interests.
That’s quite broad – which is where Google Trends really comes into its own. It allows digital marketers the opportunity to look at information around specific search terms linked to their campaign, giving them detail like the volume of searches, the period over which those searches generally occur and what the trends are in that period.
It may indicate that there is particular interest in a set of search terms from a specific province or during a season – allowing marketers to specifically target that area or time period.
Seasonality of searches is particularly helpful for, for example, fashion retailers. Digital marketers are able to tell fashion clients when they should start promoting their next season’s clothing – as searches for related fashion items start to ramp up.
Check on the competition
Google Trends also helps marketers determine the competitive landscape in the space. Say you’re a manufacturer of wall heaters and want to know what your competition is doing in the marketing space. By virtue of being able to see which keywords are being targeted, you can see who else is vying for space, allowing marketers to estimate what the client is going to need to pay to make an impact in the digital space.
By looking out for periods where there’s less competitor marketing, or by targeting under-utilised search terms, digital marketers can advise when smaller budgets would make a bigger impact or where there’s less clutter in the space.
Because the online market is so competitive, companies often get frustrated at the cost of a click for a heavily-used search term. Google Trends is able to tell us what keywords the audience is using too, which can help inform organic searches and lower costs – increasing organic effectiveness. When clients start using keywords that rank organically, the cost per click of AdWords goes down, because of the relevance of the offering increases.
In the content marketing space, Google Trends can help marketers define which keywords are most prevalent for a specific topic, to help put out more effective digital PR features for seeding in online media. Using the right terms at the right time can help improve the article’s ranking – another organic search benefit.
Partnering for success
It all sounds relatively simple – so why does a company need to pay a digital marketing agency or partner to advise them when Google Trends simply lays bare the information?
For starters, the breadth and depth of knowledge across sectors and trends within a specialist digital marketing agency have benefits for clients. The broad knowledge of the digital landscape and what’s happening, when – and how – is something that not many clients have the benefit of accessing.
Time and budget constraints often mean they’re forced to stay in their lane and not look at, say, the opportunities a major sneaker campaign from a specific brand could offer their sock business.
Digital agencies also use other tools to inform them – for example, Google Trends data is pulled into an agency’s Google Data Studio, which is a visualisation platform and tool that helps marketers see how search terms and phrases change over time.
For a fashion brand, that allows for the building of a robust dashboard for the marketing manager which shows the seasonality for every product category they have, meaning they know the perfect time to activate a new seasonal campaign and measure how trends and climate change are shifting their customers’ needs.
Any business not using the power of Google Trends is missing out on immensely valuable key information linked to what they do and who they do it for.
And any business not partnering with a quality digital marketing agency to harness the power of its insights is going to spend a long time in the digital wilderness while its competitors are capturing customers.
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
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See the original article: https://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/16/232266.html
Year-on-year, the average South African household food basket increased by R611.44 from July 2021. This represents a 14.8% annual increase – far above headline inflation reported through the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and outstripping food inflation.
Despite this steep price hike, South African consumers’ perceptions of grocery costs have improved over time, suggesting that consumer sentiment is driven by more than just price. This is according to Shannon Temple, lead retail analyst at DataEQ, who recently presented on consumer trends in retail at the 2022 edition of E-commerce Live.
“Looking at net sentiment* on social media towards grocery retailers’ pricing since 2020, there is an upward trajectory, indicating that conversation is becoming gradually more positive,” explains Temple.
“Notably, we see Woolworths with the steepest incline here, while Checkers and Pick n Pay experienced slight declines since last year,” she adds.
Having analysed over 1 million social media posts from consumers talking about South Africa’s major grocery retailers, Temple goes on to unpack three major trends that are shaping the local retail e-commerce landscape.
1. Special offers over price comparisons
Despite the prevalence of pricing and affordability in conversation, social media data indicates that consumers are speaking less and less about it since 2020.
Attention has moved away from price comparisons and towards special offers, with the online narrative shifting to which brand is offering the best value for money.
Driving a sense of savings is going to be critical for the industry going forward.
Consumers want to feel like they’re saving when using a premium service, and well-executed specials are key to achieving this.
2. An omnichannel experience is key
While special offers allow retailers to drive perceptions about price, they can be a major point of contention if not implemented correctly across all channels.
In this sense, creating an omnichannel shopping experience is critical for retailers and there needs to be parity between specials offered in-store versus what is offered on the app.
3. Operational ease still matters
Digital platforms do not remove the risk of operational issues arising.
If anything, there is an even higher expectation from digital customers for operational ease.
For example, the issue of items being out of stock is typically met with high criticism – especially when said item is linked to a special offer.
There are also logistical issues that are inherent to the e-commerce model, such as delayed delivery times or cancelled orders.
This is where expectation management and clear communication becomes vital, setting apart the retailers who excel in digital customer service, from those who don’t.
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
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See the original article: https://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/731/231620.html
It’s understandable that small enterprises have found themselves online out of necessity as e-commerce adoption accelerated by three to five years as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, and online retail in South Africa in 2020 grew by 66%.
To help entrepreneurs who want to iron out the creases in their online presence, Peach Payments’ head of SME growth and marketing, Joshua Shimkin, highlights six mistakes SMEs tend to make online, and how to solve them.
1. Social media profiles, but no website
Social media is an easy way for many SMEs to get in touch with their customers, and sell to them. Most social media platforms – including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest – also offer some way of accepting payments.
“But if there is no website that customers can refer to when they’re looking for your business, they’re just as likely to buy from your competitor’s Instagram profile, which has an accompanying website to support their online presence, where they can see shipping policies and refund/return policies. Customers are still more used to finding those key signals of trust on websites,” Shimkin warns.
Instead, spend time putting together a basic website on Wix, WordPress or Shopify, and then link to it from all your company’s social media profiles.
2. All the socials – and all outdated
“Don’t think it’s essential to be on every single social media platform out there,” Shimkin says. He believes it is much more important to have one or two active and fun social media profiles than to have outdated and boring content associated with your business spread across ten different social media platforms.
“Choose the social media platforms you focus on based on what you know about each platform’s users,” he advises.
For instance, if you have gorgeous pics of the homemade food you deliver, Instagram and Pinterest are likely to be more useful for your business than a more staid LinkedIn post. Add a quick video and you also have content for TikTok and Instagram. Remember to include links to your profiles on your website, and deactivate all old profiles on social media platforms you decide don’t work for your business.
“That way people won’t see old content, and wonder if you’re still in business,” Shimkin says.
3. An outdated and clunky website
Once your website is up, it’s important to keep it updated with new blog posts, new products, and updated payments technology. This is what will make people come back, looking for your products and services.
Use the free templates in popular website builders like Wix, WordPress or Shopify to ensure your website is mobile-friendly because it’s non-negotiable in 2022. And it is particularly important in Africa, where mobile is the most popular way for people to access e-commerce.
“You don’t necessarily need to spend money on developing an app, but you do need to make sure your website is easy to read on a mobile screen,” Shimkin advises.
Also make sure you have an easy, reassuring checkout process with multiple payment options (credit and debit cards, QR codes and instant EFTs) so that customers have a number of ways to pay securely.
4. Ignoring local SEO
You may not be interested in landing on the first page of global search engines, but you should make sure that your business website hits the first page on any “near me” searches on Google,” Shimkin says.
This local search engine optimisation (SEO) can make or break your brick-and-mortar business, particularly if your business is the type that only services your local neighbourhood or city, and not the whole country – like a local restaurant that offers online ordering. It is also important if you’re an online business that isn’t yet ready to start shipping internationally.
Two of the easiest ways to improve your local SEO results are to embed a Google Map in your Contact Us page and to verify your Google My Business page. Also include these details on all your social media profiles as well, so your website becomes the hub for all your marketing activities, such as newsletters and special offers.
5. Not remarketing to your online customers
Take time to learn about and use the remarketing tools that come with all e-commerce website builders to your advantage. They will help you to better understand who your online customers are, where they’re based and how many people come to your website but don’t buy anything. It will also give you insight into how long they spend on your site, where they are getting stuck on your site, and which type of device (mobile or desktop) they are using – all useful to help you tailor your offering.
Google Analytics is a free and powerful tool to help you understand who your clients are – and not just who you dream or hope they are. That will help you serve their needs better. Shopify, Wix and WordPress all have easy integrations that incorporate Google Analytics seamlessly.
6. Be meticulous about checking your online pricing
Online mistakes can cost you – but none more than making a blunder like uploading a new product and leaving its pricing at R0 or R10 ,00, when it should be R100. This is something that happens surprisingly often and can be prevented with a quick double-check before making any product live.
“It may seem daunting, but it is pretty easy to fix minor mistakes that you may have made while rushing to get online. The difference it will make to your online business is likely to show very quickly,” Shimkin concludes.
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
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There’s a reason TikTok and Reels are so popular. These short-form videos are engaging and entertaining and when produced effectively with sound strategy in mind, they can leave a lasting impression. Research shows that 84% of consumers make a purchase based on watching a brand or business video. What’s more, your customers are consuming a lot of videos–the average consumer watches video content for about 100 minutes every day.
It should not be surprising that video marketing is on the rise, and why marketing professionals shouldn’t underestimate the positive impact it can have for your business or brand.
“Video marketing is a powerful way to connect with your existing and potential customers and has a direct correlation to increased sales,” said Desireé Gullan, executive creative director and co-founder of G&G Digital. “It all starts with creating video content that resonates with your audience.”
Gullan suggests the first place to start is to look at your data from social media, email, and website, to better understand what content is getting views and engagement, and then to do more of that. Use polls and calls for comments to understand your customers’ wants, needs, and aversions. “Let your existing customers or followers guide your content strategy and narrative style and be sure to apply your insights in fresh and creative ways. It’s also important to front-load your key messages so that your investment is not lost on consumers’ limited time and attention,” Gullan added.
Here are four ways to make video work for your brand:
1. Add video to landing pages
This enhances your search rankings and can increase conversions by 80%. Make sure your video content tells the right story and conveys the right emotion. You can include strong calls to action.
2. Use video in email marketing campaigns
Research proves that including the word ‘video’ in a subject line substantially increases open rates, and video can be more effective than text, especially for complicated subjects or where striking images are required.
3. Include influencers and customer reviews
Videos that include referrals and recommendations build trust and increase conversions.
4. Create shareable content
Produce compelling video content, and your customers will share them. This opens your business to a greater audience who trust the referrals of their community.
The benefits of video marketing should not be ignored, even if you operate in highly regulated industries. “No matter your industry, be sure to comply with the regulations by including disclaimers, getting approvals, and keeping a record of your approved scripts on record,” concluded Gullan. “The extra effort that goes into producing strategic video marketing will get you a return.”
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 deliveryour orders requirements. Let’s get in touch to build, sustain, and grow yourbusinesses.
If you would like to know more details about us, please contact with us: www.shopshipshake.co.za
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Investing in Africa is a sustainable business strategy as companies earn bountiful profits. Despite the rising inflation and insecurity, businesses are fast growing in Africa. Beyond rich resources, the continent is one of the most accessible places to do business.
Companies with excellent financial structures benefit from Africa’s fast-growing population and rich resources. This article focuses on the fastest-growing businesses in Africa. These businesses are selected based on their growth rate and revenue generation potentials.
Note that we consulted several reliable sources while compiling this list. These sources include the World Bank, Market Watch, Nairametrics, Tech Crunch, Africa Business Communities, etc.
1. Financial Technology Business
Financial technology businesses continue to outshine many startups in the African continent with problem-solving innovations. According to Tech Crunch, Africa is the world’s second-fastest-growing and profitable payments and banking market after Latin America. The continent is home to over 500 financial technology firms, most in Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya.
According to The World Bank, about 66% of Sub-Saharan Africa’s population is unbanked. The unbanked population is another reason financial technology businesses thrive in the continent. They leverage technology to modify, automate and enhance financial services for consumers and businesses.
According to Business Elites Africa, 75% of Nigerian financial technology startups earn an average of $5 million annually. Given the continuous funding for financial technology companies in Africa, the sector will continue to grow with internet penetration and smartphone usage.
2. Food Business
With many investors benefiting from Africa’s resources, the food business is one of the businesses in the continent with a fast growth percentage. According to Business Standard, Africa’s food industry recorded a growth of 3.6% in 2020-21 and 3.9% in 2021-22. Food is a basic need for everyone, making it profitable for businesses for entrepreneurs in the sector.
The growth is driven by soaring demands for packaged and processed foods and the high consumption of frozen and dairy products. The food and beverage industry expansion and innovation are other growth contributing factors. According to Nairametrics, a more significant food Crisis is looming in Africa.
The Russia-Ukraine war, low purchasing power, political instability and conflicts are soaring food prices to unprecedented levels in the continent. Meanwhile, Agro entrepreneurs are benefiting from feeding over one billion people. Entrepreneurs earn huge rewards locally by storing and packaging food products with an excellent transportation network.
3. Real Estate Business
With Africa’s large population, there is a high demand for commercial and residential properties, making the real estate business thrive. According to Nairametrics, The Nigeria real estate market grew by 1.77% in 2021 and 10.84% in the first quarter of 2022. The Egyptian real estate market generated $10 billion, representing a growth of 8% in 2021.
According to Nairametrics, Egypt’s real estate market has a growth projection of 6.5% in 2022. Kenya’s real estate market rose by 5.2% in Q3 2021 and is projected to grow by 5.9% in 2022. The real estate business is one of the most valued in Africa, with entrepreneurs earning from leasing, buying and renting commercial and residential properties.
The real estate business is highly profitable but requires knowledge and experience. To get started in Africa’s real estate business, consider seeking advice from experienced realtors and learn from previous mistakes. Learn the industry’s strengths, weaknesses and how it works.
4. E-Commerce Business
Electronic commerce is a fast-growing African business due to technological advancement and innovation. Firms in this sector allow individuals and companies to trade goods and services through the internet. According to Vanguard Newspaper, Africa’s real estate market value has a projection to reach $180 billion by 2025. The report further disclosed that Africa’s eCommerce ventures secured funding of more than $256 million in 2021, representing a 40% growth from 2020.
According to Africa Business Communities, the e-commerce industry is expected to generate annual revenue of $46.1 billion by 2025. The lucrative industry business involves facilitating the sales of goods and services between companies and their customers. E-commerce ventures also facilitate the sales of goods and services through third parties. Jumia, eBay, Konga, and Kilimall are a few examples of African e-commerce platforms.
5. Logistics Business
Logistic business is a lucrative and fast-growing business in many African countries. Whether in Mauritius, South Africa, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, or Nigeria, entrepreneurs earn considerable rewards in the industry. According to Market Watch, Africa’s logistics market rose from millions to Multi-million dollars from 2017 to 2022. Reports from Sawya show that Egypt’s Suez Canal recorded a revenue of $704 million in July 2022, representing an increase from the $531.8 million reported in July 2021.
According to Research and Markets, Nigeria’s Logistics and Freight Market is expected to grow with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 3% from 2022 to 2027. The business is profitable in various African countries with the rise of delivery agencies working hand-in-hand with traditional and online retailers. Delivery agencies streamline the transfer of goods to customers’ destinations. Consider researching the business’s strengths and weaknesses before investing and focusing on building an online presence for promotions.
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 deliveryour orders requirements. Let’s get in touch to build, sustain, and grow yourbusinesses.
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/3ks
Learning how to make money from home might be one of the best decisions you make in your life.
“Having my own business gives me the flexibility I need as a single mom,” says Shan Thomas, a strategic business advisor and founder of Credible Visibility Agency, an Atlanta-based website design agency for women in business.
“Corporate America just didn’t afford me the flexibility I needed to be available for my kids,” she says. “An online business affords me that. I have clients all over the world and have been able to access and service them online. It’s cost-effective and has opened so many more doors.” Thomas notes there are clients in rural communities who wouldn’t be able to access professionals like her if it weren’t for her having a 100% online company.
The ability to make extra money online from home has created a new category of work: “anywhere workers.” That’s the takeaway from a recent survey of more than 1,400 respondents from 67 different nationalities conducted by Lonely Planet and the freelance marketplace Fiverr. According to the survey results, 54% of workers considered themselves “anywhere workers” in that their ability to make money online and pursue financial independence was not contingent on a particular location.
If you’re curious about how to make money from home, advantages to selling online, and how to generate extra money with a location-independent online setup, here’s some advice and tips from experts who’ve done it.
Advantages to Making Money From Home
Making money from home can be a great way to have the best of both worlds. You generate income while having no commute, and for many the prospect of flexible work creates solutions for childcare or other personal responsibilities that wouldn’t be possible otherwise.
“The work-from-anywhere movement is real,” says Yeves Perez, an entrepreneur and CEO of Workbnb, an online travel agency and Airbnb-like service for traveling workers. More than 40 million Americans will be working remotely in the next five years, according to the 2021 Future Workforce Report from Upwork, a gig economy platform. Some want to develop a side hustle that brings in a few hundred dollars a month, while others leverage an online store, online courses, or other money making ideas to make money online full-time.
Here are some of the biggest advantages to making money from home.
Your Work Location Can Be Flexible
If you have a computer and an internet connection, you can earn money from home. Most workers who work from home have location independence, which is one of the biggest perks to having a side hustle, negotiating a remote job, or launching your own small business.
“I left my traditional job in 2014 and have been building a business from home since,” says Gabby Wallace, an entrepreneur, YouTuber, and founder of Go Natural English, a company that provides ESL training and on-demand online courses. Wallace’s passion for teaching and content creation have helped her build her YouTube channel to 2.2 million subscribers.
“I have three streams of income that allow me to make four times what I made in my previous job as a teacher,” she says. “I have homes in different states, travel abroad often, and move around when I feel like it. In everything I do, I want to have flexibility in my life; making money through content online has allowed me to do those things.”
If you desire to travel, have to be somewhere else, or want to hang out at your favorite coffee shop, online tutoring jobs and other money making ideas allow you the flexibility to be on the go and still bring in cash.
You Can Create Passive Income
Passive income frees up your time and allows you to pursue other ventures while still making money.
“A home-based business allows you to incur an income from anywhere in the world passively,” says Blake Nubar, a serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Laptop Freedom, an online business that has 10,000-plus customers in 96 countries. “I travel twice a month and the same amount of income still comes in because of the business we’ve built.”
One of the more challenging parts of entrepreneurship can be finding the initial capital you need to even start. If you decide to earn money from home, your start-up costs can be low to nonexistent depending on which income model you choose. Popular approaches include creating your own website, setting up your own online store, or being a virtual assistant, and you can work as little or as much as you want to fit your personal and financial goals.
You Can Cultivate a Higher Quality of Life
The longer your commute, the lower your quality of life, according to a frequently-cited 2008 study published in The Scandinavian Journal of Economics. Commute time statistics are shifting thanks to the increase in remote and hybrid work, but 22% of Americans still commute for 30 minutes or more each way, according to a survey published from Statista, a data analytics company. A separate survey from YouGov last year found that no commute was the most-appreciated perk of working from home.
Many workers note that working from home can create better solutions for childcare or work/life balance. As COVID-19 protocols continue to ebb and flow, figuring out how to make money online is an attractive option because you’re in an environment you know and can control.
Do I Need To Invest to Make Money From Home?
Depending on which strategy you choose to make money online, there could be upfront investments associated with getting started. Some of the most common costs include:
Website hosting and buildout if you decide you need your own website.
Monthly charges for an email service provider if you intend to build an email list of customers or readers.
Earmarking money for taxes, especially if you’re a sole proprietor.
Possible costs for hiring professionals to guide you and help you get a running start.
The good news is that you can start and make money from a side hustle or online business with few costs. You can get the strategy and exact steps you’ll need from YouTube videos, podcasts, books, articles, and other forms of online information.
5 Ideas For Making Money From Home
There are many practical ways to make money from home. Here are five popular side hustle options that have low costs to start and tremendous potential for extra cash every month.
No. 1: Sell a Digital Product
Your knowledge and experience could be packaged into digital information products. Some examples include an eBook, a video course, an audio product, or short informational guides.
“Almost everybody has some skill they can package into a digital product,” says Arne Giske, an online entrepreneur and co-founder of the Insider Investors Club and Groups Funnels. He’s built a digital product business with over 5,000 clients.
“You just have to learn the process of putting together an offer that people are willing to pay for,” he says. Giske notes that you can turn a lot of information into a digital product that sells passively once you build an audience. There are few costs to creating digital information products, which creates an opportunity to bring in money immediately and develop good profit margins.
No. 2: Offer Freelance Services
Businesses and individuals are always looking for help, but they don’t necessarily need an employee to get the job done. Often, hiring virtual assistants or a freelancer is a better fit, and freelancing is a great way to make money from home. Some of the most popular freelance ideas include:
Managing someone’s social media accounts on their behalf.
Creating content for a business, whether it be articles, blog posts, or newsletters, to drum up spare cash.
Offering virtual assistant services, in which you are paid by the hour to help someone with administrative tasks from the comfort of your own home.
No. 3: Become an Online Coach or Consultant
Some people prefer to work with an expert one on one. What you know can be taught to others in the form of coaching or online tutoring, and with access to Zoom and other software tools, you can coach clients from anywhere in the world.
“We don’t offer done for you; we offer done with you,” says Isaac Mashman, an entrepreneur and CEO of Mashman Ventures, a company that helps business leaders with personal branding.
“We consult our clients and work with them to build out their brands,” he says. “We’ve built a team of 12 independent contractors who consult our clients virtually.” Mashman says being able to consult from home has been great for himself and his team.
If you’re not familiar with the process of coaching, there are options for training and certification. You can step up an online coaching side hustle with just the costs of using conference software and promote your offers on social media.
No. 4: Teach English
If you speak English, there are options to find online tutoring jobs and teach others how to speak English. This side hustle can be done anywhere, and the potential to make money is good.
“I replaced my teaching income by teaching English through vipkid,” says Tara Branch, a former teacher and current owner of an online travel agency.
“I was bringing home at least $2,000 a month when I was teaching English full-time. I taught six to seven days a week. There are ESL certifications you can get to teach English as a second language, and there are platforms in the U.S. now, such as Outschool.”
Branch says there are apps such as iTalki, tutor.com, Cambly, and many others that offer the opportunity to teach English. You can become certified and get paid to teach from the comfort of your home. The hours can be flexible, and it’s a side hustle with very few expenses.
No. 5: Become an Affiliate
If you don’t have time to deliver a product or service, promote someone else’s offers instead and rack up commissions. You can sign up to become an affiliate with large companies such as Amazon or other retailers or service providers whose products you use.
Being an affiliate means you get paid every time someone buys with your affiliate link. There is no cost to be an affiliate, and you can be paid (from home) to promote things you’d probably talk about anyway.
Start Making Money From Home Today
Online side hustles and remote work can be great ways to make extra income, and they also act as a safeguard if something happens unexpectedly in your career. Evaluate which strategy to make money from home aligns with your life and goals, do your research, and then start taking action today.
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.
Over the previous decade, e-commerce stores have benefited many people, and the industry is predicted to develop. Statista estimates that the e-commerce market is valued at R144 billion and will more than quadruple by 2025. Knowing which things to offer online is critical to your e-commerce business.
In 2021, credit cards accounted for 38% of all sales, followed by e-wallet payments (20%) and cash on delivery (0 percent ). (15% of the total). As previously said, the transaction mechanism is critical when operating an e-commerce store. Your e-commerce store must be configured with payment gateways and other relevant means of transacting.
This article will investigate the greatest products to sell online from home for you.
How do you see which products are trending?
Checking Google Trends is the quickest and most convenient way to find popular things on the internet. It is possible to monitor the popularity of top search queries on Google across different countries and languages using the Google Trends tool. It will show you the trends in your product ideas based on search volume starting in 2004 and continuing to the present.
Given the statistics, creating an online store is a great way to expand a business and ensure that you get a fair piece of the market as online sales grow year after year. You select when to begin. Use your own website, use marketplaces, or use online buying sites like Takealot to establish your online store. In 2022, online sales are expected to reach R165 billion.
There has never been a better time to start selling online. But you might be stuck on what to sell online. Due to the high degree of competition, not every product sells easily online.
20 best products to sell online 2022
1. Skincare Products
Skincare products are among the items to consider when attempting to sell products online. South Africa’s skincare industry is worth R10 billion as of 2021, and it is expected to grow by 4.25 percent in 2022. Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, and Estee Lauder are the most dominant brands. Skincare products are divided into two categories: face care and body care.
Conduct market research to determine which product to sell online and conduct a market survey to see how others are performing for the same or similar products. If you want to start selling skincare products, sell those that are popular with customers so that you can sell them easily. Otherwise, you can opt for niche skincare products that work as advertised.
2. Customized Printed Products
Surprisingly, many South Africans are eager to buy personalised t-shirts or hoodies. Even those that continue to use retail locations as a distribution channel have found this business strategy beneficial. The convenience of online shopping has boosted online sales of printed goods.
When starting this shop, you must have appealing designs and employ high-quality materials. When running an online shop, your business relies on positive reviews. Therefore, poor quality and a lack of attention to detail must be avoided.
3. Kitchen Appliances
Popular kitchen equipment in South Africa include air fryers, electric can openers, and pressure cookers. The list of other kitchen appliances to consider selling online is endless; you just need to know what to sell and to whom. There is no need to sell only one type of goods while selling kitchen equipment. Almost every kitchen item now uses electricity, including bins that employ sensors.
4. Home Decor
Home decor is a great category for e-commerce in 2022. There are numerous home decor items that can be sold online, and the more attractive they are, the easier they are to sell. LED lighting, rugs, storage items, and other items can be sold. If you don’t have enough money, you don’t need to look for products to sell.
If you are talented in product design, you can sell your own designs. People prefer handcrafted items because they believe they have more sentimental value than factory-made home décor goods.
5. Supplements
The South African supplements industry is another multibillion-rand industry. As supplement consumption has increased dramatically since the 2010s, this industry is one of the fastest-growing in the country. In South Africa, you can start your own brand by white-labeling a well-known product.
This method will assist you in developing a brand on which South Africans can rely without having to manufacture the product directly. You can also sell already-labeled supplements or create your own supplements, but this will be more expensive. You’ve probably seen many supplement brands grow from zero to millions of sales in South Africa. This could be an interesting project to pursue.
6. Stationery
In great demand, stationery can be sold at any time of the month. There is always a demand for low-cost, high-quality stationery. Due to the wide variety of items that can be sold, selling stationery may need a large initial investment. But you may handpick hot items and sell them in bulk. With high volume orders, you need a reputable provider because the order value can be significant. So, make sure your provider can supply what you need on time.
7. Hair Care Products
The Hair Care market segment is one to consider because sales are expected to increase by 5.7 percent in 2022. Shampoo, hair conditioner, hair colorant, and other options are available. These products can be sold through various distribution channels, but the online distribution channel allows individuals to sell products with low marketing costs. L’Oreal, Proctor & Gamble, Estee Lauder, and others are among the industry’s leaders. You’re good to go if you can sell hair care products from major manufacturers at a competitive price.
8. Neck Pillows
Neck pillows are trendy right now, and they will continue to be trendy in 2022. Uncovering a reputable supplier with a new product on the market can provide you with great profit margins, and a neck pillow is one such product. Neck Pillows are not a high volume search, thus digital marketing skills are required to sell a huge quantity. If you are new to digital marketing, seek for a product with significant search volume.
9. Nail Decoration
In South Africa, the cosmetics business accounts for almost 20% of all internet sales, and practically any item can sell. Nail Decoration is a popular category in the beauty business, with a wide range of things available. You can sell single items or sets of nail grooming and decoration. Since nails are decorated on a monthly basis, you may be able to maintain your clientele over time.
10. Subscription Boxes
Subscription boxes are in short supply in South Africa. Acquiring a branded subscription box is even more difficult, and if you are willing to supply premium-branded subscription boxes at a low cost, you are likely to strike gold. Before opening an online subscription box shop, extensive research must be conducted. There are various boxes to become acquainted with, and deciding which to sell online requires some research.
11. Smartphone Accessories
Almost every cell phone will require accessories to function properly or to protect against erosion. Screen protectors, phone covers, and earphones are just a few of the accessories that can be purchased online. You’ll be surprised at how much money you can make by selling smartphone accessories online. The good news is that you don’t need a lot of money to get started because accessories are inexpensive.
12. Indoor Plants
Indoor plants cost between R20.00 and R1,200.00 and have huge profit margins. This could be the most profitable online store you can open, especially if you are the one who grows the plans. There are numerous plans to consider, and where they are planted is also important. You must conduct extensive research and decide whether you want to start a small plant factory or grow plants in your backyard.
13. Shapewear
Shapewear is a trendy product with large online market potential. Many people in South Africa use these products, which are no longer limited to gym-goers. There are a variety of shapewear options for both men and women to consider; therefore, select items that are more profitable and have high sales projections.
14. Latex Gloves and Face Masks
Despite the peak of the coronavirus, we are nevertheless urged to wear face masks and latex gloves to protect ourselves. These goods will always have a market as long as politicians and citizens discuss COVID-19. There is a lot of potential in selling latex gloves and face masks online. You can work with as many distributors as you want and/or start your own online store. To sell these, use Facebook Market, OLX, Gumtree, Takealot, and Bid or Buy.
15. Personal Alarms
Another market segment with a scarcity of suppliers in South Africa is the personal alarms segment. This market segment is for those who want to sell high-tech alarm systems that can alert users to any threats or breaches in security. Personal alarms are a risk because they are not widely available in South Africa, but they are a great concept for an internet store. A big market share and a loyal client base are more likely to result from early entry.
16. Samsung Smartphones
Samsung cell phones are in high demand in South Africa because the company’s smartphones are both affordable and reliable. If you can find the smartphones at a cheaper price, then you can have a competitive edge over other sellers. You can also sell Samsung accessories through your online store. You may not require an online store if you sell your goods through distributors like Takealot or BidorBuy. However, having your own online store allows you to sell your products in the way that most suits your business strategy.
17. Jewelry and Fashion Accessories
We all want to look dapper, and jewelry is a great way to complement your favorite dress or suit. Jewelry goes with any type of outfit, which justifies its popularity. You don’t have to sell expensive jewelry like the top jewelers we’re accustomed to. Handmade and/or secondhand jewelry can be an excellent way to launch an online jewelry store. You can include trending fashion items and rotate them seasonally. This online concept has high growth potential and is almost certain to last.
18. Wall Art
Everyone wants their house to feel like a home, and wall art can help them achieve this. Wall art has the ability to create the atmosphere that one desires or wishes to have in their home or office. You must be creative when creating wall art. Allow customers to select the type of art they want, whether it’s wallpaper, drawings, or other types of wall art. It is important to prioritize size; so allow customers to select art size on adjustable items.
19. Beauty Products
The term “beauty products” refers to objects that individuals use to enhance their appearance. In recent years, consumers have sought out goods containing Macca root or Fenugreek. This market is booming, and expect some competition as a result of the high demand. Prioritize effective items and seek favorable feedback on delivery, product quality, pricing, and communication.
20. Essential Oils
The list of best products to sell online would be incomplete if we did not include essential oils. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, spas and salons have temporarily closed, leaving individuals looking for self-care remedies. Essential oils are in high demand, and sales are increasing. There are numerous essential oils available, and you can easily white-label one from a reputable manufacturer. Because the pandemic isn’t going away soon, you can help folks get the body treatments they want.
Now that you know the best products to sell online it is important to understand that running an online business requires dedication. And as your sales increase, you will need to devote more time to it. Economic order quality must be created to order items on time and have cash on hand when needed. Equip yourself with digital marketing abilities to stay competitive in the e-commerce business.
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 order requirements. Let’s get in touch to build, sustain, and grow yourbusinesses.
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/3ks
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
When you think of e-commerce, it is easy to think only of B2C. But e-commerce is much more than that. B2B e-commerce is growing at a rapid pace and it is important to keep up with the developments.
In this article we give 10 tips aimed at B2B retailers to help your online business grow and follow trends.
1. Offer easy and smooth orders
Make sure you have a customer order history on your B2B ecommerce store. B2B customers often place large-scale online orders and purchase at regular intervals. When they re-order, it needs to be easy.
2. Clear delivery information
Honesty is important. Be honest with your customers and give them the information they need about their deliveries. Will their order take longer than usual? Create a great shopping experience from start to finish.
3. Focus on the buyer experience
Get to know your customers and help them find what they are looking for as fast and smooth as possible. It should be easy to navigate in your B2B e-commerce store. A product should be available with a few clicks.
In the B2B business, customers make purchases for long-term solutions, resulting in longer relationships with companies. It’s important that your customer gets the help they need. Ensure they have a quality service experience by having a customer service system that is easy to reach out to and speak with.
It’s a good idea to collect all frequently asked questions in one place on your e-commerce site. A good FAQ site can give you both happier customers and better rankings on Google. Gather the most common questions that your customers ask, as well as answers to these.
4. Be unique
Think outside the box and try new things. You need to be unique and stand out.
But how?
It’s a good idea to do A/B tests to see what works for your customers. A/B testing means that visitors view 1 of 2 different pages. One is called the A version and the other one is called the B version. They usually have slightly different designs, or some other differences.
You collect data from real visitors during the test; that way you can clearly measure which of the pages converts best. This is a very powerful approach for increased conversion, as you will find which design solutions give the best results.
5. Newsletter subscription
Give your customers the opportunity to subscribe to your weekly (or monthly) newsletter. Emails may contain news, discounts, inspiration and information from your B2B site.
Voyado Elevate Email recommendations make use of unique behavioural data to send relevant product recommendations to your customers, increasing your conversion rate, click through rate and revenue.
6. Digital product catalog
Have a digital product catalog available to your customers so they can see what you have to offer and decide what to order. Make sure the catalog is available to those who not yet are customers. In fact, over 80% of buyers visit a website before making a purchase. Exclude prices but show your assortment. Then you can make it easy for new customers to order from your B2B store, through a smooth registration.
7. Automated merchandising
It’s almost impossible to track everything and control your online merchandising in real-time. Your merchandising needs to be highly automated. Voyado Elevate helps you respond quickly to emerging trends and seasonal assortment changes. The more relevant your products are, the more you can increase your sales. Show the right products, at the right places, at the right times.
8. Offer as much information as possible
Make sure you have quality product descriptions on your merchandise. Measurements, colors, materials, prices, and other important, necessary, information about your products. Reviews help potential customers decide if they will purchase. Use reviews and ratings as part of your content strategy to provide social proof to your other potential customers. Buyers trust in the recommendations they get.
9. Don’t forget the mobile
More and more people are shopping from a mobile device as a private individual. In fact, more than 40% of purchases are made from a mobile device. There is no reason not to believe that even part of the buying process in a B2B context will be done via mobile. The possibility to move with your shopping cart between different devices should also be available.
10. Optimise your product description
Having high-quality content on your e-commerce website is one of the best ways to increase traffic and improve your Google search ranking. Find keywords that people search for, choose high-value keywords and publish content that Google searchers want, are some of the things you need to do.
If you aren’t visible on search results, fewer customers know about you, you sell less, and your growth slows down. At the same time, your competitors will increase sales and profits.
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://bit.ly/3Cfdu4w
The volume of sales you’ll process through your ecommerce website depends on the effectiveness of your checkout. Research shows almost 70% of shoppers who’ve added an item to their online cart abandon the checkout process without completing their order.
As part of conversion rate optimization (CRO) strategy, you want to make the ecommerce checkout process as smooth and friction-free as possible, while still collecting the information you need to process an order.
Use these ecommerce checkout optimization tips to recoup lost revenue and improve your store’s conversion rate.
1. Showcase Trust Signals
Online shoppers purchase from brands they trust. But your mission to build trust doesn’t end once they’ve added an item to their online shopping cart. Continue proving to potential customers that your ecommerce website can be trusted with sensitive payment information via trust signals.
Trust signals do what they say on the tin: reassure customers your business can be trusted with sensitive information (most importantly, their credit card details). Examples of trust signals you can use throughout an online checkout include:
HTTPS certificates
Customer testimonials
Influencer endorsements
Payment processor logos
Shipping and returns policies
2. Make the checkout mobile friendly
In 2021, nearly one-third of US internet users used their mobile device to make a purchase each week. A mobile-friendly checkout encourages these shoppers to complete the transaction.
Take this example from The Citizenry. Its online store uses Shopify Checkout to provide a mobile-friendly experience. The checkout page automatically resizes for a small screen, and shoppers see large finger-friendly checkout buttons and fonts that encourage them to complete a purchase through their smartphone.
3. Remove additional costs
Did you know 55% of shoppers abandon their online cart because extra costs are too high? Shoppers want to know the price they see on product pages is the exact amount that’ll come out of their bank account.
Sometimes, there’s no way around additional costs like shipping, customs, or tax. But by presenting this information on the product page or offering free shipping to orders over a certain threshold, the additional costs don’t come as a surprise—one that deters them from making a purchase.
4. Allow multiple payment methods
Customers have a selection of payment options to choose from when purchasing online. Some 7% of them will abandon the checkout process if the site doesn’t allow them to use their preferred method of payment.
Improve checkout conversion by allowing customers to pay using their preferred payment option. That includes:
Shopping apps like Shop Pay
Credit or debit cards
Buy now, pay later options like Shop Pay Installments
Digital wallets like Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, or Google Pay
5. Autofill their shipping and billing address
The more time someone spends in the checkout flow, the longer they have to rethink their decision.
Speed things up with Google Autocomplete. It prefills a customer’s billing and shipping address when they start typing it, which is proven to save time by 20% and reduce mobile errors.
6. Hide the discount code field
Nine in 10 shoppers use discount codes when buying online. But if they’re initiating a purchase and showing a discount field, they might exit the checkout flow to find one.
Consider hiding the discount code field behind a dropdown (like Shopify does on mobile). That way, it’s still there for customers who have a promo code to redeem, but not off-putting to potential customers purchasing without a coupon.
7. Use upsells or cross-sells
Help people get more value from their order with upsells and cross-sells.
An upsell recommends a higher priced product similar to the one already in their shopping cart. Cross-selling recommends products that complement the items they’re buying. If someone has a $19.99 three-piece bowl set in their cart, for example, recommend a $24.99 one that contains five items, or a $3.99 mug that matches the bowl set.
The added bonus: both upsells and cross-sells increase average order value, so you squeeze more revenue out of each customer.
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://bit.ly/3Cfdu4w
In this article, we will discuss five key tips to launch a business with boldness. Whether you’re a seasoned business owner, or just starting out, there’s something here for everyone.
Launching a business requires a lot of hard work and dedication. However, sometimes it takes more than that to make your business successful. Boldness is key when it comes to launching a company, and being able to make pragmatic choices can set you apart from your competitors.
The first step towards launching a business is taking the bold step to start something new. As a leader, stepping out of your comfort zone is not an easy task, but it is the first essential step on the journey to success. If you are planning to launch your business, it’s essential to stand out from the mainstream and think outside the box. Boldness not only signifies courage, but it also demonstrates the determination to change the pattern.
Let’s talk about five ways to launch a business with boldness and set yourself apart from the pack.
1. Embrace creativity
One way to launch a business with boldness is to embrace creativity. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box when it comes to your business plans. Consider unique marketing strategies, unconventional advertising techniques or even a daring company name. Creativity can be key to setting yourself apart from your competition and gaining attention. Let the ideas flow, but know that not every idea is a good idea.
Your approach to business can set you apart from competitors, so it’s crucial to have an open mind when trying to come up with innovative business ideas. Embrace your creativity, and explore different options before embarking on a new business. You may be unique in ways that can attract a new audience or create an entirely new market. The key to success in entrepreneurship is putting in the effort, and creativity goes a long way in taking your business to the next level.
2. Take growth-mindset-driven risks
Taking calculated risks is another way to launch a business with boldness. Don’t always follow the conventional path, but examine a radical approach and research all the possible outcomes. You may find that taking a bit of a risk can be greatly rewarding in the end. This is the essence of boldness — not knowing if it will work but knowing that you did everything possible for it to be successful and to learn from the attempt, even if it fails.
Taking risks is essential when starting a business because growth rarely comes without risk. While there’s no guarantee that doing anything in business will work, taking risks and making calculated decisions is one of the most effective ways to grow. The chances of success are significantly higher when we take calculated risks and learn from our failures. For example, if you’re considering a particular strategy or partnership that could make or break your business, you need to have the courage to move forward and see what comes out of it.
3. Find your niche
One of the biggest mistakes new business owners make is attempting to tackle a broad market. Finding a specific niche in your overall industry might seem limiting, but it can allow you to become an expert in that area. Your passion for that niche will draw in customers, and your unique skills will make you stand out. You do not and cannot be everything to everyone.
Your business’s market can be broader and more relaxed at first to enable you to gain some foothold; you may concentrate on a small area that’s more likely to react positively to your product or service. Once you get your foothold, you’ll gradually increase your customer base. If you want to achieve long-term success, your niche or focus market should be unique and serve a purpose.
4. Stay public and engaged
Bold companies aren’t afraid to be present and visible to the public. Using social media is an excellent way to stay publicly involved with your audience. Building and targeting a relevant audience will require engagement. Not only will it help in gaining customers, but it can create relationships and enable you to keep learning from your market. Be consistent in your posting, and be authentic to your brand.
It is vital for entrepreneurs to be public, although we may like to be private when launching a business. Entrepreneurs can stay active on social media and participate in speaking engagements, local business events and other local marketing activities to gain more awareness and enable their followers to get to know them better. Promote your business whenever you can, and the attention you garner could eventually result in organic searches.
5. Believe in yourself
Last but not least, the most important key to launching a business with boldness is to believe in yourself. Individuals who are too hesitant may not have the courage to push forward with their idea. You may face difficult times, pressure and possible rejections. You must have faith in yourself and the vision for your business. There will be noise when you are starting out — be sure to have strategies you can use to mute the negative and filter the essential learnings to strengthen your confidence and success.
When starting a business, it’s essential to remember that success takes time. There will be setbacks, roadblocks, hurdles and times when things don’t go as planned. But don’t give up. Believe that your hard work is worth it. Always remain focused on your goals, and have belief in yourself. You have to put in the work to succeed, so stay positive, be patient, and believe in your business — and the success will come.
When launching a business, taking chances and believing in yourself can help you get ahead. It’s important to embrace creativity, take risks, find your niche, stay public and believe that your business is worth all of the hard work you’re putting in. Remember that success does not come overnight, but your determined and calculated boldness will take you there!
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://bit.ly/3Cfdu4w
Amy Chambers spent 21 years in financial services and has 15 years of experience in leadership, leading over 500 people to success.
It’s wonderful to imagine that when you start a business, you’ll instantly be successful. That’s not always what the first year of entrepreneurship looks like. Here are five things you can do to jumpstart your momentum.
In late 2021, I left a 21-year career in financial services and started my own coaching and consulting business. I quickly realized I was somewhat clueless about how to scale.
It only took a matter of weeks before I was inundated with messages from coaches, influencers and promoters all promising to find me speaking gigs and clients. I ignored these because I knew I wanted to grow organically. But, it wasn’t long before I wondered if I had made a mistake: I realized I was uncomfortable and didn’t quite know what to do since I’d never done it before. Here are the first five things I chose to do, which all worked wonders.
1. Have a marketing strategy and don’t be afraid to hire help
I knew I needed to develop marketing materials. But, I also know what I’m good at and not good at. Since I’m not classically trained in marketing, I hired people to do it for me. I stayed in my lane, but I also stayed involved in the process.
I hired a former contact from a university alumni club that I felt I could trust to design my website; I hired a Fiverr designer to create a press kit; I hired another Fiverr designer to design my book cover; and I hired an executive coach who has done everything I want to do to give me feedback on it all. Once these things were all produced, I directly sent them to all my prospects and also shared them with the world.
These marketing materials have repeatedly come in handy. When I meet with prospective clients, I now have several things I can send them. As part of my marketing strategy, I also asked my first 10 clients to write recommendations for me. I’ve been told by clients that seeing these testimonials on my website and media kit was very influential. Getting people to endorse your work as soon as possible can make a material difference in your business.
2. Know what exactly you offer
My second step was calling old contacts and colleagues from my network and telling them about what I was doing. While I absolutely recommend reaching out to your former connections and network, it’s important that when you do, you know what you offer and are prepared to voice that.
When starting out, the second person I called was the COO of a major national bank. He immediately asked me what it was that I was really wanting to offer his organization: coaching or consulting. I honestly had no idea, and without a reason why, I said both. In a different call with a regional executive of another bank, I couldn’t quite articulate what I hoped to get out of the call.
What I learned was this: Be clear with yourself (and others) about what it is you do and what you hope to gain from spending time with people. Successful people are busy — don’t waste their time. Have a clear and concise plan and know what it is you want them to buy from you and why. Then, don’t be afraid to ask for the business.
3. Produce content that keeps you in front of your audience
For the 18 months that I’ve served as a coach, consultant and author, I’ve been producing content:
I produce a series of weekly videos on LinkedIn and YouTube called “Transformation Tuesdays.”
I created a free leadership assessment that’s available on my website.
I write articles regularly.
I wrote a book.
Many clients have told me that watching my videos or reading my articles was a major factor in their decision to hire me. My shared content gives others a sense of who I am and what I stand for. No matter what business you’re in, find opportunities and ways to give people a little taste of you and whatever it is you do. When people like what they see, they’ll be more apt to engage with you.
4. Do something to push forward every day
So often, we look far into the future but forget about the present moment. We dream about where we want to be in five years or what it might be like when we’re rich and famous. This is great, but it doesn’t help us figure out the day-to-day.
Throughout the last year, I’ve always focused on simply identifying the 1-2 next steps I should or can take to grow. Do something every single day, or at a minimum, every single week that gets you closer to your goals. Perhaps it’s reaching out to one new prospective client a day or a week. Perhaps it’s attending a conference or seminar where you might meet prospective clients. Perhaps it’s taking a class or certification so you can get stronger at your craft. Perhaps it’s bettering your product or service. Whatever you do, it’s important to stay in motion and always be taking additional action.
5. Take good care of the customers you have
When growing a business, it can be tempting to focus on what you don’t have yet (but want). Once you sign a client, it can be easy to mentally move on to the next five prospective clients you’d like to sign. Acquisition is important, but so is retention.
If you’ve recently made a sale or done work with someone, make sure to treat those people like gold. If clients are leaving out your back door at the same rate clients are coming through your front door, you’re static. It’s vital that you’re constantly generating reasons why the people you’ve already got should stay with you, as well as tell their friends and family about you. A few of my clients have been great referral sources for me and I can’t express enough gratitude for that, but that’s not an accident. That only happens when people are treated well.
These practices might seem simple — and they are. But, it’s the consistency in doing them that makes the difference. It’s easy to get discouraged when you start a business and don’t become an overnight success. However, when you invest in these things steadily, your success will come steadily as well.
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://bit.ly/3Cfdu4w
Women entrepreneurs face unique challenges in starting and growing their businesses. Some of these challenges are very familiar: limited access to funding, lack of mentorship and bias that many experience in the marketplace.
Supporting women-owned, small businesses is not only a matter of closing the gender gap but also a way to boost the economy and foster innovation. Shifting habits and cultural norms can seem impossible, but making these significant changes in behavior can be done in small, straightforward ways. These small habits add up to monumental change. Here is a list of the best ways to support women-owned businesses and empower women entrepreneurs:
1. Shop at women-owned businesses
One of the most direct ways to support women-owned businesses is simply to spend your money with them. Women entrepreneurs are represented in virtually every industry, from retail to technology to professional services. You can find women-owned businesses in your local area or online. There are dedicated directories on a local, national or regional basis to assist in locating these businesses.
When you shop at a woman-owned business, you support not only the owner but also the employees, suppliers and the community surrounding that business. Women-owned businesses positively impact the local economy by creating jobs and increasing the tax base. In choosing to spend your money at women-owned businesses, you are making a statement about the importance of gender diversity in the marketplace.
2. Spread the word
Spreading the word about women-owned businesses is an excellent way to support them. When you use your social media channels or personal networks to share information about the women-owned businesses you buy from, you are helping to build knowledge and increase awareness of these businesses and that there are choices in the marketplace.
Word of mouth is “old school,” but still one of the most powerful ways for any business to gain traction. Using your personal and professional networks to promote women-owned businesses and sharing that information with your friends and family members can help drive immediate revenue. It can also help expose that business to its next big opportunity.
3. Attend events
Attending events organized by women-owned businesses is a great way to show your support and learn more about their products and services. Many women-owned businesses host pop-up shops, networking events or workshops. These events can be an excellent opportunity to meet the owner, connect with other supporters, and learn more about the business.
Attending events also shows the owner that their business is valued and appreciated. When you attend an event, you support the owner and the other attendees and vendors. This can create a sense of community and support that can help the business thrive.
4. Write reviews
Leaving positive reviews after shopping online, leveraging review platforms like Yelp, Google, or Trust Pilot or writing a review and sharing it on social media is another way to support women-owned businesses. Reviews can influence potential customers’ purchasing decisions, help increase the business’s visibility online, and encourage others to support those businesses. When you leave a positive review, you support the owner, the employees and other stakeholders.
It’s also important to note that negative reviews can significantly impact a small business, so it’s essential to be thoughtful and constructive in your feedback. If you have a negative experience with a women-owned business, consider reaching out to the owner directly to share your concerns and allow them to address the issue before taking it public.
5. Partner with women-owned businesses
If you own a business or work in a related field, consider partnering with a woman-owned business to offer joint promotions, events, or services. Partnering with a woman-owned business can help you reach new customers and grow your business while supporting another entrepreneur.
When you partner with a women-owned business, you can share resources and expertise to help each other succeed. This type of collaboration sends a strong message and can create a sense of community and support that can benefit both businesses.
These are simple things you can do every day that will directly impact your community and the large economy. What are you waiting for?
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://bit.ly/3Cfdu4w
As the world’s most popular search engine, Google has access to decades of information on what users are looking for online—and that information is accessible via the Google Trends tool. Researchers have used Google Trends search data for everything from predicting the stock market to monitoring the spread of disease. Read on to learn how you can put this powerful free tool to work for your business.
What is Google Trends?
Google Trends is a website that shares anonymous, aggregated data about what people search for on the web. Using a random sample of billions of daily searches, Google Trends measures the relative volume of search queries over time, stretching back to 2004. Click here to start selling online now with Shopify
Take note: Google Trends only provides relative search volume, not absolute search volume—or the total number of Google searches a term received. Google Trends data is indexed to 100, meaning that the maximum search volume for a particular query over a set timeframe is 100. If you look at trends over time, 100 is the day with the highest search traffic for your keyword. If you explore Google Trends by region, the location with the most search interest within a set timeframe has a value of 100.
How to use Google Trends for your business
Plan ahead for seasonal marketing
Find the best day of the week to run ads and publish content
Use regional insights to create valuable content
Identify additional keywords
Discover breakout queries
Find the right phrasing
Optimize marketing by channel
Understand your competitors
As a business owner, you can use Google Trends for more than just staying on top of the zeitgeist. Here’s how it can help you with keyword research, competitive analysis, and more.
1. Plan ahead for seasonal marketing
If you use Google Ads, you know that Google provides you with the monthly average search volume for search terms on the platform. The difference between Google Ads and Google Trends is that Trends provides real-time data rather than a monthly average, so you can use it to pinpoint searches around particular events or to see how searches change over time. These insights allow you to plan ahead for seasonal marketing campaigns that promote products during the time when searches for related keywords spike.
“Hiking sandals” is an example of a seasonal keyword. Every year from 2004 to 2022, search interest for the term “hiking sandals” in the US peaked in June and dipped in November. To capitalize on this pattern, you can increase your ad spend in late spring and early summer, when most people search for hiking sandals.
2. Find the best day of the week to run ads and publish content
You can use Google Trends to see if your search term performs better on certain days of the week. For example, both “hiking sandals” and “walking sandals” receive the most traffic on the weekend, so consider running more ads and leaning into content marketing campaigns that land on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.
3. Use regional insights to create valuable content
You can get more specific with search volume data by selecting a location and narrowing your parameters from, for example, worldwide to the US—or even further to just California. If you select California, you’ll see search volume sorted by metro area. For example, in 2022 the term “hiking sandals” had the highest concentration of searches in the San Diego metro region. You can use this information to localize advertising and to improve the targeting of your content marketing efforts. For instance, you might consider publishing a blog post on the top hiking trails near San Diego to promote your walking sandals.
4. Identify additional keywords
Use Google Trends to conduct keyword research for SEO by viewing related search topics. When you use Google Trends to explore a term, you can scroll down past the “interest over time” and “interest by region” data to a section of related search topics. Toggle between “rising” (highest increase in search frequency over a given period of time) and “top” (highest overall search frequency) for a clearer picture of each term’s performance.
In 2022, rising related topics for “hiking sandals” in California included “ankle” and “backpack,” while some of the top related topics were “sandal” and “hiking boot.” If you sell hiking sandals, looking at topics can help you brainstorm what other products your customer may be looking for—such as hiking boots and backpacks. You can click on those topics to assess if they are worth pursuing. Exploring trends by topic can give you additional information about search interest that you may not have discovered otherwise.
5. Discover breakout queries
Rising related queries usually have a percentage next to them, indicating how Google search volume has grown. However, some queries and topics won’t show a percentage increase in search volume. Instead, you’ll see the word “breakout,” which is Google’s way of indicating that search volume for this term grew by over 5,000%. For a search term to experience that much short-term growth, it likely initially had very low search volume. These newly popular keywords can be an important part of your SEO strategy.
6. Find the right phrasing
Google Trends’ “compare” feature can help you choose the perfect phrasing for your search term. For example, in the US in 2022, “walking sandals” got slightly more interest than “hiking sandals”—except in Montana, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona, where “hiking sandals” was the preferred term. This feature can help you decide which keywords to prioritize in your marketing efforts. A brand selling sandals might use the term “hiking sandals” in the Southwest and “walking sandals” elsewhere.
7. Optimize marketing by channel
Google Trends gives ecommerce store owners the option to refine search volume data by type of search. Web search is the default, but you can also see trends in image search, news search, shopping search, and YouTube search. Benefits include seeing how the trends for shopping search and image search differ from web search. For example, popular web searches for “walking sandals” include the word “best,” while image and shopping searches are more likely to contain the words “for women.” If you want to rank for web search, consider compiling a list of the best walking shoes. If you want to make sure your product page ends up on image and shopping pages, know that searchers are looking for products that work for their body and gender identity.
8. Understand your competitors
One handy feature of Google Trends is the ability to compare up to four different search terms at once. Once you’ve decided on a region and time period for your first search query, click “+ compare” in the light blue box to the right of your original search term to see how these two terms compare. You can add up to two more terms, which can be helpful when conducting competitor analysis. Compare your brand name to your three biggest competitors to better understand your niche and improve your marketing efforts.
Google Trends FAQ
Is Google Trends a free tool?
Yes, Google launched Trends in 2006 as a free tool for the general public.
How accurate is the data on Google Trends?
Google trends data is accurate, but it doesn’t provide absolute search volume. Since Google performs billions of searches daily, including every single search in its data set would take a long time. So, Google Trends uses a sample of searches. Google notes that its Trends data “is not scientific and might not be a perfect mirror of search activity.” Some searches will report with a search volume of zero, but that may mean that the search volume was too low for Google to consider it significant; the actual volume may be higher than zero—but still low.
Can I use Google Trends for international data?
Google Trends data shows global search queries, so it’s a solid option for international data. Depending on the region, you can search for data by country, state, or metro area.
How does Google Trends determine search popularity?
Google Trends determines search popularity by taking a random sample of daily searches for a particular query and then translating that sample into a number out of 100. The term with the highest search volume at a particular moment in time is the benchmark for 100, and every other query’s popularity is shown relative to the most popular search.
What is 100 in Google Trends?
If you see the number “100” next to a search term, that doesn’t mean it has an absolute Google search volume of 100. Since Google uses normalized values, a score of 100 means the term in question has the highest relative search volume.
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://bit.ly/3Cfdu4w
The article reference: https://www.shopify.com/blog/trends-google
Purchasing groceries or a hot meal through a preferred delivery smartphone application has rapidly become a typical aspect of daily life in Mzansi.
Bongani Mthombeni-Möller, Director: Smart Mobility Royal HaskoningDHV | image supplied
But how many of us take a moment to think about the delivery men and women, often on their small 150cc motorbikes, weaving in and out of traffic to get us that latest online order of ours in 60 minutes or less?
Increasingly, this army of delivery agents is becoming a crucial part of the supply chain of a booming local e-commerce market.
Research published by FNB Merchant Services last year highlighted how the size of the South African e-commerce market is expected to double in size from just under R200bn per annum in 2022 to over R400bn in 2025. In 2019, the size of the e-commerce market in South Africa was just R90bn.
In turn, the motorbike delivery economy is creating much-needed jobs in a country where unemployment is at record highs, with a driver being able to earn around R2,500 per week according to some reports.
It’s been estimated that there are up to 50,000 delivery bikes on our roads in South Africa right now. However, this figure is still small when considering that there are over 11 million registered vehicles on our roads.
Nevertheless, we must start to think now about how we can adopt a smart mobility approach with our scooter economy. And doing so requires that we need to get our roads, regulatory environment and law enforcement services ready to deal with a growing number of e-commerce orders.
Smarter use of lanes
Driving along South African roads today presents growing risks with potholes, traffic light outages and increased load shedding. Throw into the mix delivery scooters weaving in and out of traffic and you have a recipe for chaos.
A key question is how do we make our roads better fit for two-wheel motorbike deliveries? The answer may lie in Exclusive MotorCycle Lanes or EMCLs, which have been successfully implemented in countries such as Malaysia, Taiwan and Indonesia.
According to research published by Science Direct, Malaysia managed to reduce motorcycle accidents by 39% after implementing EMCL along Federal Highway-2 in Malaysia. Science Direct has reported that EMCLs ranging from 3.3m to 5.2m in width further resulted in three times the benefits of reducing accident costs.
A key question here is whether traffic volumes of delivery motorcycles on our roads right now justify the need for exclusive lanes. Already, dedicated bus lanes have become a regular feature across Johannesburg, Tshwane and Cape Town.
It may take time for scooters to replicate the same kind of priority as buses. However, with a growing e-commerce economy, we may need to start thinking now about how to make the most of existing lanes so as to prevent further problems in the future.
Smarter regulation and sustainability
The saying that regulation lags innovation has never been more relevant than right now, with tech taking over every aspect of our lives.
In this environment, it’s important that regulation helps keep our society safe as well as creating a more sustainable future.
Whatever regulation we implement, we must ensure that delivery motorbikes are road-worthy and safe. Large supermarket retailers and others may own their own fleet of bikes and even check them for roadworthiness. But it is essential that all companies and drivers take on the responsibility of regularly conducting road-worthiness checks. Traffic officials, such as the JMPD, can partner with the private sector to ensure the safety of everyone on the road.
Moreover, with the move towards a green economy, there is a massive need for electric bikes, electric vehicles and charging stations. This creates an opportunity to tap into the e-mobility sector and phase out petrol bikes as much as possible. Legislation can help regulate the entire EV electric micro-mobility sector and the private sector can provide input into policy and legislation to help support the industry.
We’re still in the early stages of our e-commerce revolution, but there’s no doubt that the scooter economy is going to become a bigger part of our daily lives. The motorcycle delivery economy is agile and versatile. These bikes cut through traffic quickly and deliver goods and services in a short period of time. Gone are the days when customers would have had to wait more than 24 hours for deliveries to arrive via a minivan.
The men and women on these bikes play a huge role in revolutionising the e-commerce space in South Africa. And the more that we can do to enable them and ensure their safety and sustainability, the better this industry will become over the long term.
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://bit.ly/3Cfdu4w
The article reference: https://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/791/238536.html
Inflation is squeezing consumer spending, with 7-in-10 of us expecting to pay more for shopping and utilities in the months ahead. With South Africa also expected to enter recession this year, brands across the country, and beyond, face tough competition for every single sale.
Consequently, attracting new customers, and keeping them, is not just a huge priority, but many marketing teams’ biggest challenge.
Stepping up to the task, brands must scale the effectiveness of their campaigns in a way that stands out from the crowd and appeals to individual shoppers and their specific needs. With many marketing teams now also working with lower budgets than before the pandemic, how is this possible?
The answer is mobile.
Why Mobile Marketing Works Best
By 2025, 50% of people in Sub-Saharan Africa will have mobile subscriptions, with 61% expected to be smartphone connections. With mobile the de facto connected device for most consumers, its importance in any multichannel campaign cannot be underestimated. Gartner reports, for example, that SMS has a 98% open rate versus 20% for email, and a 45% response rate versus 6% for email.
In short, mobile marketing – especially now – is a brand’s best friend. Whether you’re a complete newbie, or your current campaigns aren’t delivering the desired results, it’s important to prioritize increasing the effectiveness of your mobile campaigns. From automation to creative content, clever use of data, and tools to keep ad fraud at bay, here are our 7 secrets for maximizing mobile and multichannel campaign performance:
1. Activate autopilot
Never miss a sale. Make sure to reach out to shoppers every time, and at every stage, they interact with your brand. By building automated event driven purchasing paths into your campaigns, triggered messaging based on a customer’s buying journey can work wonders.
Send a welcome discount, entice them back with personalized offers, or recover lost sales with a friendly SMS to check-out an abandoned shopping cart. Triggered messaging has been proven to have incredibly high engagement with 98% open rates. With automated mobile triggered messages also offering an unmatched 12x ROI, activating autopilot using an intelligent mobile marketing tool is a sure-fire way to win over shoppers time after time.
2. Unleash your inner creative
In a world of content overload, stand-out. Customers want interactivity, easy-to-understand information, colour, eye-catching design, and a clear focus on what action to take next. From quizzes and short-form video to images, clever memes and gifs, consumers need, and want, to be engaged, with 93% of marketers agreeing interactive content is especially important.
But don’t worry if you’re not a natural Picasso. There are shortcuts. These days, easy-to-use tools can help you craft stunning designs to incorporate into your campaigns in seconds, and with minimal effort.
3. More channels means more sales
No two customers are the same, so how they interact with your brand will also vary. From SMS to WhatsApp, rich communication services (RCS) and Viber, the more channels you have, the higher your engagement and reach will be. Importantly, focus on centrally orchestrating a mix of push and pull channels, both text-based and rich-media, to create a flexible strategy that meets your goals and delivers value for your customers.
4. Get to really know your customer
Personalization is paramount. Two-thirds of shoppers expect companies to understand their needs and desires. Show customers you care by acting upon data that reveals what they want and who they are. Use tools that can help you segment customers by specific demographics, and experiment with what messages, offers and channels work best for them.
What a teenager responds to won’t necessarily work for a university student or parent. Take this into account and make sure your marketing reflects who your customer really is.
5. No cookies? No problem
As new privacy laws come into force, third-party cookies are soon scheduled to come to an end. So how can marketers continue to enable targeted ads whilst staying compliant? Thesecret to success here lies mobile identification technologies that capture first-party data, namely the mobile phone number.
A unique asset for mobile networks, the MSISDN or mobile number can be used to anonymously identify users with their consent to keep personalised user experiences running.
By working with a mobile operator to access this data, brands can craft highly personalized communications that are far more likely to resonate with their customers.
6. Have all the data at your fingertips
One of the beauties of mobile and multichannel marketing is the massive amounts of data it generates, allowing you to refine campaigns over time. By analysing key data such as engagement rates, performance-per-creative and revenue generation, you can quickly decide to try new strategies, jump on fresh opportunities, and optimise every single campaign as it unfolds to boost performance and future planning.
7. Keeping fraud at bay
Last, but not least, ensure all your leads are genuine. Deploy software that automatically detects, blocks, and reports ad fraud before it happens. Not only will this help protect your brand but your budget as well, making sure it is spent on generating authentic leads, leaving the bots alone.
As consumer appetite for mobile grows, platforms such as Upstream’s Grow can help brands across Africa deliver highly engaging multichannel and mobile marketing campaigns to achieve rapid revenue growth.
Recently, we worked with a popular South African retailer to boost its digital traffic after previous campaigns gave an underwhelming performance.
By introducing creative RCS messages to encourage people to visit the retailer’s homepage and view current deals, they were able to achieve 12,000 clicks in two weeks with a click-through rate of 22.2%. Deploying an intelligent mobile marketing strategy was just the ticket needed.
Going forwards, you too can maximize the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns by shining a spotlight on flexibility, adaptably, speed and measurement. With every single sale vital, focus on mobile to boost customer acquisition strategies with minimal impact on resources and less effort than other forms of marketing.
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://bit.ly/3Cfdu4w
The article reference: https://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/78/238367.html
If you’re planning to own and operate a business, you might be thinking about things like renting commercial real estate, commuting to an office, or managing employees. But starting and running a company from home is easier than ever.
Ahead, discover 15 home business ideas to kickstart your entrepreneurship journey along with guidance on how to make it work for you.
What are the pros and cons for starting a business at home?
A home-based business is a venture—whether full time or run as a side hustle—you can start and operate using your own personal residence as your base of operations. A few home-based businesses, especially those that sell online and don’t buy and hold lots of inventory, can even be run on the go, without the need to be bound to your home.Click here to start selling online now with Shopify
Naturally, there are pros and cons to consider when deciding whether a home based business is right for you.
Pros of home-based businesses:
A small business has fewer overhead costs (such as warehousing fees), plus potential tax deductions you can claim.
The option to sell products or services locally or internationally.
Flexible work-life balance, which is ideal if, for example, you’re a stay-at-home parent or a retiree.
You can create a family business where your relations or your spouse can chip in as needed.
Cons of home-based businesses:
You may need to convert space in your home to support the needs of your business (e.g., holding inventory, creating a home office, or storing equipment). The challenge can be doing this without disrupting your life at home.
You still have to comply with any regulations that pertain to the business you want to start (e.g., you may need to rent a commercial kitchen if you plan to sell food products, or a license/permit to hold inventory).
Your business may outgrow your home and require you to rent additional space and hire employees.
Working from home offers you a lot of freedom, but it can also be lonely. This might be difficult if you enjoy being around other people.
While there are plenty of ways to go about starting your home business ideas, the following are some of the most approachable paths to creating a profitable business for yourself.
15 profitable home business ideas
1. Buy products in bulk and sell them online
Many businesses center on the simple concept of importing products in bulk and selling them individually for a profit.
Maybe you recently traveled abroad and came across unique products that aren’t readily available in your market but that you sense an appetite for. Or maybe you’ve zeroed in on a niche market and know the perfect way to serve it.
Either way, if these products are relatively easy to store and ship, you may have some solid home-based small business ideas on your hands.
You can even initially use your home as a showroom to sell locally, giving you the option to expand with additional storage space and employees as you validate your idea and sales start to ramp up. This is how Artemis Design Co. got its start.
“I was living in the south end of Boston, and I had my living room just full of these products,” says Milicent Armstrong, owner and founder of Artemis Design Co. “I would have people come over if they wanted to look at something or try something on, and that’s how I made my first sale.”
2. Sell homemade products
If you’re a maker yourself (or know someone who is), consider turning that hobby into a business. Even if you have to create your products elsewhere—in a studio, commercial kitchen, or workshop—you may be able to store and sell them in your own home.
When you control nearly every aspect of the products you sell, you can make them more cost effective, improve their quality, or cater them to a certain audience by targeting demand in the market.
Josh Pigford already had a thriving home business in a business analytics startup, but wanted to find a way to flex his creative muscles. He started printing succulent planters at home with his 3D printer—and a new business was born. Cedar & Sail now carries planters, coasters, and other small desk tchotchkes.
Whether you choose to start on a marketplace like Etsy or build your own branded storefront, selling your creations is a great way to share your passion with others and make money too. Just be wary of regulations concerning products that people ingest or put on their skin.
Best of all, producing your own products doesn’t have to be overwhelming. When you’re ready to scale, you can establish a process and onboard new employees to help with production.
3. Start a dropshipping store
So far, we’ve covered business ideas that require you to hold inventory in your home. But there are a variety of online businesses ideas to pursue that don’t involve worrying about inventory and shipping.
These businesses employ a dropshipping model, where a third party produces, stores, and ships your products on your behalf, leaving marketing and customer service as your chief responsibilities. Retailer Subtle Asian Treats is an example of a home-based business that uses a dropshipper.
Your dropshipping supplier can be local or overseas, but you need to find a supplier you can trust to deliver a consistently great customer experience after the sale. Always do your due diligence or you might put your business’ reputation at risk.
There are even Shopify apps, such as DSers, that can connect you with suppliers to import products into your own store while streamlining order fulfillment.
This model can easily make your products a commodity with limited opportunity to brand your customer experience. Luckily, there are a few different ways you can still compete, even when there’s no shortage of your products in the market you’re selling to:
Curate products from different suppliers to create a store that serves a specific niche.
Compete through quality content and customer service, creating value beyond your products.
Target an underserved region of the world (be sure to pay attention to your shipping costs).
Target a new audience with the same products (e.g., LED shoes can be marketed to music festival goers or runners).
4. Start a print-on-demand business
Using a similar dropshipping model, a print-on-demand business doesn’t require you to hold any inventory or ship anything yourself. Print-on-demand even offers you more flexibility to customize white label products with your own creative designs.
Rebecca Lee Funk launched The Outrage, a women’s rights activist apparel brand that sells print-on-demand t-shirt designs, from her home. The business donates a portion of profits to non-profit organizations that work toward social causes like gun control and women’s rights. Her launch campaign went viral, and The Outrage turned into a thriving ecommerce business.
There are many other print-on-demand products you can sell: books, hats, backpacks, blankets, pillows, mugs, shoes, hoodies, phone cases, watches, and more, depending on the supplier you choose to work with.
Many print-on-demand businesses focus on serving a specific niche or, better yet, a shared identity. What are people passionate about and proud to share? What about yourself?
From pet owners to vegans to gamers, there are plenty of passionate communities you can create products for. If you have the skills, you can create your own designs. But if not, you can always hire the talent you need.
5. Offer online services
Services are even simpler than products to start selling at home, but the challenge is allocating your limited time. “Time is money” is never truer than when you’re running a service-based business.
Creative professionals, like designers or marketers, might freelance or consult with other companies, juggling multiple clients, often remotely from their own home office, with occasional travel. Others might operate based on appointments and bookings to offer their services to individuals directly.
Service-based home business ideas include:
Freelance writing
Virtual assistance
Marketing
Designing
SEO consulting
Web design and development
Graphic design
Service-based businesses often require a lot of networking and word-of-mouth referrals to find suitable clients, but satisfied clients will likely retain your services over time.
For this reason, you don’t necessarily need a large number of customers to do well, as you would with a product-based business. Depending on the service you’re offering, a handful of high-quality clients can be enough to support yourself full time while working from home.
6. Teach online classes
Chris Carey, one of the founders of MAPerformance, started his automotive parts and services business from the comfort of home. He began by teaching car maintenance and repair tips to online users in forums. After establishing expertise and trust, people started heading over to his ecommerce site to buy parts.
If you have a teachable skill, you not only can share that knowledge in forums to get your name out there, you can also turn it into online courses. There’s an audience for just about any desirable skill, whether it’s English as a second language, advanced marketing, or everyday home maintenance hacks.
If I Made is Emily Newman’s home business teaching classes to creative professionals. When you teach classes online, you have the flexibility to do it from home and you can offer live or pre-recorded teaching and training. For example, you might offer the live courses at a premium rate, while customers can purchase the recorded sessions at a discounted price.
That’s what Yegi Saryan, founder of Yegi Beauty, does with her business. After establishing a successful online beauty brand, she turned her talents into passive income. Now, aspiring entrepreneurs can purchase lash classes to kickstart their skills and add it as a service offering in their business. Classes are available both online and in-person.
You can also choose the class size and length. If you like small groups or even one-on-one, consider tutoring, mentorship, or masterminds. If you like larger groups, do bigger training sessions and courses. Teach a one-time all-day summit, an hour a week, or somewhere in between.
Not interested in human interaction? Create a fully downloadable course for purchase. All you need is the content, be it a video walkthrough, templates, articles, or how-tos. Use a screen-recording tool like ScreenFlow or Loom to capture your screen and voice while you walk students through the material.
Whichever way you slice it, teaching online is a profitable home business idea because it requires low overhead—just an investment in time.
7. Productize your service or expertise
As we just discussed, one of the biggest downsides of running a service-based business is that you’re paid strictly for your time, skills, and effort. Emily Newman of If I Made productized her classes into digital courses, packaging the recordings from her live sessions and selling them at a lower rate.
“Productizing” your service—creating physical or digital products that package up your expertise and streamline or complement the service you offer—can add additional revenue streams to your business. You can cater to your current customer base or even find a new target customer in the same space.
Gabriella and Andrew Morrison started their home-based business by packaging up their expertise around tiny-home living. They sell courses and plans on StrawBale—operating everything from the comfort of their cozy, non-traditional house.
And here are some ideas for adding products to your own business:
As you can see, most of these ideas involve digital media packaged as products, which means no inventory to keep around the house. If you’re running your home business on Shopify, you can sell digital products seamlessly using the Digital Downloads or SendOwl apps.
In some cases, though, productizing your expertise is more literal. That’s how Bullet Journal came about. Ryder Carroll created his own methodology to journaling that morphed into a home-based business idea. Now, he sells physical journals on his website.
8. Grow an audience you can monetize
If you’re a content creator, have a sizable online audience already, or have always thought about starting your own blog, YouTube channel, Instagram account, or podcast, then you can potentially grow and monetize your following using any of the previous ideas on this list.
Andrew Finn co-founded Wait But Why, a blog-turned-business. After amassing more than 371,000 subscribers and millions of visits, the brand created digital content products tailored to an already loyal audience. Today, Wait Buy Why is a full-blown ecommerce site with digital and physical goods for sale.
Jordan Ferney, founder of Oh Happy Day Shop!, also built an audience via blogging and later turned it into a full-fledged business from home. She designed her business around her life and being able to spend time with her family and now sells products on her ecommerce site.
Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark used Facebook groups to develop and nurture a community around their podcast, My Favorite Murder. This group of Murderinos, armchair investigators who are true crime fans, grew to more than 200,000 members before the podcast sunset in 2018.
My Favorite Murder then created its own paid community, the Fan Cult forum, charging members an annual fee. Capitalizing even more on its fandom, My Favorite Murder even launched an ecommerce site with branded merchandise (it also sold event tickets there).
You can also explore becoming an affiliate—selling other products or services for a commission—or accepting payment for sponsored posts to give brands a chance to connect with your audience.
Building a loyal audience requires patience, consistency, and focus. This isn’t the easiest way to start a home-based business, especially not in the short term, but if you’re able to build a following around something you love it can be one of the most fulfilling, giving you the flexibility to pursue multiple revenue streams at once.
The potential to monetize your audience often depends on the niche you choose to serve. If you’re starting from scratch or are in the midst of growing your own audience, be sure to check out the following guides to learn how to best grow and monetize the most popular channels:
9. Buy an existing ecommerce business
If you’re more interested in investing in a source of income you can maintain while at home or on the go, consider buying an established ecommerce business.
Prices vary greatly based on a variety of factors, including total revenue generated, profit potential, available assets (like an email list or social following), inventory, and more. Some sellers will even onboard you and teach you the ropes of running their store.
Maybe you want to buy a proven business and are willing to invest more money to acquire it. Or perhaps one with untapped potential that you’d like to build on catches your eye.
10. Start a subscription box business
The online subscription box industry is forecasted to grow at 20% each year from 2021 to 2026. That explosive growth has led to the emergence of new direct-to-consumer brands targeting this niche, as well as the adoption by major brands like Sephora and Walmart.
You can start a subscription business from home. Ashley Reynolds bundled surplus products into subscription boxes to sell via her ecommerce site, Cloth & Paper. If you already run an ecommerce business at home, you could do the same to make use of what would otherwise be dead stock.
Subscription boxes don’t have to necessarily be about selling. Haverdash is a subscription box company that rents clothes. When customers are finished using the items, they send them back—and Haverdash rents them out to another customer to generate even more revenue.
11. Turn your pet into an influencer
Pet influencers are all over social media, promoting brands like BarkBox and inspiring thousands of likes with their cuteness. If you’ve got a pet of your own, you could turn them into a social media influencer and work with brands to promote their products online.
Bodhi the Menswear Dog—a.k.a. the most stylish dog in the world—has made a name for himself on Instagram in particular. Browse his feed and you’ll see collaborations with several brands like Booking.com, Spotify, and Poly & Bark.
No pets at home? Take care of other people’s pets. Apps like Rover opened up the sharing economy to pet sitting and dog walking. The pet care industry was valued at $280 billion in 2022. If you’re looking to make money from home, offer pet owners a place to drop off their animals when they head out of town.
12. Sell unwanted items
As consumers become more environmentally conscious, they’re also looking for ways to adjust their shopping habits to support sustainability. Resale clothing is a $15 billion industry in the US alone.
COAL N TERRY is one successful home-based business selling vintage finds. And while the business didn’t exactly start from a home—it was a college dorm room—it has since grown into a brand with a loyal following and celebrity fans.
You can start small with your own home-based business—sites like Poshmark and Mercari are great places to sell your unwanted clothing. You can even use Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace.
Unwanted items aren’t limited to previously used clothing. Food waste is an unwanted item that also presents a viable home-based business opportunity.
13. Play video games
While many may think video games are a waste of time, it’s a hobby that can actually turn a profit. And there’s nothing more home-based than sitting on your couch in front of your TV.
Esports and video game streaming platforms like Twitch have opened the door for gamers to gain notoriety—and eventually money—from their talents. The esports industry alone is worth more than $1.2 billion, and a Twitch streamer can get up to 100,000 viewers at a time.
So how do you monetize this? Sponsorships are one of the best ways to start a home-based competitive gaming business. Companies will pay you to play their games and stream it to your audience. You can also sell merch on Twitch to your audience.
Video gaming is even known to be a great résumé booster. Note, though, success requires some level of gaming skill.
Here’s a unique spin: Twitch isn’t limited to just gaming anymore, and Maxx Burman and Banks Boutté used the platform to launch an online festival where they featured 12 top video game art directors.
They repurposed this content for other digital channels like Instagram and YouTube. After building a loyal audience, the two launched KitBash3D, where they sell 3D assets for video games and movies.
14. Sell NFTs
Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, have garnered a lot of attention as a lucrative creative business you can start from home. If you or someone you know and can partner with have artistic skills, creating and selling NFTs can be a great way to generate income from home.
Artists like FEWOCIOUS have managed to make money selling their art as NFTs to the tune of millions. While those might be outlier success stories, there are plenty of other artists selling NFTs they create at home. And you can get creative, even if you’re not an artist. Take the story of Brittany Pierre, a struggling Chicago-based resident who made $109,000 selling her own art pieces and photography as NFTs, as well as flipping others’ art as NFTs.
To get started, get familiar with the minting process first. You need to have a general idea of how cryptocurrency and blockchain technology work. That way you can confidently create NFTs to sell on marketplaces like OpenSea, SuperRare, and Foundation.
To make a living selling NFTs, it’s key to stay active on social platforms where NFT communities gather. As you get your name out there with your own social media presence, making connections with like-minded sellers and collectors is key to ongoing success.
15. Become a virtual event planner
With the onset of the pandemic and the shift from in-person to virtual events, there was a boost in need for virtual event planning skills. And though many companies are returning back to the office, some changes have become permanent—with more remote workers and dispersed teams in a post-pandemic world.
The best part is you can start with a smartphone, a laptop, and an internet connection while keeping expenses relatively low as you operate from home and find your niche. Virtual event planning spans many different needs, whether that means planning for:
Corporate conferences
Work meetings
Virtual parties
Fundraisers
Trade shows
Webinars
Educational conferences
Group trainings or workshops
Maybe you’re really good with organization and love creating schedules. You might have a natural ability to network, negotiate, and bring people together. If so, these skills are invaluable when you’re trying to market yourself to potential customers.
Getting familiar with virtual event platforms like Hopin, Cvent, or Whova can help arm you with the know-how to successfully win over your first customers. To illustrate the marketing process, businesses like Virtual Events Creator use Instagram to get the word out about what they offer.
As your virtual planning business grows and your skills grow with it, repackaging your services and selling them as toolkits can add an extra revenue stream for steadier income.
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://bit.ly/3Cfdu4w
The article reference: https://www.shopify.com/blog/home-business
Sometimes, all you need to do is prioritize yourself. Then, you’ll see a return on your investment in the form of easier, more efficient work.
Productivity guilt can make you feel like you need to continue working, even when you know you need a break. People can’t always perform at the same caliber day after day, but in a hustle culture, productivity is valued above all else. When you can’t perform at 100% each day, you may start to feel guilty.
Toxic productivity lies in the need to feel productive every waking hour. You might think you need to work instead of rest, and maybe you’re searching for something to do at home that will keep your hands busy outside of regular working hours, even something like cleaning the same spot twice. Here are a few things you need to know about productivity guilt and how it affects your life — and how you can squash it.
1. Separate “busyness” from “productivity”
Some people will continue to tackle new tasks just to keep themselves busy. Busyness can be detrimental, especially if you’re not working on something with substance or value. It’s okay to take a step back and not work on something. What people could consider lazy is often people taking care of themselves and trying to prevent further burnout. You should always work with your goals in mind and make choices to prioritize them.
2. Learn how to break up tasks
People aren’t supposed to work long hours without a break. When you feel your mind start to tune out of your work, you need to take a break. Stand up and look away from screens if you’ve been sitting at a desk. Your brain will be grateful for the opportunity to breathe.
Other times, you may feel like you can’t take a break due to all the work you’re responsible for. That’s when you need to learn how to break up your tasks effectively to save some parts for after your break. Check-in with yourself after each section to ensure you’re still feeling fine.
3. You need to prioritize your health
When you’re overworking yourself in the name of productivity, you’re likely hurting yourself in other ways as well. Something else may contribute to your feelings of burnout, like not sleeping enough or not nourishing yourself properly with healthy foods. Your physical health and mental health work together for your benefit.
Over 30% of working Millennials struggle with mental health issues, namely depression, which can lead to several bad decisions, such as pushing themselves harder at work or self-medicating with addictive substances. Check in with yourself frequently to understand your mental state. Your tasks should challenge you in a good way, but if they’re doing more harm than good, you may need to make a choice to preserve your health.
4. Try to understand what drives it
Understanding your productivity guilt is the first step to making a plan to deal with it. Are you more fear-driven, thinking that you’ll lose your job if you take the appropriate amount of breaks? If so, what can you do to try to relieve some of that fear? You could talk to your supervisor or someone else about how to better use your time in a way that benefits both you and your employer.
5. Set realistic expectations for yourself
You cannot expect to have a highly productive day every day. You should aim to improve a bit each day, but you don’t always need to be operating at 110%. Some days, you may not feel up to doing the same caliber of work, and that’s okay. You need to set boundaries to ensure you feel comfortable and are treated fairly, no matter how you may feel that day. As long as you make up for it on the days you are feeling good enough, you can balance your responsibilities and be gentle with yourself without holding your productivity to an unrealistic standard.
6. You need to allow yourself to relax
Unfortunately, in such a busy world, you may feel like you need to be productive every single day. However, productivity is only essential for tasks you need or want to get done. If you have some downtime to yourself, allow yourself to do something fun instead of searching for something productive. Though it might feel uncomfortable at first, forcing yourself to relax can be good for you and help lower your stress levels.
7. Almost everyone experiences it
You’re not alone in experiencing guilt over your productivity levels. Many people struggle with taking a break or even taking it easier on themselves. One of the best things you can do for yourself is learn what time of day you’re most productive and try to optimize your work around that timeframe. Everyone is different, so what works for you may not work for another person. The best you can do is strive to improve your working habits and allow yourself to relax when you need it, all while understanding this feeling often happens to most people.
Fight productivity guilt by caring for yourself
Checking in with yourself frequently can help you understand when you need to take breaks. Fortunately, most employers and team members should understand when you need to take a break. After you’ve allowed yourself to relax, you might notice that you’re more productive than you have been since you’ve been feeling burnt out and worried about your productivity. Sometimes, all you need to do is prioritize yourself. Then, you’ll see a return on your investment in the form of easier, more efficient work.
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://bit.ly/3Cfdu4w
The article reference: https://www.entrepreneur.com/living/what-you-need-to-know-about-productivity-guilt/452155
