WATCH | How to ramp up your business' e-commerce growth

Over the last three years, e-commerce and digital platforms have proven to be a key ingredient to any business’ growth. However, Pascalle Albrecht, National Head: Commercial Card Strategy at Nedbank Commercial Banking, says businesses need to be careful and not lose the human touch when embracing e-commerce. 

"Keep your client at the centre of all you do, don’t make assumptions about what they want and need, and never develop for the sole benefit of your business – you will be left out in the cold because a competitor has listened to your client better than you have," says Albrecht.

Part of adding a human touch to your e-commerce experience includes understanding how you will communicate your product in an e-commerce storefront. Here, clients will be unable to touch and feel before purchasing, so it’s important to have an understanding of how technology could enable that component of the shopping journey.

Post the pandemic, Albrecht says the market has seen a steady growth in e-commerce making opportunities to move your business into digital sales much clearer. In fact, a study conducted by World Wide Worx and Mastercard revealed that online sales grew in South Africa in 2022 by 35%, which brought the country’s total online retail spend to R55 billion. 

"E-commerce provides businesses with a much larger client reach than what a traditional brick-and-mortar store would do. It allows businesses to provide more enriched product listings than what may have been possible in the traditional storefront. And the level of customer data that e-commerce provides a business is second to none," says Albrecht.

Key to being able to take advantage of what e-commerce can offer your business is looking back to those who joined the first wave of the digital shift and learning from their mistakes and successes.

"Research any previous success stories in e-commerce and there is a golden thread through them all. Know your business strategy and start small. Test and learn – don’t overwhelm the business by going big bang," says Albrecht.

The shift to e-commerce may seem daunting for smaller businesses that do not have their own platforms, but they do not have to walk it alone. The easiest way to get started is leveraging the power and reach of existing e-commerce platforms, like Nedbank’s AVO app, to sell products without having to build a platform from scratch.

Nedbank has made the barrier to entry even lower for smaller businesses with a range of affordable products.

"Nedbank has really taken our vision of 'Digital First and First in Digital' to heart and we have developed solutions which cater for various stages of the e-commerce journey. We offer smaller and more affordable solutions for businesses to enter this playing field such as our Tap-On-Phone feature through our PocketPOS device – enabling businesses to accept a card payment via their smartphone," says Albrecht.

Nedbank has also partnered with multiple digital wallet services such as ApplePay, SamsungPay and MasterPass.

"In terms of data – Nedbank has a solution called MarketEdge which provides rich insights to businesses regarding their customer base – and shares key payment insights such as who is purchasing from them, what they purchase and how often," adds Albrecht.

To get your e-commerce journey started or simply to learn more, visit Nedbank Commercial Banking on HERE and find out more about business-changing products.