The advent of social networking has pushed traditional business maxims on its head. Whereas before, enterprises relied on the physical nature of business to make a sale, social networking sites can now help small companies attract more customers and get a foot in the sales door, often without the luxury of meeting the customer face to face.
Online social networking is indeed the newest weapon to get more customers. In the Philippines, evidence of a growing reliance on social networks can be traced to the popularity of sites such as
Multiply.com , a portal that emphasizes online data storage rather than a continuous medium for updates. It is precisely because of this that the website has become a virtual shopping mall for small businesses, many of them startups with limited war chests. In fact,
Spot.ph has listed some of the top online boutiques in the country, where people can get more bang for their buck.
One of the most arresting features of the site is that the virtual nature of transactions eliminate the often mundane and annoying task of settling paperwork and permits which in itself, as well as eliminate the need for capital intensive physical stores. Setting up an account is easy enough, but just like in mainstream selling, just having a shop doesn't mean you're in business.
Entrepreneur.com.ph has culled some tips from successful online retailers on how people can optimize their Multiply.com sites and attract more customers.
STEP 1: Pick a name
Unless you’ve never seen a computer your whole life or have never heard of “internet”, it’s not rocket science to open an account in Multiply. The website itself will guide you throughout the whole process. However, if you do open an account for the purpose of selling something, your choice of username counts for a lot, just like it does for a traditional business.
Your username is the first thing is often the first salvo you should focus on, because it gives people an idea of who you are and what you. It will be good to think of something short, sweet, but delivers enough impact to make you memorable enough should a past customer refer you to a friend, as social networks rely on good old word of mouth to gain traction.
ENTREP TIP: Keep your user name memorable, short, and specific. Fancy names can often muddle the perception of the product, and while using your name (or inverting it) may seem like a good idea, use this with caution.
A good example is Carol Guillen and Gena Guillen-Lim’s mypinkcloset.multiply.com that features a name that is both direct and unique.
According to them, “Pink closet is an online shop that offers trendy,chic and fab. We offer fashionable clothes from day dresses to night frocks, from casual event dresses to beach night outs dresses. We also post our own fashion styling advices,” they said.
2. Be ready to multi task
One of the beauties of an online store is that it enables a user to be a one-man corporation; you are the owner, proprietor, sales and marketing , accountant rolled into one. To ease yourself into these rols, it would be ideal to choose a product or service that you know best and are very passionate about.
Remember, potential customers will have a limited window to follow-up product queries since most of your business will be conducted online. If you know your product well enough and can gauge a customer's reaction or follow-up questions, you will be able to conduct a transaction more quickly and efficiently.
According to online retailers Stephanie Laplana and Lana Revista, knowiing a product inside out is essential in any business. The duo are the owners of
melondrops.multiply.com , an online boutique that offers hip clothing and accessories.
"Melondrops is a fusion of interest in fashion, people, technology and the online community, so we make sure that we love what wesell (we often purchase my own merchandise, haha!) and do our best to be prompt in replying to customer inquiries. We do our best to keep our customers happy and delighted with their purchase. Because of this, we get repeat clients and good word of mouth," they said.
3. Keep it short and sweet
A brilliant way of attracting customers is to have a functional and user friendly site. If you don't have a background in web design, their are ready templates for you to use, and there is also a bevy of companies that offer design services specifically for Multiply.com sites.
In fact, their are companies that even give design codes for free, or for a certain fee, who can be found within the network itself or through using search engines like Google.com.
ENTREP TIP: While a fancy, eye popping design may win your site style points, recent studies have shown that on the internet, function often trumps form. Keep in mind that as just one of the competing vendors, you're fighting for people's attention. More often than not, having a simple and functional website beats a snazzy but hard to navigate one.
4. Keep expanding your network
No matter how great your goods are, in Multiply.com as in any traditional business, marketing still plays a vital role in making a sale. Word-of-mouth is usually the most popular avenue of marketing, and social networking sites have made this form of marketing interactive and more dynamic.
ENTREP TIP: Happy customers are bound to spread the word. Make sure to cultivate a reputation for being reliable, as people are still wary of online scams when buying goods from people they have yet to see.
You can even take it a little further by web advertising and joining events as much as possible, just like the Guillens, "We promote via posting blogs and adding new members to our site. We also distribute flyers whenever we join christmas bazaars. Most of our buyers know about us from referrals/word of mouth," they explain.
5. Cover all payment transactions
Even though its been around for a while, e-commerce remains a mystery to some people. Put your customers at ease by installing or availing all possible payment options and implement them. Face to face meet-ups are good, but one of the attractions of selling online is the time and money it saves both the buyer and the consumer.
By implementing modes of payment such as bank deposits, credit card, GCash, and Smart Money, you are effectively giving your customers options that might be more convenient for them, one of the vital elements of selling.
To eliminate customers' fears of getting duped, and also to avoid getting duped by bogus buyers, here's a tip from Laplana "As a safety precaution against bogus buyers, we sometimes require partial payments so we don't pre-order items that won't be bought," she says.
As for delivering the goods, courier companies are the go-to when it comes to delivering the goods to the customer. "People always want their goods to be delivered ASAP. We provide the tracking numbers so our clients are able to get an update whenever they want to," explains Laplana. There are many big-name couriers available to choose from to ensure a safe and prompt delivery to the buyer such as Xend Express , Air21 , or Fedex.
6. Always be on your toes
For sellers who offer pre-ordered items to give their customers more products to choose from, a downpayment is a wise safety precaution to avoid inconveniencing both buyer and seller. Laplana warns "Pre-ordering items for bogus buyers post a threat to sellers since they will have to be the one to pay for the item to the supplier if the customer does not pay for it," he said.
ENTREP TIP: A vital skill is fending off bogus buyers, people who inquire endlessly about an item only to end up not purchasing a product. There have been numerous incidents when sellers are asked by a buyer to meet up, only to be handed a sealed envelope full of fake money in the size of peso bills. So, if meet-ups are unavoidable, always make sure to do it in a public place such as a mall or train stations, and always check if the buyer has given the right amount before concluding the sale.
Shady characters aside, forecasting is also a much-needed skill. Laplana relates "Projection of stocks is always a challenge. You have to know what the bestsellers will be and how you're willing to stock on it. If you do it on a 'per order' basis, sometimes my supplier runs out of stocks and the customer has already paid us for it. If this happens, we do a refund. On the other hand, unsold Items from overstocking takes a toll on my cash flow," she said.
Stay ahead of the curve by constant innovation, and using the site as a mere stepping stone to bigger things, like a formal physical store, for instance. The fierce competition has prompted the Guillens to start improving their product displays and visuals to stay one step ahead of the competition.
"Competition is becoming fierce. A lot are jumping into the multiply wagon.there are multiply sellers putting up their shops every 10 minutes or something like that. Also,since we sell online, buyers only get to see our items via photos. So we really take time out, to set up photo shoots,hire models and photographers. We give our best to present our clothes nicely," they explain.
