How To Start A Simple Ecommerce Store?

  So you want to enter the ecommerce space, but seem to lack the technical know how, don't worry there are several online companies out there that can help bring your dreams to reality. In this post I'll outline companies offering services in the online commerce space.

• Shopify:

Shopify is a personal favourite of mine and one of the best platforms out there for anyone who wants to set up shop. Perks include a free 14-day trial, integration with so many alternative payment gateways,tiered pricing packages, customised themes to play around with and added customer support. These are some of the reasons over 100,000+ stores have sailed the ship with Shopify.

• Bigcommerce:

Bigcommerce is also another great site that can put your ecommerce store into motion. Over 55,000+ online stores have been created using the platform. Just like Shopify they also have tiered pricing packages, integrated with a lot of payment gateways, customer support and offer a 15-day free trial.

• Bigcartel:

Bigcartel is a platform that caters to the needs of artists by providing them with a customizable online store.

Aside from these online platforms showcased, there are also website builders who have also ventured into the provision of ecommerce stores these include:

• Yola which I did have an experience with in building my first website ever back in 2009 when they were known as SynthaSite.
• Weebly: This is also another great platform for website building, with it's drag and drop themes in addition to adding an ecommerce solution to your website.
• Wix
• Jimdo

Would love to hear from you, send me your thoughts by commenting below.

ROCKET INTERNET THE NEXT BIG THING?

Some of you may have never heard of Rocket Internet, but I am sure you may have come across or encountered one of their numerous start-ups without even knowing it.  The Berlin based firm is behind a host of internet based startups such as Zalora, Lamudi,  Easy taxi, Hellofood, Foodpanda, Carmudi, Jumia, Kaymu and Zalando just to name a few. 

 Founded by the Samwer brothers in 2007, who are noted for a string of successful investments in start-ups.The firm aims to become the World’s largest internet platform outside the United States and China.

The firm touts itself of being able to replicate successful internet businesses in unexplored markets such as that of developing countries and thus has been its strategy. 

Rocket's start-ups are all across the globe from Asia, South America, Europe and Africa. Perhaps whats most impressive is the potential most of it's start-ups posses. For instance in Africa where mobile subscriptions is expected to top one billion subscriptions in 2015, which was a little different a decade ago. Behind this growth is also a huge surge in internet use on phones by Africans which is expected to increase by 20 fold in the next five years, that is double the rate of growth the rest of the world. As more and more Africans get online they are beginning to get comfortable with shopping online. That's where Rocket Internet's incubators such as Jumia (Amazon clone), Kaymu (eBay clone) and Jovago are capitalising on with respect to e-commerce. 

Jumia operates in Ghana, Nigeria (Africa's most populous country), Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Uganda, Cameroon and United Kingdom with plans of expanding into other nations.

If the success of the telecommunication companies in Africa and the meteoric rise of Alibaba is anything to go by Rocket Internet may have just struck gold.

Send me your comments, what do you think?