Brad was shopping for his first hi fi stereo and had spent an hour debating between a R6 600 Pioneer and a R5 000 Sony. Fearing Brad’s indecision might cost him a sale, the salesman interjected saying “Think of it this way – would you rather have the Pioneer, or the Sony and R1 600 worth of CDs?”

Brad’s face lit up. The decision was clear, the Sony – and by a large margin. Fifteen new CDs were too great a sacrifice for the slightly more attractive Pioneer. Although Brad was quite capable of doing the math, he hadn’t considered that until the salesman pointed it out.

One constant in all our lives is that we must make choices. You make choices from the time you get out of bed in the morning until you go to sleep at night. All decisions involve opportunity costs, no matter the size of the decision.

Opportunity cost is your next best alternative – your second choice – and something you value. A brilliant ad by De Beers depicted two large diamond earrings with the tagline “Redo the kitchen next year.” Implying the cost of the diamonds was merely a slight delay in a renovation.

Why is opportunity cost important? Opportunity cost is what you give up when you make a decision. When you ask yourself what you are giving up when you make a certain choice, it forces you to think more critically about all of the other options that you are not choosing. It also forces you to think about the follow-up question connected to your decision – is it worth it? You may find that when you think clearly about all of your options and identify the opportunity costs of your choices, perhaps your choice is not worth what you will choose to give up.

How much is your time worth?
Your time is valuable, but how much is it really worth? When your flight is delayed by two hours, you might say ‘what a waste of time’ but do you ever say ‘that’s R1 000 of my time down the drain? It’s whatever your salary works out to per hour.

The opportunity-cost equation simply tells you what the cost of your time is, not how you should spend it or how you want to spend it. If you would prefer to read a book than work another hour, that says that you value the time relaxing more than your salary rate. All this calculation gives you is a benchmark against which to consider what you are doing with your time. The crucial application is in thinking about how you want to spend your time

Consider stationery shopping. You can order through your stationer and have the supplies delivered in a day or two. Or you can go to a wholesaler and spend two hours out the office. There’s no delivery fee for the former, but maybe there are higher priced items and a markup. Which is the better way to shop?  This opportunity-cost idea makes the decision easy: Is the markup or higher prices smaller than the value of two hours of your time? If yes, delivery. If no, head to the car.

Applying opportunity-cost theory won’t always change your behaviour but can simply be a useful tool to understand why things are the way they are.

The post Choice and opportunity cost appeared first on Firehorse Media.

Online shopping in South Africa has continued to hit record highs, especially during last year’s holiday season when online spending increased between 30-40% compared to previous years. The country’s internet economy has been projected to double to R103bn by 2016 from the R51billion recorded in 2011.

Recent studies reveal that the internet economy contributes 2% to South Africa’s GDP and this contribution is rising by about 0.1% every year, resulting in 2.5% increases by 2016.

What does this mean for South African’s retailers?

An increase in online shopping is driving structural changes in the retail sector, according to a recent report issued by PwC.

Online users in South Africa tend to fall within the medium to high-income sector of the population. “This group appears to have a strong pent-up demand for online services,” says John Wilkinson, PwC Retail and Consumer Leader in South Africa.

However, Wilkinson says that South Africa’s online retail market is still relatively small and niche with a strong focus on consumer products such as books, music and DVDs. “This is unlike many of the developed markets, such as Asia and Australia, where there has been an explosive growth of online retailers. Suffice to say there is huge online potential that has yet to be discovered and tapped in South Africa.”

Having already set up an important channel for their long-term future are Edcon’s CNA division, Walton’s with their e-store and Mr Price which are all already operating in the online retail market.

So how easy is it to tap into this market? Let’s consider the pro’s and con’s:

The Pro’s:
There’s no loss to theft
You have access to 24 hour sales
You have national and international reach
Less employees are required
You can collect more data and get better visibility of your customers buying behaviour online, from age and location demographics, initial search terms, related items they are interested in and much more, easily collected via a simple analytics program.
You look bigger than you actually are
You van stock more items. A retail storefront will perform better for a business that sells a select amount of products, while an online store may work better for a business that carries an extensive selection.
Environmental factors such as position, weather, traffic, parking or increased petrol prices don’t affect you.
No bottlenecks or customer queues
Your customers can easily promote your products via sharing on social platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest at the click of a button. (Word of mouth marketing is very powerful and it is much easier for you to encourage this via an online store.)

The Cons:|
There is more competition online –  the web is where people go to get bargains and consequently competition is fierce. Margins in online retail tend of be lower than on the high street and so retailers need to compensate by selling more.
There is more admin required
There is less customer contact
There is no touch or feel of quality for customers and returns are time-consuming
There are lower margins. It has been found that consumers pay significantly more for products they can view in person and for the ‘experience’ within a retail store.
Postage and shipping costs can be expensive
There is no passing foot traffic
There is less impulse buying
There is a dependency on hardware
There is less trust of the brand or product.

The solution? To have both of course.

 What you will need:

An  online payment system such as Paypal for example.
You will need to pay for web hosting and technical support
You will pay for shipping and accepting online payments.
You will pay for your desired domain name and for someone to develop your website and e-commerce platform.
You will need to handle fulfillment and shipping
You will need to maintain it.

Building a customer base is one of the most-essential components of starting a successful retail business, online or offline. With a retail store, the potential customer base is limited to the surrounding area. Online, the customer base is limitless.

The post Considering E-Commerce? appeared first on Firehorse Media.

In the current economic climate, many businesses find themselves having to cut training costs, however companies can save up to 70% on training costs if they consider the opportunity of e-learning to up skill their workforce.

E-learning refers to any form of electronic learning or teaching. Designed to be interactive and to incorporate quizzes, games and video to enhance learning, learner material is provided through film, animation, learning games or learning mobile applications, depending on which is the best solution for the intended audience, delivering  “what is needed, when it is needed”, aligning training with the company’s business goals and objectives.

E-learning classes tend to be up to 50% shorter in duration than traditional classes and, according to certifyme.net, retention of information is increased by up to 60%. This contributes to increased productivity, which in turn adds to further cost savings.

Being highly accessible, e-learning means that trainees can use it just about anywhere, at any time, on any device and it is intended to remove the focus from the trainer and transfer it onto the student, who is able to assess his or her own development, as they progress with the course. Question types, time limits, pass marks and the type of assessment used, are tailored to each unique situation.

Africa has become the most dynamic e-learning market in the world with a 38.6% growth rate of cloud-based e-learning products.  “E-learning is currently a $56.2 billion business globally, and is likely to double in size before 2015 and this is because it works,” says e-learning expert, Kirsty Chadwick, of e-learning design and development company, The Training Room Online, a company which designs and develops tailor-made e-learning material for the corporate, industrial and private sectors.

“Many organisations in Africa who choose e-learning also benefit from the fact that language, literacy and numeracy gaps are overcome by highly visual e-learning material that makes vital training available to all, irrespective of differing education levels.”

“E-learning products are tailor-made to suit the specific needs of the company and more specifically, the learners and include basic computer literacy courses available, which will teach learners anything from turning their computers on, to connecting a printer,” said Chadwick.

The post E-learning Tools: Anywhere Anytime appeared first on Firehorse Media.

Your brand is your reputation —  the most valuable thing you possess. A strong brand and the trust it engenders are the only aspects of your company that competitors can’t steal.

Brands are also the most powerful business tools in business as they help customers to understand the positioning of products in their market contexts, and encourage customers to come back for repeat business.

The path to brand awesomeness is 1) a promise 2) a personality and 3) unwavering focus on that promise that will ultimately deliver you brand equity.

What remains key for a brand to be successful in its industry is consistency. It must consistently deliver great services and great results from its product lineup or multiple services.

Research into current trends and your own brand’s data will improve your products and services in the creation of a successful brand, and enable the company to compete efficiently. This is why research and development is a must in any business.

What do great brands share?

• a compelling idea that captures customer’s attention and loyalty by filling an unmet or unsatisfied need.
• A resolute core purpose and supporting values. These remain in place even through the business strategy, where tactics are regularly revised to address and take advantage of the circumstances of the changing business environment.
• A central organisational principle. The brand position, purpose and values are employed as management levers to guide decision-making. This becomes so ingrained in leading organisations that they consciously ask themselves, “How will this decision impact upon the brand?” or “Is this on-brand?” According to Shelly Lazarus, chairman of Ogilvy & Mather: “Once the enterprise understands what the brand is all about, it gives direction to the whole enterprise. You know what products you’re supposed to make and not make. You know how you’re supposed to answer your telephone. You know how you’re going to package things. It gives a set of principles to an entire enterprise.”
• An ability to stay relevant. Leading brands constantly maintain their relevance to a targeted set of customers, ensuring ownership of clear points of differentiation compared to the competition.

Not all brands are successful and successful brands can lose their way, the most common cause being that of lost leadership taking the brand for granted. This usually happens when brand owners treat their asset as a cash cow, eroding the original brand idea and marginalising the customer experience. It goes without saying, a good product is only as good as the accompanying service.

How do you create a great brand?
– Brands should look to relevance, differentiation and credibility. Never lose touch with your customer or ignore a potential new audience. Make your customer real. Determine your ideal customer and market to that person.

Be authentic and consistent in your messaging, visuals, and experience. If you claim customer service is your most important differentiator, then return calls and emails in a reasonable amount of time and don’t leave people in an automated telephone maze to get the help they need. If you claim quality, make sure your products are up to scratch.

Bear in mind that people need to experience things multiple times before they stick. Be clear but be consistent – they need to see your message seven times before they are likely to remember it. The Nike swoosh did not see overnight success, it spent years and lots of money making that mark mean something to people. Don’t expect one ad to get you to your sales targets, or a website to get you all your customers. Branding is not the same as direct response marketing – it takes time and it should be integrated across all your customer touch points.

Brands that communicate unique selling propositions are the most convincing to clients and the easiest for them to remember. Ensure all of your communications – not just advertising and marketing pieces – are consistent with your brand. Everything your company distributes must reflect it.

Continually promote, publicise, and invest in your brand. Building a business brand can be compared to training and conditioning an athlete: The harder he works, the better the results.

Who is a brand manager?
Brand-building skills require creative, intelligent, innovative, adventuresome, nurturing, disciplined and service focused managers. Brand managers are role models who portray appropriate behaviour and act in the best interests of the brand and company. Conversely, they must also challenge convention to keep the brand fresh by questioning what has become the status quo. They must be continually searching out what makes the brand unique. Customer preferences, competitive frameworks and market conditions are incredibly dynamic. Renewing and refreshing the brand to ensure continuing relevance, differentiation and credibility are the most strategic tasks and perhaps the most consuming tactically. Brand managers must determine what cannot change and what must change.

The questions CEO’s should be asking are:

How can my company ensure delivery on its brand promises to customers?

How can I meet sustainability concerns and protect brand value?

And how do I develop the type of workforce associated with a world-class brand?

Ultimately, brand custodianship should not just be left in the hands of the brand manager or CEO. Rather, each and every staff member should carry their own brand loyalty through their every spoken word, action and service orientation… at the end of the day it is people who interact with brands and it is their emotional dynamics that the message is tapping directly into.

The post What’s in a Brand? appeared first on Firehorse Media.

I confess. I have never had ability with languages. I struggled with Afrikaans at school and nearly lost my University exemption to it, only to discover to my horror that my chosen career had it listed as one of the required subjects. There I sat after lectures at 19 years of age with a set of headphones on my head repeating after a no-nonsense type of voice the correct syntax of a sentence…

I have always felt a flash of envy when watching translators in action – they possess a freedom of communication that opens borders, cultures and whole networks of business and lives. Effortlessly, they seem able to switch not only languages and accents but the very way the tongue and jaw forms the sounds, mysteriously and instantaneously taking on the haughtiness of a Parisian or the gung-ho adventurism of an Alpine-climbing Bavarian.

What wasn’t so available to me back in my day, was the availability of language learning facilities, and leading-edge technology on offer today that will launch learners into a borderless business world that will encompass the globe.

Whether you are a new learner at just over knee-height or a grizzled CEO stuck behind an oak desk, you have dedicated schools, Universities, private facilities, and corporate and legal business assistance and services at your fingertips.

The Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa (ISASA) carries a list of language specific international schools offering language education in schools, eg the Deutsche Internationale Schule, Lycée Jules Verne, Crawford Preparatory, Waldorf and Redhill schools

Fundamental to learning is the role of publishers. Heinemann Educational Publishers, Van Schaik and Via Afrika Publishers publish academic textbooks in all South Africa’s official languages and in all new learning areas. Projects such as the  Reprint of South African Classics in Indigenous Languages promote reading of literature written in African languages even outside the school curriculum. HSRC Press, due to the increasing numbers of computers and diffusion of the internet around the world, looked at localisation of the technology and the content it carries via its book ‘African Languages in a Digital Age: Challenges and opportunities for indigenous language computing’. Localisation includes translation and cultural adaptation of user interfaces and software applications, as well as the creation and translation of internet content in diverse languages.

Other private services include Alliance Française, the Goethe-Institut Johannesburg and businesses accredited to train legal translators for our South African Courts.

Along with corporate talks and presentations, Craig Charnock of Ubuntu Bridge, evolves corporates into the ‘new’ South Africa: “”Craig’s classes inspired me more than I ever dreamed Xhosa classes would. The side-effects have been the building of stronger relationships with some of my colleagues, building greater trust, and allowing me to feel genuinely part of the real society of our country,” said Alan Dickinson, HR Director, SunAir International.

Ubuntu Bridge offers free downloadable MP3’s via their newsletter and XHOSA FUNDIS CC, fully accredited with the ETDP SETA started teaching via Twitter in August 2009, with daily Xhosa phrase tweets also appearing on Facebook.

Learn a new language or improve on a current language and access your world.

The post The Logistics of Language appeared first on Firehorse Media.

If you answered yes to any of the above, chances are it’s not you – it’s your outdated meeting routine and lack of collaborative business communication tools at hand.

What makes a meeting effective?

The meeting achieves its objective, it takes up a minimum amount of time, it leaves participants feeling that a sensible process has been followed, it effects decisions, generates collaborative sharing and new ideas, and creates a process, supported by follow up status reports.

Enhanced computer-aided technologies have enabled levels of communication that leaps time and distance. From electronic mail, instant messaging, intranet and extranet links, translation, note-taking, videoconferencing and online training to more custom focussed tools for businesses to meet, share, agree and process business transactions, we have no excuse not to be communicating more precisely, fluidly and efficiently.

Streaming the digital highway

Electronic mail has overtaken the humble dialling tone, with more email addresses in the world than telephone numbers and more people have multiple e-mail addresses than multiple telephone numbers.

Instant messaging (IM) has become essentially real time e-mail, keeping managers in touch with employees and employees in touch with each other, without the delay and inbox clutter of email. The adoption of IM has been at grassroots level, much like the rise of the IPad in the business setting, where workers have carried over the habit from home or social settings in order to add speed and ease to workplace communication and eliminate time typically lost to “telephone tag” or wasted trips to a co-workers office who is absent or otherwise occupied.

Multi-dimensional meetings

Integrated web, audio and video conferencing solutions have not only streamlined, but captivated, audiences of web meetings, webinars, audio conferencing, online training seminars and multi-point video conferencing with the addition of technology that makes the best of sound, light, and emotive influences.

Increasingly sophisticated electronic collaboration tools are further facilitating audience participation by stakeholders regardless of their location and complement face-to-face meetings, email, and teleconferences, by trimming time and expenses and fostering open communication and better evaluation and project management within teams.

Regardless of differences in time zones or work schedules, software integral to the platform provides documentation of threaded discussions, audit history, and other mechanisms designed to capture the efforts of many into a managed content environment be it workflows, projects, deadlines, or sign-off on deliverables. While several well-known commercial electronic collaboration products exist such as SAP and Microsoft’s Sharepoint, there are other customised products available that offer advanced document management and user participation, for example via electronic voting systems that provide proper authentication of votes and assurance of confidentiality.

Meetings with social media

It’s been said that the social media phenomenon really isn’t anything new, it’s just new and better technology. With origins most likely born from e-mail and instant message correspondence, social media is rapidly moving from an emerging communications medium to the mainstream of marketing.

Adding a new dynamic to how we communicate before, during and after meetings and events, social media creates the ‘buzz’, listing who is going to be there and giving participants a reason to go tell others by adding embedded links to specific sites, videos or forums that promote more sharing.

Event professionals know to make sure their venue is well covered with high-speed wireless to ensure attendees will be able to use Twitter and post to blogs and other sites more easily. And they data mine the most active bloggers and attendees via their online profiles so they can invite them to associated groups, blogs and forums. The life of a meeting is then seamlessly extended by building a thriving online community that remains open to further valuable insights, interaction and information.

Fear factor

Digital tools still face the challenge of the human factor – the fear of technology and the resistance to investment in technical knowledge and time, as well as some of the more traditional corporate cultures that do not support open discussions and sharing of power.

What they offer in its place is anywhere (online) capability which avoids travel time and cost, increased participant availability (any place, any time), increased interactivity and participation, more sophisticated analysis and automatic, comprehensive, neutral documentation.

Modern meetings get results. Modern meetings become an action plan with assignments and timelines that are automatically tracked. The visibility of decisions and assignments during the meeting keeps everyone engaged and allow for automatic follow-up resulting in less wasted time and greater accountability.

Isn’t it time to rethink your ‘meeting of minds’?

The post Hi-Tech Meetings Beat the Mundane appeared first on Firehorse Media.

In order to gain the most profitability from your customer base, you will need to drill down into each client’s portfolio and deliver on a well-defined service and product strategy

Many companies today still approach their client base with a ‘one size fits all’ mind-set when it comes to their supply chain processes and policies, over serving some customers and underserving others. Through the analyses of your profit profiles of both your customers and products, you can custom-build a more profitable CRM supply chain strategy to each client and thereby increase the overall profitability of their individual portfolios. In order to do so, you will need to consider the following:

1: Understand your products
Whether you are selling stationery, automation, Jan/San or furniture – or all of the above – you need to understand exactly which products give you the most profit, are best sellers, give a boost to another sale or are losing traction with customers. In a competitive market, this knowledge will be your mainstay of which products you should be promoting or not.

Use your CRM system to help you make your business decisions, tell you past behaviours and generate return sales in similar product lines. Your sales reports will show you which products are giving you the best margins, allowing you to further maximise your profits by finding where they can dovetail with other best-selling products. For example, who has purchased a mop but no cleaning fluid in the past month? While the mop itself may not deliver on the best margins, cleaning fluid can and will. Sales reports that deliver demand and cost-to-serve analysis* can help sales people to cross-sell additional product lines or undercut your competitors on a lower cost item since you are able to regain the profit from the second sale.

Technology will also assist you in scrutinising the different market segments and identify where to put your focus, i.e. which companies are looking to outsource their Jan/San servicing to a contractor;  or the exponential growth in the number of educational facilities and the health care market which are seeing growth in cleanable space. It might also tell you that paper towels, facial tissue and toilet tissue are still the leading seller in this category, and that bin liners are the next hottest selling item, along with hard floor chemicals and cleaners and degreasers.

By understanding both your customers and your product combinations you can identify which are winners and which are losers, and then structure your supply chain policies so that some or all of the losers are turned into winners. For example, a stationery supplier which provides the same one-day lead time for both A customers and D customers may want to change the policy to three days for the D customers. This would move the inventory buffer point upstream in the supply chain, reducing overall inventory. The upstream buffer would hold a larger pool of inventory, thus increasing the odds that downstream demand will be satisfied with the exact product required. This change may have the effect of turning D customers into B customers.

2. Repeat versus new customers
It’s a well-known fact that it costs seven times more to grow a new customer than to retain an existing one. For the majority of businesses which see recurring revenue, these existing customers don’t just fuel growth, they represent all of the businesses’ profits.

With customer expectations higher today than ever before, the client also knows they have a choice to move over to your competitor if you don’t deliver. The simple 80/20 principle will serve you best here in identifying your most profitable customers instead of wasting efforts in chasing new customers. Identify which of your customers generate 80% of your sales, this will generally be about 20% of your current customer base.
This will also prove a strategy for SMEs facing competition from the big-box stores which win over those customers who are price shopping. By differentiating yourself from the box-movers by providing value on the back-end of purchases you can woo back price-conscious end users. Ensure your focus is on retaining customers by identifying which need reigniting, along with strategies to cross-sell, upsell and link-sell to your customer base.

In order to speed up your sales process, have a slightly different script for your different types of prospects which focusses on their problems. Then spend time making them feel special enough to become loyal to you. Ensure your service levels are excellent and your sales follow up on a par. People don’t buy products they buy solutions – people also buy from people – so make your contact personal and build their trust. The happier and more valued your current customer base feels, the more likely they will make repeat purchases and increase spend with you and not your competitor.

3. Be switched on, all the time
Use today’s technology tools to boost productivity and leverage it in order to simplify operations, improve service levels and at the same time reduce internal costs. Cloud based tools will ensure you stay connected to customer data, accounts, price lists, and current stock levels and will streamline communication and other processes, such as document revisions, so the team has more time to sell. Most importantly all data will be backed up all the time.

Since the best way to handle an economic downturn is to sell your way out of it, hire more sales staff to recoup lost margins and let them hit the road running to win more business. While your investment in technology will streamline your processes and productivity, your investment in human capital is the best asset in which to create revenue.

With mobile employees backed by the Cloud’s mobile technology you can save money in increasing efficiency and traveling time and shortening the sales cycle. At any chosen moment, a sales rep is able to see what orders a client placed last year, what stock has been delivered or not and instantly identify what the customer bought this year compared to last year. By placing your CRM in the cloud, you are afforded better scalability without time-consuming updates and licensing issues or loss of data due to power outages; and for SMEs the Cloud often ensures more security that they might have on their current IT systems. With big data the new watchword, you will need to adapt to these new technologies in order to boost your business decisions. If you think it is not for you, consider Amazon. They were one of the first companies to adopt business intelligence to analyse their customer’s buying behaviour through big data.

Social media can also assist in identifying what the market feels about your company and highlight issues with other suppliers. In addition, it can help you ‘read’ your crowd, for example which companies are focussing on sustainability and therefore interested in green cleaning products and equipment such as floor scrubbers that use less chemical products and machines that ionize water to help lift dirt particles.Today’s technology offers solutions such as e-commerce, back office automation, delivery optimisation and Internet purchasing and will empower you to handle more business and serve a greater number of customers using fewer resources – without the right technology, expect to be left behind.

*Cost to serve analysis: calculates the profitability of products, customers and routes to market, and provides a fact-based focus for decision making on service mix and operational changes for each customer.

The post Gain more profit with CRM strategy appeared first on Firehorse Media.

According to a 2012 report by technology research company World Wide Worx (WWW), e-commerce growth is accelerating. The study predicts that the Internet economy will increase its contribution to the overall economy from 2% in 2011 (R59-billion), to as much as 2.5% by 2016.

The authors say this can be explained at the hand of a ‘digital participation curve’. “It takes up to five years before new Internet users gain the confidence and experience in the medium to become active participants in the Internet economy. With the number of Internet users having accelerated from 2008, the number of experienced users will begin accelerating in 2013.”

This trend will continue until 2018, the authors say.

In the trenches

The experience of Cape-based e-commerce developer Realmdigital broadly corroborates this, says Wesley Lynch, CEO. “South Africans are becoming far more comfortable buying online, with value offerings like Groupon’s group buying playing a crucial role in making it more attractive.

“The natural appeal of e-commerce is the accessibility it gives products, something that store-only retailers cannot offer. The convenience of buying from anywhere in the world and having a physical product delivered at your doorstep is hard to beat.”

The market for digital products has further grown substantially, with music, books and other downloads leading the way, he adds. “The instant gratification of a digital download is even more of an incentive to buy online.”

Online boost

Academic book retailer Van Schaik confirms excellent uptake of its online presence, www.vanschaik.com  as well as a significant change in trading patterns and a net growth in sales.

The company says a massive increase in website traffic occurred after Realmdigital took over its development in 2011. “From 5 000 unique visitors per month 12 months ago, the site now registers on average 340 000 visitors per month,” says digital manager Melvin Kaabwe , adding that the company has had to invest in considerable extra capacity to manage the load.

Besides the effect of a new partner, he puts it down to a combination of progressively cheaper Internet access over time and the proliferation of non-PC devices sold with data bundles.

The prevalence of low-cost BlackBerrys on campuses – for two years the youth’s favourite phone according to the Sunday Times Generation Next survey – has also helped. “We view mobile commerce as key to accessing this market, and a boon for our serious entry into e-commerce as an academic resource. Making the site as accessible as possible to mobile users was one of the formative briefs for the site, and Realmdigital did that for us.”

Opportunity

If retailers dither about the online investment and the additional cost of selling (including distribution to customers), they should consider the spike in volumes they are likely to experience, says Lynch.

While Van Schaik’s increase in online sales has been less pronounced than its increase in visitors (30% up year-on-year in February), Lynch says retailers must not expect to be Amazons overnight. “That is a healthy increase in anyone’s terms,” he says. “In addition, online retail is now pretty competitive, with Kalahari, Loot, Wantitall and others all making their mark – and there can be no clearer argument for getting online now.”

Kaabwe concedes other extraneous factors. “Only about 2% of South Africans are shopping online ‘properly’, in the sense of using credit cards. The course most likely to lend itself to card purchases is the MBA – students are a more affluent demographic.”

Future

With e-commerce finally shaping up to be the force it was always expected to become, real-world retailers will have to work out how to compete with a new generation of leaders – Amazon, Kalahari, Wantitall, Loot and many others.

At the heart of embarking on this new direction will be choosing the right digital partner, one that can greatly assist with working out a winning e-commerce and marketing strategy that will get the volumes to justify the leap into new territory.

 With competition intensifying, Van Schaik is currently piloting a number of initiatives that will give it an edge over competitors, including multiple digital entry points to the company’s catalogue, any-device downloads of texts, same-day delivery and extra call centre capacity.

Acknowledgment:
Realmdigital is a top South African e-business strategy and technology partner, specialising in Internet and mobile platforms. Contact Wesley Lynch on Tel:       +27 (0)21 975 0959, Cell:     +27 (0)82 784 4905, Email:   wlynch@realmdigital.co.za

Or visit  www.realmdigital.co.za

The post SA e-commerce reaches tipping point appeared first on Firehorse Media.

Whether your honeymoon night is a rite of passage or a time-honoured tradition, it serves as a doorway into the future that will deepen your bond of love and trust with your husband.  Here’s how to make that ‘first night’ count…

Proven Pleasure:

You may have, metaphorically-speaking, already climbed Mount Kilimanjaro with your fiancé, but that doesn’t mean to say that on your special night the stars are necessarily going to collide for you. For a man, getting married is up there at the top of the stress-inducing list of activities. Add alcohol into the mix and your first night may be nothing more than a half-remembered, if familiar, fumble… So, what to do, girls?

1. Don’t have sex for a few weeks before your wedding, it will build anticipation and peak his drive.
2. Know your and your partners’ drinking habits and capabilities – at the wedding party, enjoy yourself but don’t tip the scales to where you are losing control. Keep the sexual tension top of mind with a little light flirting and invite your new husband to bring his bottle of champagne/scotch to the honeymoon suite at a chosen time. If your accommodation requires a car trip, make sure you have a dedicated driver to get you there safely – a great opportunity to kiss in the back seat!
3. Surprise him! Do something completely fresh and out of character – if you are usually shy and demure in bed, switch roles – this is your chance to show him you can be versatile and imaginative. If you want to be celebrating your 25^th marriage anniversary one day, this is a good time to start practicing. Whether you play the ‘French maid’, the dominatrix, or the virgin, give him and you something to remember.
4. Gift him one thing on your special night. It could be a massage to warm him up (the lower back is an erogenous zone for men), it could be a pole dance, it could be oral sex of the type he likes best. This is the time to give him some attention. So far the big day has been all about you, there is no harm in making him feel the centre of attraction now.
5. Ask him for one thing that you would really like him to do to you… it could be sucking your toes, simply holding you and caressing you, it could be just discussing the day. This is your first step in connecting to what you really want and then learning how to ask for it…

Pure Pleasure:

For those of you discovering your husband sexually for the first time, your imminent wedding night really ups the thrill – and the pressure – for both of you. Whatever your friends or relatives may tell you – don’t listen – you and your partner are totally unique human beings, with your own magnificent qualities and experiences – embrace this night without expectations or pre-judgement, rather choose the way you want it to be, for you.

Communication is key. Before the wedding, choose a quiet time to speak together with your fiancé about both your feelings regarding the wedding night. By revealing your concerns and fears, you allow him to be vulnerable about his.

Once you are alone in the bedroom, offer him a snack and refreshments to share together, to bridge any awkwardness.

Use the cliché of ‘slipping into something more comfortable’ to take a moment in the bathroom to prepare yourself. Really look at how beautiful and perfect you are in the bathroom mirror. Take a few breathes and let go any expectations or thoughts you may have. Enter the room ready to simply allow your body to flow with the sensations.

There is a good chance that you may not reach orgasm your first time and if your hymen is still intact, there may be a slight discomfort and a little bleeding – this does not last and is almost never anything serious.

Your partner will most likely be experiencing the same pressures as you. If he is unable to maintain an erection or he experiences pre-ejaculation, try to change the mood. You have plenty of time to get it right, and right now is the time to take any guilty or bad feelings out of the moment. Spend some time kissing or fondling each other, or tickling and laughing together.

Take note of what felt good and don’t be afraid to give your husband feedback on how it was for you, in this way you can start to build on your pleasurable experiences.

Make sure you have something beautiful and elegant to wear the next day. You want to look as great as you did the day before, only this time, you now carry the confidence of being a full woman.

Finally, remember that marriage is not about sex, it is about forming a deep and lasting bond of trust and respect that goes both ways, out of that, great sex will naturally follow.

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As we gear up for the year ahead, business must focus on the emerging trends and latest technologies which will power business towards a more dynamic future.

Mobile Devices
Mobile devices will rule in 2013, as consumers use them to maximise their every moment, be it experiences, purchases or communications. Gartner predicts that by 2013 mobile phones will overtake PCs as the most common Web access device worldwide and that by 2015 over 80 percent of the handsets sold in mature markets will be smartphones, allowing consumption to occur anywhere, anytime, along with the tools and resources to create and capture value being more broadly distributed too.

QR Codes
Consumers will have started to see Quick Response Codes everywhere, from billboards to magazine advertising. Expect to see an almost universal adoption of these as they become an important part of every company’s mobile marketing strategy and as an engagement marketing tool. Services will continue to emerge that will enable customers to send QR code-based discounts and messages to friends via text messages and social networks.

Eco-focus

Trends in consumption, government policy, and costs all point towards even more green industry business opportunities in the years ahead and a rising consumer interest in environmentally friendly business practices and products, accompanied by eco-status and eco-stories. The trend is not driven by customer interest alone, as sustainable business practices help companies save money over time: PricewaterhouseCoopers indicates that companies reporting sustainability efforts have a greater return on assets than companies that do not. It may cost more to install solar panels but monthly savings on energy bills add up fast. Increasingly, businesses are looking to enhance their operating efficiency through sustainability efforts, and opportunities in the sector will continue to abound for years to come.

New-ism

As consumers lust for ever more exciting, new, interesting, niche, perfect and custom products in 2013, we will see the spread of new local manufacturing technologies such as 3D-printing and make-on-demand in manufacturing sectors in established markets. Along with these savvy, demanding customers we will see the industry focussing on the value of customer data to business and a proactive approach to brand delivery to shoppers as the flow is reversed. Along with rising labour costs in China, there will also be a return to ‘local is lekker’ produced products. Playing an integral role in this will be a proliferation of niche social networks already seen with Instagram, Pininterest and Vimeo. Expect to see more custom networks that use Facebook’s login mechanism as a gateway to smaller, more focused social networks.

Transparency

Brands will be required to stand behind their product promises, both showing and proving that they have nothing to hide. As the world moves towards a more sustainable and socially-responsible future, companies will have to pro-actively provide evidence of their ethical and environmental credentials. As example, 69% of US consumers said they are more likely to buy from a brand that talks publicly about its CSR results, versus the 31% who would purchase from a brand that talks about its CSR mission and purpose and only 44% of Americans trust companies’ green claims (Source: Cone Inc., March 2012).

Data security

The personal cloud will gradually replace the PC as the location where individuals keep their personal content, access their services and personal preferences and center their digital lives. With social networks already part of the mainstream, there will be an increased consumer focus on privacy and protecting their personal data. Businesses managing technology, especially those using ‘the cloud’  will need to be alert when storing, using and securing personal data to avoid a public backlash and potential legal agreements. Already there is an increasing trend for ‘self-reporting’ to reassure consumers.

Incentivising the workforce

Prior to the economic downturn, business recruited and incentivised staff with a combination of salary, bonuses and share options. As equity prices continue to drop, companies will need to relook at the structuring of incentive schemes so that they regain their place as a staff motivator, in order to retain top-class staff.

Market lines merge

The power of the internet and social media is allowing B2B and B2C customers to go direct into more industries, especially professional services. Along with new generations and the increasing power of the digital platform, social generations are reshaping companies from the inside, creating wider networks to create and deliver value to customers. As communications and marketing moves from a focus on one-to-one relationships to many-to-many, non-technology businesses will need to capitalise on these opportunities, with a strong online presence vital to their continued growth.

Pay it forward
Payment methods for businesses has been dominated by a handful of providers until now, requiring a network of merchant accounts, terminal providers and accompanying fees just to accept the most popular credit cards. A payment revolution is on its way, headed by services such as iZettle recently launched in the UK which allows businesses to take secure payments anywhere and everywhere via iphone, iPad or Android, where businesses pay nothing upfront and get a free mobile website for life. This combined with the growth of mobile wallets on smart phones  and alerts to users of sales, offers and deals could spark a revolution for market stalls, events, pop-up shops, restaurants and delivery services and see more businesses requiring mobile compliant sites for phones and tablets.

3D technology
3D-printing has been used by designers and engineers for years, now with falling technology costs we will being to see designers, start-ups and small businesses able to offer custom, small-scale production runs. A must-have new gadget in the home, it is also likely to stimulate creativity in a new generation of emerging designers and products, with growth in 3D smart phone apps and communities gaining momentum. Internet television will also support rapid growth in internet useage with services such as Google and Apple TV bringing services into homes along with 4k TV – an HDTV experience four times the resolution of current sets that will grow interactivity and bring data and information ever closer to the customer.

Big Data processing
Big Data is moving from a focus on individual projects to an influence on enterprises’ strategic information architecture. Dealing with data volume, variety, velocity and complexity it is forcing changes to many traditional approaches. This realisation is leading organisations to abandon the concept of a single enterprise data warehouse containing all information needed for decisions. Instead they are moving towards multiple systems, including content management, data warehouses, data marts and specialised file systems tied together with data services and metadata, which will become the “logical” enterprise data warehouse. (gartner.com)

Health-centricity

With a rising consumer awareness of the role of a healthy diet, many brands will reflect their anti-ageing, and health related properties in their marketing. Along with gluten-free, lactose-free, MSG-free labelled products we will also see advances in quality and availability of whole range products, meat-free lines and innovative vegetarian foods and those claiming no-fat, no-sugar and salt-free alternatives, with many companies switching to “additive-/preservative-free” positionings, with the use of GM-free claims also growing in popularity.

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