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7 Mistakes to Avoid When Starting an Online Business

Tag: E-commerce

7 Mistakes to Avoid When Starting an Online Business
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

7 Mistakes to Avoid When Starting an Online Business

Starting an online business can be an exciting venture for any newcomer to the e-commerce industry. So while the thrill of setting an online shop and managing your online business with ease can make it seem like a walk in the park, it is important to refrain from committing the following mistakes that could set you back or ruin the chances of growing your business:

  1. Lack of planning:

The number one most important thing when starting an online business is having a business plan. Walking into a business venture without any action plan is risky and reckless.

  1. Paying attention to tiny details:

Little details can be very distracting from what’s important and can sidetrack your focus, this can lead to wasting valuable time.

  1. Not making money a concern:

You should always be wary and know where funding will be coming from, startups don’t profit from the beginning but experience a lot of losses. Financial plans are important.

  1. Not valuing your product or service:

If you are selling a product or a service, it is imperative to set a price that can end up gaining a good profit.

  1. Not prioritizing customer service:

Your customers are what will give you the profits you seek, ensure they have a good experience. Nobody wants to buy from the business with unimpressible customer service.

  1. Not hiring early:

Hiring early is a positive factor because it will allow you to match the skillsets and personalities and ensuring you have a solid team and company culture when the business picks up.

  1. Underestimating the focus and commitment needed:

It will take a lot of effort and focus to start your business, so you can only imagine the effort needed when running the business. Make sure your focused enough the achieve your goals, multi-tasking might not work for everyone. So dedicating the time for this is highly important for proper management.

All online businesses have the potential to succeed through hard work, dedication, smart planning and of course, the right online payment facilitator for their business. With PayTabs, we are dedicated to empowering and enabling our merchants with all the payment platforms required to accept payments and grow their business. To test the power of PayTabs’ platform, you can sign up for a free demo merchant account. For more useful tips and tricks, you can stay up to date with our posts by signing up for our blog alerts as well.

6 years ago
m-Commerce: The Future!
Mohab Super Merchants 0

m-Commerce: The Future!

In 2014, global m-Commerce revenues were $184 billion which is poised to increase to $669 billion by 2018*.

These figures are a testimony to staggering growth of mobile retail commerce in recent times, primarily led by deeper smartphone penetration across the world. In terms of regions, Asia has witnessed the highest growth in mobile commerce, which is not surprising given the population of Asia as a continent and the pervasiveness of the smartphone across the continent.

In multiple surveys, shoppers across the world have agreed that modern mobile sites are safer and easier to use, than ever before. Clearly, there has been a sea change in UX (User Experience) of a mobile site or a mobile app, leading to greater affinity towards mobile shopping. However, the growth of mobile commerce is due to some key factors:

  1. Pervasiveness of Digital Wallets: Across the world, there has been a steady increase in the adoption of digital wallets, which has had its effect on mobile commerce numbers growing. In countries like India, clearly there has been a faster than usual growth in m-commerce, led by the government’s push towards non- cash transactions. The phenomenon of digital wallets has changed the mobile commerce industry worldwide and it is not just limited to developing countries.
  2. Increased Trust: Over time, consumers have increasingly felt more comfortable shopping on mobile. Trust has led greater adoption of m-Commerce across geographies. The trust has been built by the convenience offered by m-Commerce which has been lapped up by the consumers across the board.
  3. Checkouts in a Jiffy: One-page checkouts coupled with the adoption of digital wallets has made checkouts hassle free and has led to greater mobile conversion. If the consumer can quickly buy his or her product, he or she will surely visit the site again to make a purchase.
  4. Increased Awareness: In an interconnected world, a consumer anywhere can learn about m-Commerce and its growth. The stupendous growth has created an urge amongst shoppers to jump the m-Commerce bandwagon and experience shopping at his or her fingertips.

At PayTabs we have been enabling m-Commerce by offering a comprehensive payment solution fully optimized for mobile. Sign up for a free demo to experience the power and flexibility of our solution.

*Data Source: Statista

7 years ago
Digital Marketing: Key for an e-Commerce Startup
Mohab Ecommerce 0

Digital Marketing: Key for an e-Commerce Startup

You have a great idea; you have registered your name and your business; you have complied with the tax regulations, you have chosen a brand name, you have signed up for your domain, you are developed your website, you have selected a shopping cart plugin for your site or developed your own shopping cart, you have selected your payment gateway you have stocked your inventory.

Now you are all set! Your maiden e-commerce venture is about to begin! But, how do you get the word out that you are a new e-commerce venture and how do you attract customers to buy from your website, whether it is a marketplace or a single store. The answer lies in Marketing. Considering all forms of marketing available nowadays, the most effective form is to market through the digital form, especially social media.

The following factors are the reasons why you should concentrate on digital marketing:

  1. Variety of Content:

    As a business, you would have multiple forms of content that you can leverage to educate the consumer about differentiating factors of your e-commerce platform, be it blogs, infographics, images, etc…. From a content creation standpoint, focus on the USP of your platform and the experience that your platform provides.

  2. Pervasiveness of Search Engines:

    Most consumers search online looking for products to buy. Hence it is an imperative for your e-commerce platform to be SEO friendly. You should have optimized all the pages of your site/platform to be picked up by Google/Bing/Yahoo. Well, the most popular search engine is Google, therefore optimization of product pages on your site is a necessity. Most importantly, ensure your site has a search bar for any consumer to search for a specific product they are looking for. Search engine crawlers tend to rank sites higher with a product search option. This also enables your site’s product page to be featured for product searches done on the search engine.

  3. Analytics and Targeting:

    The role of analytics in the digital marketing space has grown over the years and it proves to be a great barometer of consumer assessment. You can often target a consumer who spends more time on your site by pushing out relevant ads of the product pages he has browsed, through remarketing (either google remarketing or facebook remarketing).

  4. Growth of Social Media:

    It is a no brainer that social media platforms such as facebook or twitter have grown to become hubs for consumer conversations. It adds value to have a strong social media presence and market yourself effectively on social media to create awareness about your new e-commerce venture.

  5. Social Listening:

    Using advanced social media listening tools to gain insights about your consumer, as in picking up clues from his conversations, actions, etc… Social listening tools enable you to keep a tab on your competitor and their navigation of the digital space. It is a must for analysing consumer behaviour and analysing competition.

  6. Video Marketing:

    Videos in the digital world are known to capture the consumer’s attention in a very short span of time. Video content can be used for paid/non-paid digital advertising leading the consumer to go to the site and browse through or purchase. It pays to invest in video marketing, as the ROI over a period is going to be highly profitable for you.

As you can gauge by now, digital marketing is an intrinsic lever to grow your e-commerce business. What are you waiting for? Start now! Subscribe to our blog to gain more insights on e-commerce. You can also sign up for a demo of our Payments Solution to understand the value that we can bring to your e-commerce venture.

7 years ago
How a Payment Gateway Works
Mohab Ecommerce 0

If you have ever wondered how a payment gateway functions on the backend. Well, look no further! We have a lowdown on how a payment gateway facilitates the transfer of information between a payment portal (such as a website, mobile phone) and the Front End Processor or acquiring bank. Here is a step by step guide detailing how Payment Gateways work:

How a Payment Gateway Works

To understand the value of PayTabs as a comprehensive Payment processor, sign up for a free demo here. If you have some questions or insights, feel free to comment below.

7 years ago
Technology: A Key Differentiator for PayTabs
Mohab Super Merchants 0

Technology: A Key Differentiator for PayTabs

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is equivalent to magic.” – Arthur C. Clarke (Author)

The world of payment solutions has evolved dramatically in recent times, given the growing need of global e-commerce. Most merchants nowadays require a comprehensive solution to take care of their payment needs, whether it is in a single store environment or a marketplace environment. Even offline merchants need payment solutions to effectively manage their orders, especially in the context of international payments. The modern day customer expects no short of magic while paying for a product online, irrespective of the environment. Thankfully, the technology has evolved drastically in recent times to create nothing sort of magic for customers, irrespective of their expectations.

The payments landscape has broadened as the world has shrunk and the need for multiple currencies, alternative payments, split payments, recurring payments rolled into one solution has become an imperative for merchants of all sizes. Apart from the different features in a payment solution, what is required is the ability of the solution to integrate in various ways and provide a wide range of integration capabilities for multiple shopping carts, in the context of e-commerce.  Apart from features of a payment solution, an ideal solution should have a secured technology backend.

In the light of the growing e-commerce landscape, PayTabs has the technology to add business value for any merchant. Key elements of the technology are as follows:

  • 160+ Currencies accepted on the platform.
  • Whether it’s multiple channels, schemes, acquiring banks, multiple shopping cart platforms, security infrastructure and systems, risk management and merchant services, we have you covered in all aspects in the context of building, operating and growing your e-commerce business.
  • Dual layers of fraud management infrastructure, dedicated fraud and account management.
  • 130+ alternative payments options designed to intelligent recommend you options that support your overall business goals.

To fully experience the power of the PayTabs solution, sign up for a free demo or contact us for more information. Feel free to provide insights or comments below.

7 years ago