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5 Ways Businesses Can Help Their Communities during COVID-19 Pandemic

Tag: online business

PayTabs

5-Ways-Businesses-Can-Help-Their-Communities-during-COVID-19-Pandemic

It doesn’t come as a surprise that the COVID 19 pandemic has led to widespread panic and despair all over the world. After all, no one was prepared for a crisis of this magnitude. Currently, people are restricted in terms of movements and their access to the outside world, which is causing various physical and mental health issues. Since normal working conditions are suffering, businesses need to take certain smart steps to promote the wellbeing of their communities. Whether you are running a small business or a have a multinational empire, you can make your contribution towards maintaining normalcy by following a few simple tips.

Ensure the welfare of your team

Every business has an obligation to take proper care of its workforce. During the current pandemic, many businesses have taken several steps to ensure that their employees stay safe. Businesses have taken their operations online, which not only helps their workforce but also their customers. This way, they are able to provide essential services to their clients and keep their employees safe at the same time. Even those businesses that cannot let their workers telecommute can ensure their welfare by providing protective equipment like face masks and sanitizers. Many businesses have decided to provide their employees with extra wages too.

Re-purposing the facilities

Since most businesses are closed for regular operations, they can contribute to their communities by donating their idle spaces. For instance, in many areas, empty hotels and hostels have been converted into makeshift shelters for vulnerable people. Such re-purposing helps in ensuring that limited resources don’t get exhausted by the increasing number of patients. Many factories have donated their facilities for manufacturing of essential items such as hand sanitizers and face masks. Many tech companies are also collaborating for tracking the spread of the virus and for keeping people safe. Overall, all businesses are doing their bit by ensuring the efficient utilization of the resources at their disposal.

Organize fundraisers or voluntary activities

Many businesses have extensive networks that can be utilized intelligently during the time of a crisis. Organizing various charity activities, such as fundraising or offering resources for community use can help, for example. Such activities can be undertaken by businesses operating at any level. Even the smallest of businesses can contribute by organizing such events in their localities. Creative approaches can also be taken in this regard. Like, many organizations are using their resources to send digital messages to people who are in need and in isolation.

Help your business partners

No business can thrive in isolation. This is the reason why, during a pandemic, it is imperative to ensure the welfare of your business partners. This is especially true if you outsource several of your business functions. So, you should ensure that you have made the necessary payments that are due to your partners. If your business has suffered heavy losses, instead of defaulting on your due payments, try to work out an equitable solution with your business partners. It is important that you maintain proper work relationships with collaborators, so that nobody has to bear a disproportionate financial burden. Businesses can ensure their long-term survival by providing support to their partners.

Stay in touch with your community

COVID 19 may have resulted in social distancing, but it does not mean that you cannot remain in touch with your surroundings. With the help of modern technological tools, you can ensure that you are aware of your local environment. Apart from supporting the general public, you can also check in on your employees and your business associates. Many businesses have also started community groups where they can pool their resources for the benefit of their local societies. Such community spirit is necessary for sailing through these tough times. You can also organize virtual events to boost the team spirit and morals in your surroundings.

To conclude

COVID 19 has presented our society with an unprecedented situation. However, it has also highlighted the importance of working together for attaining collaborative goals. It has provided businesses with an opportunity to set an example and ensure the welfare of their local economy. And by following the above tips, you can achieve that easily.

PayTabs Ties up With Expand Cart

PayTabs Ties up With Expand Cart

Don’t have an e-store and still want to sell online? Not a problem! Via PayTabs’ partnership with Expand Cart, clients will now be able to create the right web store and start selling online. The service is aimed at providing one stop solution to merchants who do not have online presence but are willing to expand their reach by creating online stores.

The Collaboration

While PayTabs has championed the cause of providing hassle free and safe online payments, Expand Cart is committed to help merchants in creating their online stores. Expand Cart offers a wide range of services in this regard. It starts with a rich portfolio of templates available online. These templates provide an easy way to kick start the process of website creation. All you need to do is to pick a template and then customize it to meet your specific requirements. Such customization is easy and convenient with the tools provided by Expand Cart.

The collaboration between PayTabs and Expand Cart will allow the customers to carry out full life cycle implementation in an integrated manner. Such assimilation ensures that each and every part of your online store is in sync and provides the best possible services. The task of creating an online presence may be daunting and intimidating. However, this task may be done with the help of online services provided by Expand Cart in an easy manner. You are not required to hire any professional for creating your website and you can do it at your own pace.

About Expand Cart

Expand Cart is a leader in its domain and provides user friendly services for creating imposing online stores. Its portfolio of services includes templates and designs, a store creating platform, hosting servers and marketing activities. The templates included in its repertoire are professionally designed. The exhaustive range of designs ensures that there is something for everyone. So, whether you plan to sell home furnishings or any technical services, Expand Cart portfolio will have a template to cater to your needs.

Expand Cart provides a store creating platform which comes equipped with a unique control panel. The panel has a number of features which help you in building and managing your online store. With the help of features embedded in this panel, you can show all your products in an elaborate manner. Further, you can also enhance the material with the aid of pictures and videos. Other features such as customization of prices and provision of discounts are also available.

Once you have designed your online store, you also need a place to host it from. Expand Cart offers hosting servers which can handle heavy duty websites in a professional manner. It features flexible portal storage which spans multiple servers so as to offer faster and smoother access to your clients. It comes complete with cloud computing architecture to remove geographic constraints. Its cloud servers are located close to the middle east for ensuring speed and faster response. Yours and your clients’ data is secured through the use of latest technologies.

Once you are done with the designing and hosting of your online store, it is time to promote it. Expand Cart has got you covered on this front as well. It offers marketing services such as SEO marketing. Expand Cart aids the process by introducing auto sitemap creation, addition of meta tags and description for items in your store. You can also add promotional features such as discounts and other special features to your listing. There is also provision to collect analytics such as most viewed product, featured products and more. If you are looking to sell your products on social media, then Expand Cart offers your clients the ability to share their favorite products just by the click of a button.

With this collaboration, businesses in middle east now have a dedicated and specialize platform to showcase their products online.

PayTabs

PAYTABS-COVID-19-BUSINESS-CONTINUITY-MESSAGE

Hello from PayTabs,

I trust you, your family and loved ones are safe and sound and observing the safety recommendations during the exceptional circumstances brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. As the situation continues to unfold around the world, I wanted to reach out and personally update you on how we at PayTabs are supporting our employees, partners and you—our valued customers.

RELAX: WE’VE GOT IT UNDER CONTROL

PayTabs primary concern and our highest priority has been and always will be the health, safety, and success of our merchants, partners and employees. I care deeply about the safety of my team, their families and close friends as it is the foundation of everything and this is why we have activated our remote working policy and requested all PayTabbers across all our global offices to work from home.

I always believe that business will have its own ups and downs and the economy will adapt and transform, but our people are our most important asset and should be protected and safe at all times.

As such, we have made some positive arrangements to ensure our employees stay safe, well sanitized and are able to support your business operations with the high level of service you’ve come to expect from us as your trusted payment solutions provider.

ALL SYSTEMS A-GO!

We have established a mandatory remote working policy with the appropriate technology platforms, infrastructure and online devices to ensure your and our comprehensive business continuity. Our engineering teams are well equipped to perform their tasks when working remotely. We’re confident that our payment systems and procedures will continue to seamlessly support customers and partners during this time.

Our customer and tech support teams will be on hand to assist your business needs during our usual business hours. Our account managers (who are only a phone call or email away) have the resources required and are dedicated to serving you.

GESTURE OF GOOD WILL

And now for some good news, here’s an overview of a major initiative our team has been putting together behind their remote working desks to ensure that we support your online business and during these unique times of disruption:

We have launched for the first time in the Gulf region our #Stayathome and sell from your living room initiative. This will empower micro businesses, freelancers and small merchants with payment methods or tools to sell from the comfort of their homes in these trying times.

We hope these and other positive initiatives will assure you of our continued commitment to serving you, our e-tailers during this period. Please rest assured that you, our valued customers are at the forefront of every decision we make.

EVERYDAY PHENOMENON

If we try looking back to what led to the location dependency in the past, it will point us in the direction of the limited availability of technology and infrastructure. Lack of technology advancement mandated that work environments had to be “central” as opposed to being flexible.

The digital era has given tools to companies of all segments across all industries. Because of the internet of things, we can work remotely, from any corner of the world and still feel like we’re contributing. Based on a report by PwC, 64% of millennials would like the opportunity to work from home. Take for instance the example set by freelancers, digital experts and content creators like graphic designers, web developers, bloggers and writers who work remotely.  Availability of high-speed internet, cloud-based applications and flexible spaces made this viable.

Distributed teams are composed of employees who work remotely from all around the world rather than being centralized. Did you know that WordPress runs 100% distributed teams? That means everyone works from home, or more precisely, from wherever in the world they wish.

We are all guilty of checking our emails on a vacation or while traveling for business. In fact, isn’t that what we do the moment we get off a flight? We look for connectivity. We are virtually connected without even realizing it and our location is no longer a limitation.

The virus has re-enforced a message. We have arrived into a new era of hyper connectivity. How many of us are ready?

Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by this pandemic. We wish them a full and speedy recovery, and we remain inspired by those on the front lines in healthcare, transportation services, government, and many others who are caring for people around the world.

Stay safe and my best wishes for your continued health and business success.

Abdulaziz Al Jouf

CEO & Founder

PayTabs

PayTabs

Affiliate-Marketing-How-it-Transforms-Your-Ecommerce-Business

Affiliate marketing has proven its worth in promoting businesses. This concept is now being applied to online endeavors as well. Affiliate marketing involves using the brute force of individuals or companies to sell the products endorsed by them. Influencers may use various media such as videos, mobiles, social media and blog for promoting the products and services. These affiliates earn commissions as and when a person buys the products promoted by them. Here are some of the ways you can use this trend for promoting your e-commerce business. 

  1. Create a Niche Market: Affiliate marketing can be effectively used for creating a niche market for your business. This is done by increasing customer stickiness and loyalty. If you are using a social media celebrity as your endorser then they are likely to bring their fan following. Such followers generally are easily convertible into loyal patrons for the promoted products. It also helps you in creating a particularly targeted image of your product and business. This feature is especially helpful if you are introducing a novel product in the market.  
  2. Indirect Sales Promotion: Affiliate marketing can help you build your own sales promotion team without incurring hefty expenditures. With this indirect sales team, you can reap the benefits of an actual sales team and then some more. Affiliate marketing has proven to be highly successful in boosting the traffic to targeted websites. This in turn is helpful in expanding the scope of your marketing and adding to the revenue. Apart from generating higher traffic, affiliate marketing is helpful in improving the quality of traffic as well. This type of targeted promotion improves the conversion, offering you better bang for your advertising buck. Further, it is also more convenient to customize and alter affiliate marketing tools to suit the ever changing requirements of online businesses.  
  3. Economical: One of the most appealing features of affiliate marketing is its economy. Affiliate marketing does not require hefty outlay of funds as it does not require funding massive ad campaigns. It is also relatively simple to start and operate. Such marketing technique is highly concentrated thus ensures that you are able to tap your target market without spending an exorbitant amount of money. Affiliate marketing requires payment only when the sale is generated. This ensures that such projects have high return on investment in comparison to the investment made in traditional marketing channels. You can also design your commission tier system in such a way so as to ensure that each penny works the hardest for your brand. 
  4. Harness User Generated Content:  Employing user generated content for promotional purpose is amongst one of the hottest trends in the e-commerce segment. Affiliate marketing offers you ample opportunities to integrate user generated content to your sales promotion material. The scope of user generated content is ever increasing as more and more people rely upon social media for getting information about the products. These online information portals also provide reviews of the products which are then used by potential customers for making their purchase decisions. User generated content is important as it is a highly economical way of spreading awareness about your products and offerings.  However, you should be proactive to maintain appropriate quality of user generated content. 
  5. Choose Wisely and Track: While affiliate marketing can serve all types of businesses, it is important that you pay careful attention while choosing such channels. There is a wide range of such programs available, each of which caters to specific types of ventures. For this purpose, it is important to be clear about your end objective. You should also be clear about your target niche market, so that you can choose appropriate affiliate marketing channel. Some of the most prominent affiliate marketing channels currently available are Rakuten, Amazon Associates and Jex Ads among others. Once the selection and implementation is done, it is equally important to have proper tracking systems installed.  

Affiliate marketing has come a long way and offers a wide range of options. For optimal performance, affiliate marketing may be integrated with traditional marketing tools. However, affiliate marketing has high potential as a standalone technique as well due to its high versatility.

PayTabs

How-to-Simplify-Invoicing-and-Billing

Invoicing is an important function in an organization as an efficient system ensures that the bills are collected promptly, leading to better liquidity in the market. Simplified invoicing system also ensures that your clients are assured that they are billed correctly. Integrated payment technologies may be used for this purpose of simplifying the process. Whether you run a small business or a big one, it is important that your invoicing and billing process is smooth and timely. Here are some of the pointers which may help you in simplifying the entire process. 

Fix the Terms: In order to simplify the process, it is important that the organization has clear terms and conditions related to invoicing. Once you have set the terms, you can proceed with communicating these terms to your clients so that there is no ambiguity on this front. Some of the most important variables which should be covered under the terms are the duration of billing i.e. whether the billing will be done on project basis or hourly basis and the duration within which the invoice is required to be paid. Further, the terms which need to be fulfilled before the payment is made should be included. 

Automate the Process: With the easy and economic availability of various tools, it is easier than ever to automate the process of invoicing. The process involves the transfer of data from invoices to electronic system and thereafter carrying out the task of interpreting and validating the invoices. Some of the other aspects of the process are approvals, payments, resolution and storage. The investment in Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP systems tends to pay for itself in a short duration of time as it brings about efficiency in operations. With the elimination of manual intervention, the firm can optimize its human resources. 

Choose Appropriate Payment Options: In order to keep your billing and invoicing process simple, it is essential that you choose your payment options carefully. With a plethora of options available, it has become more difficult for vendors to keep track. The businesses should ensure that they fully balance the pros and cons of providing a range of payment options to their clients. While it is imperative that you offer a wide variety of payment options so that your clients are assured of ease and convenience, it is also important that the selection is kept at a manageable level. The offering of multiple payment channels is also expected to boost your liquidity and reduce the chances of defaults. 

Integrate Different Variables: Invoices comprise a wide range of variables which may make the entire process complicated and time consuming. The integration of these facets are helpful in ensuring the efficiency. You can start by using integration tools for aggregating the expenses incurred for a particular project or a job. Such integration also helps in exercising proper control over expenses and thus keeping the project on a proper path. Timely integration of expenses ensures that you are able to send the invoice in a prompt manner. 

Pay Attention to Analytics: It is essential to keep proper track of your invoicing system. Once the system is automated, it becomes a lot easier to gather the data and then to compare it against the set standards to find out the deviations. There are several tools available for the purpose of collecting such data and then analyzing it. Various aspects such as time tracking solutions may help in making the process more efficient by providing relevant data. Time tracking solution is especially helpful in improving the productivity by generating detailed reports. These reports provide better communication to the clients about the progress of work and thus render invoicing more helpful to them. Analytics are also useful for the purpose of forecasting, which is helpful in planning. 

Overall, the importance of efficient billing and invoicing cannot be overemphasized. The automated invoicing process may be augmented by the addition of terms and conditions such as levy of penalty in case of late payments. The combination of such online and offline measures helps in making the system more amenable to your business. The installation of such system may require significant amount of resources in the beginning but it proves to be more efficient in the long run.