I just love interviews ... so I decided to interview Justin from
http://www.wantitall.co.za/Albert: "... You seem to be a newbie in South Africa, one day you just suddenly popped up ... tell me about how you started and when you started?Justin: "Well, we actually ran a successful import business for around 10 years, importing items for friends, family and whoever heard about us via word of mouth. One day we just decided that we needed to take the business to the next level. The logical choice was a web site. We know we had a great business model, now it was just a matter of getting people ?through the door? or onto the web-site"
Albert: "Tell me about your business model ... what makes you different from any other online retailer in South Africa?Justin: "I think the biggest problem with the online retail business in South Africa is the lack of variety. The SA public is starved for choice, especially when compared to established markets in the USA. With the web enabling the SA public to browse sites in the USA, people here suddenly realized that they were missing out on all sorts of items they could only buy in the USA?
People find the majority of items they require in USA; however stores in the USA are hesitant to ship items to SA due to the prevalence of fraud. ? That?s where we step in.
We have relationships with a variety of e-tailers in the USA, and they are happy to ship items to our USA facility. Customers therefore send us a list of items they require from the USA. We then purchase the item on the customer?s behalf and organize all the shipping to SA. We handle everything, from customs, duties, shipping etc. and give the customer a price based in Rands.
We don?t carry stock, but rather import items that people request ? why limit yourself to the items only on SA based websites, when you could rather surf and purchase ANYTHING off the web, anywhere in the world. Delivery times are between 5-10 working days
Albert: "How many products do you currently have on your website?Justin: "We currently have a list of over 50,000 unique products (no books) and are hoping to have a list of over 500,000 items within the coming months.
Albert: "Lets quickly talk about online marketing ... what is your thoughts about online advertising in South Africa?Justin: "I find advertising within South Africa to be extremely expensive, especially when compared to more established markets like the USA and Europe. Due to the low number of ?big players? or large portals in the SA market - we as site owners find ourselves limited in choice when deciding where to advertise.
The larger players know this and therefore charge a premium for traffic. It?s not uncommon for many of the SA portals to charge 10c per banner impression, which in my opinion is extremely expensive.
For this reason you always see the same adverts wherever you go. There are only a few companies which can afford the 10c per impression. Go to any large portals in SA, and you?ll consistently see the same corporations advertising.
In my view, it?s all about targeted advertising ? they give you the best ?bang for buck?/ conversion ratios. Why pay 10c per impression, when 1 in 1000 people actually click, when you can pay R1 for a targeted click.
This is where jump.co.za gets my vote. All traffic is extremely targeted, and I get the best responses from traffic driven by jump.co.za
Albert:" Thanks for the compliment ... final question ... What advice do you have for online consumers in South Africa when it comes to buying online?Justin: " 1) Be sure you are dealing with a reputable company
2) Give feedback about good/bad experience and help other consumers identify sites which give quality service
3)If you are not comfortable using a credit card online, enquire if there are other methods of payment
4) Try it once ? it?s addictive
