The playbook was created with input from the Insaka eCommerce Academy's 14,000-strong community, who voted through a series of polls. The crowdsourced e-commerce recommendations from the community were then collated into a free directory.
According to the Insaka eCommerce Playbook, South African online sellers favour PayFast when it comes to selecting a payment gateway. They rate The Courier Guy for local deliveries and DHL Express for international customers, and they make use of uAfrica when it comes to order fulfilment software and Mailchimp for email marketing. When they are looking for a business banking offering, they most frequently turn to FNB.
Creating the Playbook directory was, for Insaka founder Warrick Kernes, the culmination of an ambition to produce an objective and useful tool for those new to the e-commerce world. It is also a handy guide and reference point for established sellers keen to keep up with industry trends and the supplier choices being made by others in the growing e-commerce sector.
“This is exactly the objective tool I wanted to produce, one based on objective voting and offering all the answers online sellers are looking for, from which distribution and accounting systems to use, to the best marketplaces, banking options and drop shipping apps,” says Kernes. “It is a collective view, not a subjective view, which makes it more democratic."
• 64% of respondents to the Insaka Playbook poll use the Dropstore shipping app
• 69% prefer to source their Chinese goods from Alibaba
• 57% opt for PayFast when it comes to choosing a payment gateway
• 52% source their boxes, tape and other packaging materials from Merrypak
• 58% recommend the services of Aramex for their freight forwarding needs
• 77% use WhatsApp’s on-site chat software
• 39% recommend the services of ROI Solutions for digital marketing
• 55% single out Takealot as the best local marketplace on which to sell
“I was pleased to see both PayFast and uAfrica coming through strongly in the results, as I have personally made use of both their services over the years,” says Kernes. “Similarly it was interesting, but not entirely surprising, that the majority of respondents recommended building your own e-commerce website rather than opting for the services of a developer.
“The use of social media schedulers was also noteworthy, with Hootsuite dominating ahead of Later and Buffer. While Wave, as a preferred – and free – accounting system, was also a strong favourite, and one that is ideal for a startup’s needs," comments Kernes.
Insaka plans to update the playbook once a year.
Access the complete Insaka eCommerce Playbook for free at: https://www.insaka.co.za/playbook
