Heavy Chef launches 10-step e-commerce guide for aspiring entrepreneurs

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The whole area of e-commerce is challenging for many budding entrepreneurs.

“Research conducted by our Heavy Chef Foundation and published in our 2021 E-commerce Education Report found that more than two-thirds of online shop owners had no exposure to other E-commerce entrepreneurs when they first started their businesses,” says Heavy Chef Foundation’s CEO Louis Janse van Rensburg.

Entrepreneurs behind brands such as Yuppiechef, OneDayOnly, WooCommerce, Koodoo, Tshepo Jeans, Payfast, Faithful To Nature, Dermastore, SnapScan, and many more are included.

They answer all the burning questions about taking online payments, marketing products, finding customers, storing stock and anything else about selling products online.

The 10 recipes to be found in Selling Products Online include:

Recipe #1: Finding your customers.

‘Make sure you’re in the digital space at the right time, speaking to the right audience, with the right deal.’ – Lauretta Ngakane.

Recipe #2: Setting up an E-commerce store.

‘I’m not here to build a website. I’m here to start selling stuff online.’ – Warrick Kernes

Recipe #3: Taking online payments.

‘We’re not asking anyone who’s building an online store to understand the technology behind online payments. Your business is whatever you’re selling, so we make the payments side really simple.’ – Matt Cohen.

Recipe #4: Selling on existing platforms.

‘Sell your product everywhere. Do not restrict yourself. Do not be the reason why customers are not able to give you money.’ – Nyaki Tshabangu.

Recipe #5: Attracting more customers.

‘The most important place to start in digital marketing is to make sure that everything is trackable.’ – Jessica van der Westhuyzen

Recipe #6: Fulfilling online orders.

‘Packaging is everything … How you package, how you fold, how the product smells – it all plays a role. We go deep into those things so that when the product arrives, it’s beautiful.’ – Tshepo Mohlala

Recipe #7: Managing stock.

‘In South Africa, there are many third-party warehouses. You are the one managing your website and getting sales, but your stock is in somebody else’s warehouse. You must integrate into their system and they will do the picking, packing and delivery.’ – Anita Erasmus.

Recipe #8: Serving customers.

‘Selling is a byproduct of support and customer experience.’ – Greg Webster.

Recipe #9: Making A Profit.

‘Profit starts telling you a story in terms of what to do next – or what not to do.’ – Louw Barnardt.

Recipe #10: Building your team.