Ask Andy Higgins anything about eCommerce

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Hi Andy

I see that you helped start PayU. Why is PayU not one of the purchase options available on bidorbuy?
 
If Amazon had to launch in South Africa, would our local eCommerce stores be able to compete given the extensive resources Amazon has at their disposal?
 
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Hi Andy

Another question from my side. Is the BidorBuy e-commerce platform custom built or do you guys make use of an open source platform like Magento? I assume however it is custom built. I read through one of your sys admin job specs once and see that you make use of Centos/RedHat linux servers and Xen virtualization.


Apache web server
Nginx for load balancing and http cache

I assume your Server/Network infrastructure is hosted inhouse as your job specs require SAN knowledge etc.

Why not host in a cloud space?
 
Hi Andy

When you started out with the business planning and funding for BidorBuy and your other ventures. What business planning tools and software did you use?
 
Hi Andy

When you started out with the business planning and funding for BidorBuy and your other ventures. Which companies/institutions did you approach for funding?
 
Hi Andy

What is your digital marketing strategy? Do you make use of certain digital marketing providers or are all your marketing teams inhouse?
 
Advise to new startup's

Hi Andy

What advise would you give startup's who would like to get into the market against the likes of takealot loot as a major retailer of consumer goods?

Where do we start?
How would we be competitive?
 
Hi Andy,

Starting with an eCommerce store, would you recommend using a VPS or dedicated server for hosting?
 
Hi Andy,

Which technologies do you leverage to increase the speed of access and load balancing on a site like Takealot to make sure user experience stays good on a high traffic day like Black Friday or Cyber Monday?
 
Question too Andy Higgins

rpm said:
Andy Higgins is one of South Africa’s most successful ecommerce entrepreneurs – he started Bidorbuy, helped to launch Takealot and PayFast, and is now making online shopping easier through uAfrica.

We are giving you an opportunity to ask Andy anything about eCommerce. He will the best questions to answer, and the top question will win an Amazon Fire 7 with Alexa.

There are some basic Ask Anything rules. A summary:

  • One question per post. If you have multiple questions, use multiple posts.
  • No personal attacks
  • No support questions (like “My Bidorbuy package …”)
  • No unsavoury questions
  • No trolling
  • No “Why don’t you answer my question?” posts
  • Keep it clean and civil, and ensure the discussion is constructive
Please post your questions in this thread. Andy will select and start to answer your questions at 12:00 on Wednesday 27 June.
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Hi Andy

What advice could you give someone who has an online store, who's competing against the likes of Takealot. They obviously have allot of advantages over smaller companies, and their service is relatively good.
So its hard to think of an area too beat them in except for perhaps having more knowledge on specific products as we are a "speciality products" store sellingselling nutritional products. So Takealot wouldnt be able to give advise om products at all.

I make use of most of your services, which have made it allot easier for me to run the store, especially on the courier side. So thanks allot for that.
 
Hi Mr. Higgins,

With individuals being featured on mybroadband.co.za, we noticed that there are mostly white people who have made significant strides in the tech arena and building multi-million rand businesses.

Why do you think there aren't any more successful black innovators? And what is keeping them from reaching the point you and many others have reached?

Thank you,
E
 
Hi Andy, if I had a uAfrica for dealing with distributors in this country that'd be really great, when do you think you can have something like that up and running? :crylaugh:
 
rpm said:
In South Africa many eCommerce players are launching online marketplaces, including but players like Takealot and Makro. Do you believe Bidorbuy will be able to show growth in this more competitive market?
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bidorbuy is growing albeit not at the pace we would like. Similar to how eBay has managed to re-invent itself somewhat in the USA, I believe something similar is required from bidorbuy. Time will tell.
 
rpm said:
What will it take for Takealot to become profitable? They have a dominant market position and excellent scale, but will it be possible to cut costs and maintain these advantages?
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The eCommerce market will continue to grow faster than traditional retail for some time to come with eCommerce increasingly taking a bigger and bigger piece of the overall retail market as time goes on. It is just the rate of this change that this is uncertain. So I believe eventually the market will catch up but I am not sure how long it will take (fortunately for Takealot they have strong financial backing so no doubt will get there at some point).
 
Mephisto_Helix said:
Morning Andy,

I'm curious, in starting something as big name as Bidorbuy and having had a hand in Takealot and Payfast, do you still have the same nerves when launching a new venture?
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I must say as I get older (and hopefully a little wiser) my appetite for risk is reducing. It certainly is not an easy road starting something from scratch. Now, I would rather back younger versions of myself financially (see www.geekfund.io).
 
wizardofid said:
Sell uAfrica to me in less then a 50 words without using the following words, market, business, pricing, advertising, e-commerce, staff, focus, innovation, share and experience.
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Save costs and streamline your shipping using three different courier companies without having to do any technical integration. Sign up for a no obligation free 30-day trial and ship your first parcel (up to R200) at no charge. www.uafrica.com
 
wizardofid said:
Courier services in general all follow the same recipe when it comes to rural/out lying areas, offloading to 3rd party entities that do their shipping on specific routes, 3rd parties generally don't have the same efficiency, work ethic and drive, I consider delivery in the South African market to be the weakest link, when it comes to e-commerce and often once it leaves the hands of online shops, what happens is beyond the control of these shops.This results in numerous delays and frustration for the consumer and this negatively impacts the online shops for things beyond it's control.

If given the opportunity how would address and improve the shipping, delivery and tracking systems currently in place.?
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I agree with you that logistics is the “forgotten child” of eCommerce. It is the least sexy and often an after thought for merchants when setting up an eCommerce business.

One area of logistics that can assist with the issue you raised is that of collection points such as Pargo.

As dire as the situation may currently seem, I also don’t think you should write off the role the Post Office could play if they can sort out their issues.

One of the projects I am currently working on is modern technology (software as a service) for courier companies. I believe tech can play a major role in improving the delivery experience. The way I like to explain this is most courier companies are still using what I would call “pre-Uber” tech. Using “post-Uber” tech (geocoding, geofencing, geolocation etc.) opens up a lot of opportunity to improve this service.
 
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vorman said:
What are the key aspects to turn 'browsers' into buyers?
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People will buy from you for three main reasons: Price, Convenience and Variety. Find the reason that appeals to a particular browser and you will be more likely to convert them into a buyer.
 
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mmmig said:
I get the feeling local banks are not too thrilled about online banking just yet, is my feeling right?
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Not sure. I think they must like that online allows for more self-service and therefore for them to reduce their physical footprint.
 
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