The following content is paid for by DPO SA.
South African businesses can now get an ecommerce-ready website, including a full payment suite, integrated delivery service and free hosting for just R349 per month. SA’s largest payment service provider, DPO South Africa, launched DPO Store, described as ecommerce-in-a-box, it’s specifically designed to help start up and small businesses move online easily, quickly and securely.
“While we have been planning this product offering for some time, the pandemic economy highlighted the need for a simple yet powerful solution like DPO Store. For many small businesses, the cost and complexity of designing and developing an ecommerce website can be prohibitive. We are allowing even the smallest of businesses an opportunity to explore what the online world has to offer,” says Brendon Williamson, CSO of DPO South Africa.
Williamson says many businesses have been forced to take their offerings online in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. This move is reflected in the 129% year-on-year ecommerce growth in North America, compared to a decline in traditional retail figures for the same period. According to IBM’s Retail Index, this has accelerated the shift away from physical stores by five years. Williamson says DPO South Africa’s transactional data also shows a big shift towards ecommerce over the last five months and says this is set to continue.
How DPO Store works
DPO Store builds and hosts the websites and, with the help of pre-built templates, tailors each design to the branding guidelines as provided by merchants.
The four-page website, with space to sell 250 products off the get go, is built using WooCommerce on the PayGate Plus platform which gives the merchant immediate access to the most popular payment methods including credit and debit cards, Masterpass, Zapper, SnapScan, Mobicred, PayPal as well as SiD Secure EFT and MoMoPay.
The merchants benefit from DPO South Africa’s round the clock support and site maintenance as well as all the security requirements so necessary for safe online trading.
With DPO Store merchants don’t have to outsource developers or require design skills. All websites are scalable meaning customers can shop from any device, at any time.
The entire experience has been designed to be as painless as possible and once the merchants provide their design input and inventory lists, the sites are built and ready to accept transactions in just five working days.
Williamson points out that ensuring products are delivered quickly and safely can make all the difference when it comes to building repeat business and a loyal customer base. For this reason, DPO South Africa has turned to its extensive partner base and DPO Store websites come with integrated logistics built in.
“We have ensured that our DPO Store merchants have all the support they need to grow their business. More than just reliable delivery, we are able to link the DPO Store websites to the merchants’ social media accounts allowing them to easily promote deals across the various social channels. Merchants can also choose to take search engine optimisation and marketing (SEO and SEM) services through one of our partners, or they can choose to do it themselves,” Williamson explains.
An ecommerce website at just R349 pm
While an ecommerce website can cost anywhere from R10 000 for a standard site to R60 000 for a robust website, the DPO Store offering comes in at just R349 per month, including monthly hosting and maintenance.
“The DPO Group is committed to supporting the growth of business in Africa. We have already had a good response from our merchants in Kenya and we are certain South African business owners will jump at the opportunity to leverage the extensive DPO merchant network and our global reach.”
Interested business owners can apply immediately and will also receive training on how to maintain their sites, although there is a dedicated help desk for ongoing support, should they need it.
