Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
BUSINESS Ecommerce platform opens door for hundreds of local craft designers
SOUTH African designers and crafters are gravitating to online storefronts in an ecommerce boom to boost sales.
Hello Pretty, launched in 2012 by software developers Samantha Marx and Scott Hadfield, doubled its turnover each month between August and December last year.
“Cape Town is a huge craft scene in general. The whole country is. There was no local offering of a platform so we built that,” Marx said.
“Our customers pay us directly and then we transfer funds into our sellers’s bank accounts, after taking commissions.
“Before we developed Hello Pretty, we were already famil- iar with Etsy and other overseas companies. We used to order other stuff from overseas and the customs fees were really high.”
Eventually these obstacles led Marx and Hadfield to develop their own online marketplace, which catered to South African brands by allowing them to complete sales without Paypal, which does not allow users to complete transactions in rand.
Within three months Marx and Hadfield had competitors, but Hello Pretty has managed to stay on top because of its attention to detail and good relationships with sellers.
“We put a lot of effort and energy into our customer service and relationships. Because of that, we’ve developed a loyal following and many personal relationships,” Marx said.
But winning the trust of buyers and sellers was not always easy. Before Hadfield programmed an automatic system for payments, the partners spent hours each week transferring money into their sellers’ accounts. It was important for them as cash flow is crucial to small business.
“This gives people an outlet to turn their hobbies into busi- nesses. A lot of people started with a day job but now just do this,” Hadfield said.
One seller who took a chance on Hello Pretty was Stacy Beukes – founder and designer of jewellery studio A Ring to It.
She said while she had tried other online marketplaces, Hello Pretty worked best for her because it was structured less like a store and gave her more freedom.
“My experience with online selling and shopping has obviously improved over time. People have got more trusting. At first people wanted to come and see the product in person because they had concerns about the quality,” she said. “I think that’s where Hello Pretty helped because people think they can trust them.”
About 20 percent of sales are from online, but she plans on making that the only point of contact with customers eventually.
One of the biggest challenges faced by local designers selling products online is marketing. Marx and Hadfield said they understood that challenge and tried to help sellers push their products successfully.
Gabrielle Kool, who runs a swimwear shop on Hello Pretty, said marketing to the right customers online was tricky.
”It’s difficult as a designer to suddenly have to add a lot of skills to get clients to buy from you,” she said. “My sales are still mostly physical because you have to have a lot of capital to develop marketing, and many of us don’t have that.”
Despite that, online marketplaces have opened up many opportunities for local crafters. Hadfield said some rural designers had worked out how to sell online and could now reach an international market.
bethany.ao@inl.co.za