We not only want to sell our product, but also offer customers support when setting up and running an online store. This is what our unique service called SOTESHOP Exclusive is for - emphasizes Marek Jakubowicz, co-owner of the Poznań-based SOTE company.
What is SOTESHOP Exclusive?
- It is an additional service that goes beyond the software we offer. It helps the customer run an online store, significantly increasing their chances of success...
Let's start with a customer coming to you...
- First of all, we want them to share with us the philosophy of their company, tell us what they do, where they are going, what is their business idea. Such an interview helps us to focus our work. Thanks to it, we will be able to choose the right graphic design, design the page layout, think about which promotion mechanisms should be used in the future. A lot depends on such decisions. If we go in the wrong direction at the beginning, the cost of return may be very high. I would divide the customers who come to us into two groups. The first ones are just starting their e-commerce adventure and don't really know how to do it. They are aware of what should be in an online store: for example, that it should have an English version so that goods can be sold abroad, that it should be properly promoted, that certain pictures of goods should be placed in it. But this is only an outline, a plan that needs to be detailed and directed. And the second group, customers who already have online stores, operate in the network, earn well, but do not develop their business, because they are afraid to take the next step.
Maybe they don't want to? Why change something that works well?
- Changes should be made because technology gives us more and more possibilities. The customer who uses an online store usually values the possibility of making purchases using a mobile application. It is often worth trying to enter foreign markets. Whoever does not improve their offer risks losing customers to the competition. In addition, from time to time the legal requirements for running a store change, it also happens that the IT specialist leaves and the project is left without care... But getting back to the point - both groups of customers have something in common - they need someone with experience and knowledge. A specialist who will allow them to make key decisions at the most critical moment.I understand that SOTESHOP does not limit itself to providing them with a ready-made tool with the message: "figure it out yourself", but also helps to launch the store, watches over its functioning...
- We offer our customers a standard twelve-month technical support. For a small fee, it can be extended for another year. But that's not all. And here we come to SOTESHOP Exclusive. The service is associated with more extensive and advanced support. Customers who decide to take this offer gain priority. I personally take care of their stores. Customers can turn to me for advice, I also contact them from time to time to ask about the functioning of the store, propose improvements to the strategies or tools they use. However, it must be remembered that even the greatest support does not guarantee success if the owner does not take care of the store, work on it, put enthusiasm and effort into its management. And one more thing, although we advise our customers, for example, how to launch the best distribution channels, we avoid entering their competences like fire. In other words, I would never dare to dictate to the customer how he should run his business, because although I have a lot of experience in setting up online stores, I am not a salesman. The line is very thin here and you have to be careful not to cross it.
Where did the idea come from to create such a service?
- During the implementation of subsequent projects, we talked a lot with customers. There were those who admitted that our proposals were key to their business, that they allowed them to spread their wings. Many shared their passion with us. We decided that it was worth offering them something more than standard. Such a service also builds the position of our company, because it distinguishes it from the others. This is important, especially since the e-commerce market is developing very dynamically.
So what is the size of the online store market in Poland?
- Many companies have tried to count it, but it seems to me that each of these attempts was flawed. Besides, it is a very difficult task, because the market is very changeable: stores are created, transformed, some fail. I can definitely say that the number of licenses we have issued in the last dozen or so years has already exceeded 20 thousand.
What goods do Polish online stores offer above all?