From 13 to 15 October 2020, uAfrica teamed up with Shopify once again for a virtual Shopify Meetup series called “THE POWERUP SERIES“. The PowerUp Series was geared towards getting South African merchants ready for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The aim was to help merchants feel ready and prepared for what has become the busiest season for eCommerce merchants all over the world.
The series followed a unique set-up and ran over the course of three days, with two talks scheduled per day. The series was conducted completely online, ensuring that merchants could join us from the comfort and safety of their own homes. Attendees were limited to 100 people per talk and needed to sign up for each talk on a first-come-first-serve basis. The attendees thus had the opportunity to interact with the speakers and gain extra insight into eCommerce, Black Friday and Cyber Monday strategies. They were also entered into a lucky draw to win a year’s Gold plan subscription on uAfrica. Registered attendees received the link to the meeting room one hour prior to the start of the event.
Watch all video replays of The PowerUp Series here:
Head-to-Head: Insource or Outsource your Logistics?
We kicked off the series with a head-to-head between uAfrica’s Business Manager, Anita Erasmus, and Ewald Fernandes, General Manager at Tigers Global Logistics to debate.
Here we look at outsourcing your logistics and supply chain solutions to a company like Tigers Global Logistics versus keeping and managing your order fulfillment processes in-house with software like uAfrica.com. Anita and Ewald debate the pros and cons of each, giving merchants the information to help them make an informed decision that best suits their business models.
The SME’s Survival Guide to BFCM 2020
Next up was a presentation of a Survival Guide, lead by iLead et al’s Head of Business Development, Nadine Swart, who reviews past and current trends to take into consideration and predictions for BFCM 2020 to keep in mind whilst planning. Nadine also looks at how Google Smart shopping can be used to drive BFCM sales and shares learnings and insights from past experiences with BFCM from an agency perspective.
View further material from iLead et al here.
Fireside Chat: eCommerce post-COVID and going into BFCM?
We sit down with three successful uAfrica merchants to chat about their selling experiences during the COVID-19 National Lockdown in South Africa, how they adjusted and adapted to the ever-changing eCommerce landscape. We also chat about how eCommerce will change going forward and how they are going to tackle the challenging Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend, as well as the upcoming festive season.
Real life experiences from real life merchants – join Phaedon from Cape Coffee Beans, Robert from Great Yellow Brick and Riaan from Orbit Rings for this fireside chat, hosted by eCommerce expert and founder of the Insaka eCommerce Academy, Warrick Kernes.
How to win back abandoned carts over BFCM
TDMC’s Shopify Expert, Duncan Colville chats to us about using using in-store apps to reduce abandoned carts and win back those customers over the Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend. He also looks into using mailers, SMS & push notifications to make sure that you retain your customers, make your sales and meet your targets. Duncan takes us through a workshop, showing us how to set up these mailers and notifications and optimise them to really win back those abandoned carts over Black Friday and Cyber Monday – and going forward!
Facebook Advertising & the importance of Targeting and Data in Increasing Sales
“Facebook works. But only if you’re smart about it”
The dream team from Honey Whale is back again, this time with the only Facebook strategy you’ll ever need. Using this strategy means you won’t need to outsource your Facebook Ads again. Alistair and Brandon share cheat sheets and frameworks within their strategy to make sure that you are making a success out of Facebook advertising. They help us to understand the difference in digital marketing channels and see the power of video and effectively communicating your USPs to our customers. We learn about Facebook targeting and how to get ourselves in front of the right people. Honey Whale share their Facebook marketing campaign best practises and professional tips to prepare our digital marketing for BFCM specifically.
Check out their 15-point Checklist to prepare your Online Store for BFCM.
Preparing for the Holiday Selling Season 2020
We are very lucky to be able to host Shopify’s Business Tutorials Producer, Samantha Renee to chat about preparing for the holiday selling season. She is going to cover various topics, including holiday prep best practices and marketing strategies. This is the talk not to be missed.
Recap & Additional Resources
- Shopify Compass: shopifycompass.com
- Shopify Help Center: help.shopify.com
- Shopify Blog: shopify.com/blog
- 24/7 Support: help.shopify.com/en/questions#/questions
- BFCM Toolkit: shopify.com/bfcm
- Shopify Experts: experts.shopify.com
- Shopify Meetups: meetups.shopify.com
