Helping companies sell smarter

Andre Adendorff, Director at Seidor Africa

---

South Africa has seen a surge in online activity during the COVID-19 lockdown, with B2C and B2B organisations scrambling to meet the immediate needs of their customers. The implications will last well into the decade. It has therefore never been more important to attract new and old online customers.

Companies that don’t harness this global move could lose their competitive advantage. According to a recent Accenture report, ‘Channel shift: Prioritising digital commerce’: “Those who have viewed digital commerce as a secondary channel now need to reorient every aspect of their business towards a digital commerce mindset.” There exists an opportunity, the report says, to double-down on digital commerce, augmenting existing offerings and creating new lines of service.

It is an opportunity for companies to grow revenue, attract new customers and drive the shift to online. As new customers digitally engage with brands, they will bring about a different set of expectations and new opportunities for businesses to build trust and relevance. However, the success of these initiatives will depend on access to digital channels and capabilities that are scalable, secure and stable enough to handle increased demand.

Seidor Africa and Aphix Software have partnered to offer customers an out-of-the-box, fully scalable, multi-channel, e-commerce solution that can be seamlessly integrated in real-time with SAP Business One, providing a trusted platform for companies to develop and scale their businesses online.

The suite of solutions includes B2B trade portals, B2B and B2C webshops, field sales and customer ordering apps. This is a perfect solution for retailers, wholesalers, distributors, and manufacturers who are looking to streamline, scale and expand their business to multiple sales channels online. Also included is a mobile app suite that enables ordering on the go for both customers and staff.

“Tight integration between Aphix and SAP Business One ensures maximum commercial benefit from the solution,” says Andre Adendorff, Director at Seidor Africa. “Using the ERP system as the brain of the e-commerce operation means businesses need only maintain data in one system, the ERP solution. Because of this real-time integration, easy access to products can be 24/7 on the world’s largest digital marketplaces and social media platforms, including Google, Amazon, Facebook, and eBay.”

Companies with an existing SAP Business One solution can have rapid implementation in less than 10 days. Where there is no ERP software in place, a company can be up and running within six weeks, as Aphix does not require special installation, configuration or modification. Once best practices are in place, the customer can choose to ramp up the solution as the need arises.

The platform also integrates with multiple APIs, including payment gateways like Paypal, Worldpay, Stripe and Realex plus other tools like Mailchimp, HotJar, Campaign Monitor and more.

“With more and more businesses looking towards digital transformation and joining the e-commerce movement, it makes sense to leverage technology that also allows for more business efficiency, security, compliance, scalability and better productivity,” concludes Adendorff.

To understand more about getting started with e-commerce solutions, take a look at this on-demand webinar on how to drive sales growth without increasing overheads.