It’s been a more than a year since I changed my online shop’s layout, Pink Fortune. Maybe one of the reasons of my online selling hiatus for a few months is because I got tired of the new layout. I asked Ann of Design.Create.Art to revamp my site last April, but she got busy until now. Finally, my Multiply online shop has a fab new look and I love it to bits!
Pink Fortune
Aside from being a blogger, I’m also an online seller at Multiply, in fact, I’m enjoying this sideline for 2 years now. I get to do things I love which is to shop and do crafts like beading. Earning from it is just an added bonus as well as gaining friends along the way. Maintaining an online shop is quite a task, I have to check everyday for inquiries, post blogs and ads about new products, update my clients for the status of their orders, checking if they have received the items in good condition, etc… Aside from the online inquiries, I also get inquiries and orders thru text messages even in the wee hours of the morning. That’s the beauty of online shopping, you can shop 24/7 at the convenience of your own home and with only just a few clicks.
So how can the buyers inform me with their orders? Well, it’s with the use of Online Order Forms that makes things easier. There are free HTML generators out there such as Wufoo.com or Freedback.com which I currently use that automatically sends an order form to my email address whenever a buyer submits one. The Order Forms I receive looks like the photo below:
In this day and age, almost every activity can be done online. From getting in touch with your friends thru chatting and email, promoting your business through social networks, gaining information from Internet forum, shopping online from e-commerce websites, paying bills, online banking and so much more. Most of the time, websites you go to requires you to register before you can use the services or before you can interact with other members like in an Internet forum. For some sites, you can get away with just your nickname and some fictional address like “paradise”, “heaven”, etc…, but websites like an ecommerce site and online banking requires you to put in your real name, complete address, credit card information, email address, phone number and other sensitive personal information. You may think that giving your personal information to your trusted company’s website is secure enough, but think twice, no matter how advance the technology is, Identity Theft is a Problem .
Shopping online from favorite stores in the US and receiving it here in the Philippines is now possible. Thanks to forwarding companies like Johnny Air Cargo. We used JAC to forward our Casio Protrek watches bought in Amazon.com. We’ve been wanting to buy stuffs from US sites but we’re always hindered because of exorbitant shipping charges aside from the customs duties and taxes we have to pay at the post office. But not anymore with JAC, everybody can shop in the US, have a US address and receive packages here in the Philippines.
Johnny Air Cargo Megamall
Ever since I started my online shop, Pink Fortune, I get to receive text messages from unknown numbers of prospective buyers. Naturally, I gladly entertained all their inquiries for me to have a successful transaction with them. Online shopping in the Philippines is still at an early stage because a lot of people are still hesitant to use their credit cards online and are still not comfortable of having to wait for their items to be delivered via courier. Albeit the comfort online shopping brings, a lot of consumers prefer to shop in the malls or have them delivered via COD. Some marketing strategies can be sometimes annoying too like calling you and offering you to buy their items. A friend tried to report telemarketers once to PLDT but to no avail. Another reason that hinders online shopping in the Philippines to soar is due to scammers. I need not elaborate on those sellers in Multiply who turned out to be scammers because it’s been happening for years now. As a seller, I have my fair share of scammers online. Yes, even online sellers can be scammed and harrassed.
