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Esquire eyes doubling online sales revenue [ITWeb](ITWeb Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Esquire Technologies will bolster its range of products, says CEO Mahomed Cassim. Esquire Technologies, which recently hit the milestone of 30 000 orders placed through its Web site, aims to expand its range of products, as well as boost the percentage of revenue it earns from its online store. Esquire provides IT, mobility, digital and consumer lifestyle products to the local industry, sourced from international vendors. CEO Mahomed Cassim says the company has experienced 600% growth in online sales in the past two years. The group, which moved into e-commerce four years ago, expects the improvements to continue, because its clients are seeing the benefit of being able to place orders at any time of the day, he adds. "We are definitely seeing that people and companies are feeling much more comfortable – and eager – to buy online. Revenue from online sales is already sitting at 10% of our total revenue, with this expected to rise to 20% by 2016." New ranges Cassim adds the group aims to boost its range of products in the mobile, digital and consumer lifestyle segment of the business. He notes the group has, through subsidiary ImproWeb, hired several Web developers and graphic designers in the past few months to cope with the load, and will bring in new talent as the demand gains pace. "All the hard work and sleepless nights that it took to populate the Web site with content and information relevant for each product is starting to bear fruit with the growing amount of orders being placed online." The company has also secured the Southern African distribution rights to Agfa Photo's action camera range, which is available through the virtual reseller network (VRN). Agfa Photo develops action cameras for various lifestyle and sporting needs, including cycling, climbing, fishing, diving, safaris, travelling and swimming. Technology improvements ImproWeb is finalising a new design to give opportunities to small and medium enterprises to have their own e-commerce presence, adds Cassim. Although a price was not disclosed, he says this will be "at an extremely affordable rate". Cassim notes the group is wrapping up a call centre, and is looking at new ways to aid its VRN. Esquire's VRN tool allows its partners almost real-time access to its stock levels and product listings. Esquire developed its own VRN, spending over R10 million to date on the project. More than 500 resellers make use of this facility, which allows them to trade with their own e-commerce sites, using Esquire's infrastructure. The company initially hoped 2 000 resellers would use it by the end of 2012. Cassim says Esquire will "continue to invest in newer, and better, technology to enhance the customer experience when they purchase from our VRN e-commerce Web site", noting the range will continue to be expanded. (c) 2014 ITWeb Limited. All rights reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info). |