At your service redefining the online shopping business

In my last article, I commenced a conversation on the need for businesses to become more innovative and dynamic in order to survive in this difficult time when coronavirus is eventually disrupting all our activities and way of life. And it appears going online is the best route for businesses.

So to start with, online shopping is the activity of buying products or services on the internet. It means going online, landing on a seller’s website, selecting something and arranging for its delivery. The buyer can either pay for the items online with a credit or debit card or upon delivery.

At Your Service (AYS) is a wholly owned Ghanaian online shop and a wholesale supplier championing the agenda of online shopping in Ghana. The company prides itself with the most affordable and unbeatable wholesale prices one can find anywhere across the country currently.

Cassandra Obiri, a British of Ghanaian descent is the Founder and Managing Director of AYS. The young entrepreneur and Marketing Communications professional is responsible for the daily operations of the company and managing relations with its affiliated agencies.

To get insight into the online shopping space and know how businesses operate within the space, I had a very informative conversation with Ms. Obiri on her business setup, motivation for starting her business and challenges associated with the online shopping business in Ghana.

According to her, AYS has adopted a business module which allows it to serve a wide range of clients from supermarkets, small stores and other online shops. “After doing our research and stakeholder engagement, we realized the need to go beyond what the market standard is. We opted to explore further opportunities within the space which informed our decision to create great packages for our services and products.

Along that line, we cater for all kinds of businesses, whether big or small as well as individuals in need of our services irrespective of the quantity of the items they need or the amount they are prepared to spend with us”.

Revealing the rational for setting up AYS, Ms. Obiri gave a background to online shopping which has existed for about two decades and has grown in popularity significantly. She said “today, we can purchase nearly anything online and retail experts say that online shopping will soon overtake traditional shopping in monetary terms.

For us at AYS, our goal is to assist Ghanaian shop owners by giving them an affordable wholesale alternative from some of the biggest brands in the United Kingdom. That ranks top on the list of things that motivated me to start AYS”.

Ms. Obiri spoke about what goes into getting products from the United Kingdom to Ghana and how they are able to meet agreed timelines with their clients. “We ship goods to Ghana every week as we understand the demand for goods especially during this time.

We are working hard to get as many products in Ghana as soon as possible to ensure the waiting period for clients to get their product reduced. There are also clients we have special arrangements with whose goods are shipped and delivered to them in Ghana by our air freight partner”.

One of the biggest disadvantages of online shopping according to Cassandra is fraud. “Many people are attracted to great offers which seem too good to be true. Usually, fake online shopping portals display some great products on their websites and attract customers to buy the product.

Also, some websites sell fake products and for that matter does not accept cash on delivery, rather ask customers to make an online full payment.

But, in the end, customers will either receive the fake product or they will not receive the product at all. There are many cases of cybercrime where customers debit or credit cards details are misused to make fraudulent transactions. And for this reason, it is important to deal with credible and trusted online shopping platforms only”, she added.

As retailers adjust to the rising interest in digital sales, online marketplaces are changing the way customers shop. To capitalize on the opportunities presented by e-commerce, business professionals must be well-versed in the latest technologies and trends.

Cassandra added that “the future of e-commerce depends on savvy professionals who are able to create a personalized, engaging online shopping experience for consumers.

And at AYS, we are gearing up to be a leader in the future of e-commerce”.