Heavy Chef Magazine: The Development Edition by Heavy Chef

How Does The Rest Of Africa Shape Up?

borders. With a number of thriving, trend-setting, e-commerce sites making their mark on the industry, South Africa is raising the bar high. Luke Jedeikin has this advice for South Africa’s aspiring e-commerce entrepreneurs: “In the US, your business plan starts with ‘what do you sell that Amazon can’t.’ The same is true here: don’t offer the same product from the same brands as players that are clearly far more dominant than you. They will out buy, out ship, out rank and outbid you. Pick a defensible category. Then it’s about the operational stuff. E-commerce is not simply selling a product via a website. It’s getting the product to the customer on the date you promised. If you can’t offer reliable fulfilment, you don’t have a business. Finally, you need funding – these businesses aren’t cheap.”

By Renee Fortune, Copywriter & Social Media Manager, World Wide Creative, @reneejoyfortune

@sqroot

How Yuppiechef Became Kings Of The E-Commerce Kitchen An Interview With Co-Founder & MD, Andrew Smith

t’s taken the award for Best E-commerce Site in South Africa for five consecutive years. In a relatively short space of time, it’s expanded its offering to seven additional African countries. Ventureburn even attributed its existence to the emergence of a “kitchenware cult.” Since its inception in 2006, Yuppiechef has set a benchmark for South African e-commerce. Its founders, Andrew Smith and Shane Dryden still play active roles in the growth of the brand and the implementation of its customer-first philosophy. We were interested to learn more about their approach to the development of the site. Andrew shared some of his insights on the topic.

@luke_jedi

An Interview With Co-Founder & MD, Luke Jedeikin

@habanerodesigns @kimaalbaker

As an online grooming and styling

About becoming an e-commerce

development, so adding his own

store for men, MANSHOP provides

start-up owner, Kimaal says: “Not ev-

modifications to an open source

a premium, niche product offering.

ery passion or hobby can be turned

Wordpress template was the most

With its carefully curated selection

into a viable business and the only

time-saving and cost-effective solu-

of brands, everyday face and body

way to figure this out, is through mar-

tion. About the design of the site,

products take on a more specialist

ket research.”

Grant says, “it was important to me that the site be visually appealing, so

nature. Essentials for the modern man. In this way, Kimaal Baker and his business partner have been able to position the brand beyond the competitive reach of major super-

Sockscription: A Subscription Service For Sock Connoisseurs

I use bold imagery and colours with a dash of humour. I add the odd animal here and there, because people fricken’ love them.” The creation of

markets and retailers.

Sockscription was a relatively easy

Baker’s broader strategy includes

but time-consuming process, with the

vertical integration in the supply

greatest challenge being the building

chain “to include manufacturing, im-

of the site’s back-end. The entire

porting and distribution.”

build process lasted five months.

For now though, his top priority is to ensure that the retail business

In addition to the website, Grant

model works efficiently.

makes use of a Facebook page which has become the site’s primary

When choosing a CMS (Content

digital marketing channel. As Grant’s

Management System) for MAN-

first business venture, Sockscription

SHOP, Kimaal considered Word-

is bound to evolve and grow along

press, Magento, Shopify and a cus-

with the aspirations of this digital sol-

tom-built solution. It was important

opreneur. Bless his cotton socks.

that the solution provided a workable

The idea for Sockscription came to

middle-ground between every digital

Grant Taylor’s fiancé Deidre, while

In a recent interview with Venture-

start-up’s most valuable commodities

they were sitting around a campfire

burn, Peter Harvey remarked that,

– time and finance.

making a futile attempt at toasting

“five years ago we’d load ten start-

marshmallows without setting them

ups onto our payment gateway for

“I’d worked with Wordpress quite a

alight. Reflecting Grant’s super sim-

every established business. Now the

bit in the past and I found that the

ple approach to life, Sockscription

ratio is more like 100 to one.” With a

Woocommerce plugin covered all

as its name suggests, is a sock

dramatic increase like this one, it’s

the bases in terms of functionality.

subscription service that sends cus-

easy to understand why a number

The plugin was also well supported

tomers a pair of socks each month.

of market analysts claim that in time,

with a bunch of third party plugins

One month, three month and six

today’s e-commerce start-ups will

that could really customise the store

month plans are available. According

present a significant challenge to the

experience,” says Baker about his

to Taylor, “each pair is randomly cho-

retail status quo. And with Africa set

eventual choice of CMS. The devel-

sen so it’s like a better version of the

to experience its own Mobigeddon

opment process was bolstered by

lucky packet.”

(Mobile Armageddon), the opportuni-

Kimaal’s experience as a digital proj-

ties for e-commerce to scale across

ect strategist coupled by unrelenting

As World Wide Creative’s head of

perseverance and conscientious

design, Grant also has a working

planning.

knowledge of PHP and CSS

multiple devices will be endless. By Renee Fortune, World Wide Creative, @reneejoyfortune

@nikkicockcroft

@Fred_Roed

A Q&A With Saratogaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Senior Developer, Evan Summers

Saratoga @evanxsummers

Google Chrome Developer Tools