The Obstacles and Potential of Internet business in South Africa Part 3 - Veldfundi -Educate, Empower and Entertain for the benefit of Nature Conservation in South Africa

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It is favourable to receive Dollars, because the conversion from dollar to Rand is greatly in favour of this country, but South Africans are limited in what and how they can actually sell. One example of practical merchandise is digital or information products like eBooks or software.

The implementation of digital goods commerce is often handled on the seller’s or buyer’s behalf by third party affiliate networks. This is where you sell other people’s digital products on the internet and receive a commission based on your referred sales. Alternatively, you can also submit a product, hosted on your own server, and the sale thereof will be handled on your behalf.

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The affiliate network handles all payments, processing, delivery and compensation on behalf of the vendor and the affiliate. These include both local and international options for almost any imaginable wares, digital or otherwise. Amazon.com is considered the pioneer of affiliate marketing and does transactions worldwide in tangible products.

South Africans are free to participate, yet when receiving goods into the country the only delivery option is via express courier at the expense of the customer. This highly inflates the overall price paid, as normal postage is no longer utilised as a means of delivery by Amazon. The local equivalent, Kalahari.net, a reseller of similar products, also has an associated affiliate program.

eBay, the global heavyweight in online auctions, even has a local representation, despite South Africans not being able to receive payment via PayPal, yet eBay owns PayPal. South Africans may be more inclined to use the similar local Bid or Buy alternative. There are resident affiliate programs, but to truly make a success, the up and coming internet marketer wants to expand his reach beyond own borders.

Some overseas countries seem to be more geared towards internet marketing and it appears to be streamlined into a well oiled machine. In reality many niche markets are reaching saturation point there, and as a result, the marketing process is constantly innovating and evolving. This has the effect that the receptive audience is shrinking rapidly and new target markets and niches must be sought out.

In order to achieve the competitive edge a multi-faceted approach must be taken, using both on and off-line approaches. South Africa is still behind in internet selling, but at the same time, in order to become globally competitive, unique and fresh produce needs to be introduced to ensure success. The potential of South Africa is growing in the perception of the international population.

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