The Booth That Moved the Merchant in the Success of an Online Store

More than 160,000 orders per year, with sales exceeding five million Saudi riyals; it was never a close-to-reach dream for the child who loves balila and decided to break into the commercial sphere with what he loves, to be the first customer of his store, and perhaps the only one, and write on the pages of time the success story of an online store that was once a booth. 

Salla, the Future of E-commerce: An Easy Platform to Start Your Business

Abdulrahman Basbaeen, one of Salla's merchants and the owner of the success story of the "Asnas" store, tells his story to be the spark of your next success, and to tell you "in numbers" that the impossible is nothing but an imaginary barrier, as long as you "choose the right experiment" with trusted success partners, and with enough determination to overcome the obstacles of the road towards growth and brilliance. Here are the chapters of an online store's success story as told by the numbers and the bitterness of the days.

Patience, Then Patience, Then Patience

Experience creates a chain of successes, due to its reliance on the principle of experimentation and testing hypotheses in realistic contexts, and does not stop at the theoretical level. This is what Abdulrahman believed in early on, deciding to enter the market through the experience of his neighbor who preceded him in practicing e-commerce in 2013 via one of the social media platforms, Instagram. Abdulrahman's insistence on understanding commerce through a merchant's mind paved the way for him to gain experience, and that was the actual beginning. 

Abdulrahman worked as an administrative accountant with his neighbor, so he was "everything," which qualified him to discover gaps and effectively employ problem-solving skills after learning about the obstacles facing any startup business on a non-specialized platform like Instagram. This initial understanding is what guided him in his subsequent experiments and helped him make the right decisions, but experience is not everything unless it is mixed with what Abdulrahman expressed as: "Patience, then patience, then patience," because the obstacles are proportional to the final fruit and the extent of the expanded success. So, are you ready to endure until you reach glory? 

The "What Does the Market Need" Mindset

Most success stories are turns that cut the road extending towards the horizon, and each turn embodies a new acquired skill and a broader understanding of experiences in shaping the success story of an online store. This is what Abdulrahman went through in his business, which had a clear impact on his results today. 

The chapter of (the neighbor) and the cooperative partner in the story of the founder of (Asnas Store) was completed, and then he decided to start his personal business on Instagram - the platform he had tried before and knew its keys and challenges - with his partner "Noura". Abdulrahman chose at that time to start his journey with only two products:

• The Quran Speaker lamp.

• Hair care device.

His philosophy in this was simple: trying to understand (the market need) and meeting it smartly and wisely. He tested the hypothesis and reinforced it with factors that played a fundamental role in improving the results:

• He paid close attention to the quality of relationships with suppliers and merchants.

• He opened the door to hiring affiliate marketers.

• He marketed his store through influencers.

The inevitable result of this diligence was shown in the numbers that shaped the success story of an online store, where the store's orders via Instagram exceeded 4,000 orders and conversations via WhatsApp. Ultimately, these successes led him to desire growth and development, bringing a new turn and another chapter to be added to the growing success story.

From Social Networks to E-commerce Platforms

After a broad experience that Abdulrahman went through with Instagram, a platform not specialized in the success of an online store, he decided to move to professional platforms in order to improve performance, after noticing the following challenges:

• Having to self-respond daily to requests, keeping in mind that they are steadily increasing, which hinders the ability to respond quickly and within record time with individual effort, potentially damaging the level of reliability and credibility, and thus reducing the "repurchase" rate.

• Logistical challenges, which include shipping to the final customer, in addition to storing products in non-specialized spaces (such as the merchant's home, for example), self-preparation, and personal pickup (with the merchant's car). And financial challenges, which include payment gateways and dealing with banks.

All of these factors contributed to formulating the conclusion of this stage for Abdulrahman regarding the success of an online store: "If I want business growth, I will choose a platform that facilitates my business with specialized financial solutions." Following this brilliant idea, Abdulrahman joined an online selling platform, and indeed found a solution to a number of challenges in 2018, but the best facilities and the best solutions always pointed to "the future of commerce."

Bigger Business and Easier Solutions Mean Salla!

In just 9 months, Abdulrahman made a pivotal decision that changed the course of events by moving to the platform that contributed to adjusted an increase in e-commerce store sales by 70%, and with a repeat purchase rate exceeding 30% by enhancing its reliability in dealing with banks and relevant entities, and providing smart digital solutions that improve the level of experience for both the merchant and the customer. This included payments, which involve providing various payment methods that meet all customer needs, collecting payments after 24 hours with high protection and security for all transactions, as well as providing an integrated shipping fleet, online store success, inventory management, professional marketing solutions, and providing the easiest purchasing experience for customers. Salla took Asnas with its smart digital solutions to the future of e-commerce , to result today in sales exceeding 5 million riyals and more than 160,000 orders during the year 2020, with which Abdulrahman wrote the success story of an online store in the sky of local e-commerce.

It is worth noting that this great success was born out of the world's biggest challenge, during the year of the Covid-19 pandemic, where Abdulrahman was able to rely on his e-commerce as a real financial goal. His business continued from his home in cooperation with his sister and partner, "Amani", so yesterday's challenge was the bridge to today's brilliance. How to market a product

Merchant's Philosophy Makes the Difference 

Throughout the story of Abdulrahman and Asnas, experimentation and keeping pace was an adopted strategic approach. The decision to sell only two products—in his first experiments—proved correct as the journey of success spanned, leading to the current result on the online store: customers' interest in home products, care products, and children's toys, which proves that experience means "going down to the market" and listening to the voice of the consumer.

During his journey of success, Abdulrahman acquired a special marketing company for his company Asnas and his e-commerce business. The ingenious Salla merchant declares that this success is backed by a philosophy written in gold letters: "Patience, then patience, then patience," and there is still a continuation to the story that we witness through Asnas numbers day after day.

And you? Ready to create tomorrow's story? Ready to be the success story of an online store?

Create your online store, and join tens of thousands of successful local and global brands with Salla today.