In 2020, e-commerce in South Africa grew by 66%. A study found that 70% of South Africa are shopping online. Stats like these are the kind that make entrepreneurs pay attention. They spell opportunity.
Fully optimising this opportunity means making use of an e-commerce platform designed to help you reach your business goals, such as SureCart. Here’s what you need to know.
What is SureCart?
SureCart is a WordPress e-commerce platform that prides themselves on being highly customisable and so easy to set up that almost anyone can do it.
No more wasting time pulling your hair out trying to figure out how everything works – a welcome change for those of us who have the business idea, but lack the computer skills.
Simply put, SureCart is what you need to sell products and collect payments on your website.
SureCart features flexible subscriptions with free trials and prorated upgrades and downgrades, one-time payments and sales tax, among others.
You can accept payments through Stripe and PayPal, with future plans to support Mercado (Latin America), Razorpay (India), Mollie (EU) and Paystack (Africa).
Custom checkout forms can be created by choosing from six pre-designed ones. Then you can further customise the form by using more than 20 Gutenberg blocks.
SureCart is what is known as a headless e-commerce solution. This is not quite as suspicious as it sounds.
The idea of headless e-commerce is still fairly new, but basically it refers to a platform that separates the front-end interface from the back-end database.
This means that you still manage your order forms, customers, subscriptions and the like inside the WordPress admin, but all the processes take place behind the scenes on SureCart’s servers.
This comes with a few benefits:
- A reduced load on your WordPress hosting server.
- Increased security as sensitive data is not stored on your WordPress database.
- You don’t need to worry about optimising your database or fixing bugs.
- It’s easier to scale when your business grows.
SureCart is set to expand and make available more options for sellers of physical products in the future, but currently it is well-suited to the following customers:
- Those selling digital products such as courses, templates and swipe files.
- Freelancers or service providers seeking an easy way to collect payment for their invoices.
- Nonprofit organisations who want to collect donations from their supporters.
- Event marketers who want to sell tickets to an online event.
- Those selling simple, once-off physical products, like books.
How to install SureCart
Simply upload the SureCart folder to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory. Then activate the SureCart plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in Wordpress.
SureCart integrations
Wordpress explains that SureCart works with all Wordpress page builders, such as Elementor, Gutenberg and more. with any theme, including Blocksy, OceanWP and more.
SureCart has two types of integrations. The first are called purchased syncing integrations and they are available directly in the plugin. They include SureMembers, LearnDash and more.
The second type of integrations are done with SureTriggers, which are similar to Zapier for WordPress (Zapier helps end users to integrate the web applications they use and automate workflows).
These will require you to add the SureTriggers plugin to your website to integrate with Facebook, Google Sheets, MailChimp, PayPal, SureMembers, WhatsApp and many more.
What will SureCart cost you?
The platform is completely free. You will, however, have the option of choosing an affordable Pro Plans with advanced features that include an affiliate marketing platform, subscription saver and multi currency.
The free version boasts everything you need to set up your e-commerce store and to collect payments, the Pro Plans will be a bonus.
What the users say
Those who have tried it are excited about what SureCart can do for their business, and that’s putting it mildly. These are some of the reviews left by Wordpress users:
- A breath of fresh air.
- What a game changer.
- SureCart is revolutionising the way we sell digital products.
- It just works.
How to get started on SureCart
The process is truly, as described above, a breath of fresh air – no tertiary qualifications needed to get going.
Step 1
After activation, the setup wizard will guide you through the process. First, you will be required to sign up to create a free account:
Step 2
Now you select your chosen payment processor:
Step 3
A unique API will be generated which you need to copy to connect your account to Wordpress:
Step 4
Now you are ready to start adding your products. SureCart allows you to create products with multiple prices and payment options.
Add a new product by going to SureCart>Products>Add New. You can also opt for going to Create A Product from the Dashboard under Quick Actions.
Conclusion
One reviewer stated that he felt like he understood the platform within a few minutes of using it. And if you do get stuck, support is top-notch.
With a user-friendly platform and is clean and clutter-free, your business is well-positioned to reach new heights.
Give SureCart a shot. It might be just what your business was waiting for.
