Online stores are becoming popular like never before, that’s undeniable. But behind the perfect images and intimidating number of followers hide challenges that many often overlook.
The first is the lack of transparency between customers and business owners.
“People generally have a sense of mistrust where online business is concerned. We have to invest a lot of time and effort to build up our reputation. And sometimes, that’s really difficult,” says Aakriti Shrestha, founder/creator of the popular online store Yara Fabulous.
Ayush Manandhar, founder of Sticker Fingers Nepal, agrees. Even after being in business for almost two years, Manandhar confesses that customers going AWOL after placing orders is a problem they often face. Manandhar says he thinks that happens because of a lack of trust in the brand. “They have second thoughts because they don’t get to see the product in person before making a purchase,” he says.
Over at Cake Koseli, Ujjowal Pradhananga says they face a similar issue. “Sometimes customers place orders and then they don’t respond for deliveries or pickup. Since no advance payment is required to confirm an order, they don’t answer our calls or respond to messages either. Many don’t even inform us when they have decided to cancel their orders,” he says.
However, the problems aren’t limited to just ghosting and customers often tend to mislead and confuse the staff as well.
“It’s not unusual for customers to keep changing the delivery address, sometimes multiple times, after placing an order. The logistics can be pretty hard to manage that way,” says Pradhananga adding that many a times people even ask them to deliver outside their area of service after a member of the staff has reached the pre-confirmed delivery point.
“There have been instances when even after reaching the pickup point, customers have refused to receive the parcel if it’s not delivered at the new location,” he says. According to him, they are also often given wrong information regarding road conditions and the time required to get to the delivery location.
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“What’s worse, we have had cases where our staffs have had to wait for hours to get the payment,” he explains.
Pradhananga isn’t the only one who has faced multiple issues regarding the payment part. Every online business owner The Week spoke to mentioned it can be tricky and frustrating.
According to Manandhar, lack of good, reliable payment gateways, especially to receive money from abroad, poses a serious challenge. Without a proper channel to accept online payments, businesses often risk losing customers or have to go through the unnecessary hassle of procuring payments from different sources—often relatives and friends of those who live abroad—which is both time consuming and difficult.
Anmol Poudel, who runs Bundle Books Nepal, carries out most of the deliveries himself and says the transportation system in the country is a hinderance to effectively running a business.
“It’s very time-consuming to deliver inside the valley. Finding the exact location is very difficult and many times customers expect their books to be delivered within a few hours of placing an order. While delivering outside the valley is comparatively less frustrating in terms of effort, it’s also very costly,” says Poudel.
For Pradhananga too, transportation is an issue. His team has to be extra careful during the delivery process since even a slightly damaged cake could potentially mean a customer refusing to pay.
“But it’s not only the question of money. When we fail to deliver what we promised, we risk losing credibility too,” he explains.
Riwaz Rai, proprietor of 911 Food Express, has similar concerns.
“We have to navigate the intricate alleys of the city and the traffic on top of that. That’s quite an ordeal sometimes. And since we can’t let the food go cold, it creates a lot of pressure on our business and the delivery men as well,” says Rai.
As it is, it’s a constant struggle to find people willing to work for an online business without running the risk of losing those who are already in the team.
“There are very few people out there who would work for small industries, who are both skilled and wiling to learn how to run a business. Most people usually like to get a regular job rather than take a risk by being involved in something new,” says Manandhar.
Both 911 Food Express and Cake Koseli have, time and again, had trouble finding good, reliable and consistent delivery people.
“The frequency with which delivery people resign is very high. It’s even harder when more than one person resigns at a time. Also, it’s very difficult to find people to hire,” says Rai.
And the challenges don’t end there—there’s competition to think of as well. Shrestha raises concerns that standing out in a market where attention means everything is very tough. “We have to come up with fresh, new ideas at every turn. And price war is frequent. We aren’t just battling on prices and quality products, but also on reliable services,” she says.
Rai confesses, “The biggest challenge for our entire brand has been establishing itself through marketing. It’s hard to keep track of online space since it’s always evolving. We’ve tried many approaches, invested a lot and even though we’ve been here for five years, we haven’t seen good results yet.”
Poudel feels a step towards stabilizing online businesses as well as the pricing of goods they sell could be figuring out the right way to receive and deliver goods. This, he says, could start with online businesses networking with their own set of suppliers rather than depending on other local businesses.
Shrestha, on the other hand, feels transparency should be of utmost priority. It’s only when customers start trusting online brands and businesses that it can flourish.
However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot of potential in running an online business here in Nepal.
Poudel argues that as life becomes increasingly hectic, more and more people will turn towards online businesses for convenience. What online businesses shouldn’t do, however, is take unfair advantage of that and charge outrageously for their services. “We have to build credibility and profits slowly and tenuously if we want to evolve and prosper in this area,” he concludes.
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