The aim of business is to make money. How? By providing things that people need or want. This equation has two sides: Sellers and buyers. When a transaction happens, dollars exchange and the economy runs. Simple enough.
Stop The Drain
Locally we need more of this happening within our region. Otherwise, what happens is leakage. The money goes from here to Edmonton or Seattle (Amazon), and the drain is bad for our local economy. What we need to do is circulate the money locally and, in fact, bring in cash from the outside.
Not-For-Profits Address The Issue
A partnership of 5 not-for-profits got together and created a solution to address that very issue.
The goal was to help all businesses get online, not just the ones already experienced with e-commerce. If you’ve ever tried to set up an online shopping site, you know this can be confusing, if not overwhelming.
We wanted to demystify the process of selling online and help work-at-home or sideline businesses generate sales and become both profitable and competitive. Businesses already taking part in our program know the excellent value of our website.
Setting Up An Online Shopping Network
Some of the roadblocks to setting up your own online shopping are getting paid and shipping. Our site has those features built-in. Marketing? Yes, we market the website and pull in the buyers for you. We feature categories like top sellers, new items, sale merchandise, and take full advantage of social media platforms.
Also, we can leverage the volume of sales for the entire platform to enable discounts of up to 50% for shipping and lower merchant fees.
So, is it as easy as 1, 2, 3? No. BUT, If you are a novice, we have you covered. We will literally guide you through the process with one-on-one assistance. That’s right. A live person will set up a time to walk you through, showing you how to configure your first items or services for sale. You can then add, change and tweak all you like – and help is always available if you run into something new.
Real Support From Real People
Once things are set, you can drive customers to the site through social media or any way you like and the platform that will handle the transaction for you. You just ship, and the money is deposited into your account daily.
By comparison, Shopify will charge you over $1,000 for setup and $69 per month and will not provide you with any marketing services.
Can’t Beat the Cost
The Alberta iMarket (AiM) costs only $10 or $20 per month. No setup or training fees and no added percentages hidden into the merchant fee.
For more information visit:
www.albertaimarket.com/about-our-company/ or www.albertaimarket.com/pricing/
Gene Wesley is the General Manager of Community Futures Lac La Biche
