Online Shopping Businesses in Mauritius

Hello Xuping,

You should hire the services of a good advertising agency. Maybe go for a locally known "public figure" to promote your services (quality of service and security).

But yes, due so so many bad experience and scams, people are reluctant to pay 90% upfront.

Regards

Bhavna

I am an online shopping brand from China, my brand name is NW 1776, our brand has a lot of business in Amazon USA, Newegg USA, JUIMA Africa, Amazon Japan, Amazon Europe, Amazon Australia, and all of them are very Good popularity, I opened our own online shopping website in Mauritius, I want to sell good quality but cheap goods from China to Mauritian locals and tourists to Mauritius, we even follow the Amazon standard Provide customers with free door-to-door delivery, full return without reason, and free replacement quality assurance for up to 1 year.

-@Wu Xuping

If I understand correctly, your business is a virtual online store that sells on an existing online shopping platform. What you need for your business to succeed in Mauritius is a very good end-2-end infrastructure to ensure 100% customer satisfaction.  All current online shopping platforms are not well developed yet. 

In summary, locals tend to shop in brick-and-mortar stores and your business does not provide the same level of familiarity yet.  This is the reason for the lack of trust. If you are willing to invest in Mauritius to fill in the gaps where Amazon or other online providers are currently deficient, then you should be able to solve that problem.  There are many ways to crack that nut but you can start by working with the local Chamber of Commerce or Economic board.  I believe that the expat.com guide has information on how to contact the country's chamber of commerce and start a business.

Hope that this helps.

Thank you for your suggestion

Hello Xuping,
You should hire the services of a good advertising agency. Maybe go for a locally known "public figure" to promote your services (quality of service and security).

But yes, due so so many bad experience and scams, people are reluctant to pay 90% upfront.

Regards
Bhavna
-@Bhavna

Thank you for your suggestion

I am an online shopping brand from China, my brand name is NW 1776, our brand has a lot of business in Amazon USA, Newegg USA, JUIMA Africa, Amazon Japan, Amazon Europe, Amazon Australia, and all of them are very Good popularity, I opened our own online shopping website in Mauritius, I want to sell good quality but cheap goods from China to Mauritian locals and tourists to Mauritius, we even follow the Amazon standard Provide customers with free door-to-door delivery, full return without reason, and free replacement quality assurance for up to 1 year.

-@Wu Xuping
If I understand correctly, your business is a virtual online store that sells on an existing online shopping platform. What you need for your business to succeed in Mauritius is a very good end-2-end infrastructure to ensure 100% customer satisfaction. All current online shopping platforms are not well developed yet.

In summary, locals tend to shop in brick-and-mortar stores and your business does not provide the same level of familiarity yet. This is the reason for the lack of trust. If you are willing to invest in Mauritius to fill in the gaps where Amazon or other online providers are currently deficient, then you should be able to solve that problem. There are many ways to crack that nut but you can start by working with the local Chamber of Commerce or Economic board. I believe that the expat.com guide has information on how to contact the country's chamber of commerce and start a business.

Hope that this helps.
-@prospectorland

Your understanding is very good for your suggestions

@Wu Xuping

I have checked your shop. The issue is that Mauritius is a tiny country and competition is rude. Why would i buy your items online through a shady website while there are multiple shops locally who are importing more or less same goods as you  and already selling them cheaper here?

@Wu Xuping
I have checked your shop. The issue is that Mauritius is a tiny country and competition is rude. Why would i buy your items online through a shady website while there are multiple shops locally who are importing more or less same goods as you and already selling them cheaper here?
-@groszozo1234

I think the problem you raised is a problem that many of our potential customers have, so please allow me to illustrate the characteristics of our online shopping

1. Convenience: Through the Internet, our customers can buy goods at any time and any place without leaving the house. If the customer wants to have a beach barbecue, the customer does not need to go to the east to buy a chair first, and then to the south to buy a chair table (arriving Mauritius in May) and then go up north to buy a grill and it only takes 5 minutes to complete these purchases through our online shopping

2. Compared with shopping in physical stores, online shopping does not require queuing or crowding, making it easier to buy goods.

3. Better price: Since there is no rent and other additional costs, we can usually provide better prices in most cases, and there are more discounts and promotions, and I don't deny that there may be some items whose prices look lower than The price of the local physical store is higher, but please believe that the price is equal to the quality, there is a reason for being cheap, and there is a reason for being expensive

4. Compared with offline physical stores, customers do not know the quality of the product and whether it is suitable for their own use scenarios before buying the product home. However, our online shopping encourages every customer who actually buys The experience of using our products is published in the product evaluation section, and our potential customers can know the quality, usage characteristics, and whether it is suitable for their own usage scenarios before buying the product

5. Compared with physical stores, we provide free delivery service with unlimited amount. Just wait for the delivery at home after placing the order. Our fastest record is that the customer received the goods within 3 hours after placing the order. , we also provide a 7-day free full refund product guarantee for customers in Mauritius. If there is a failure due to the quality of the product itself within 1 year, we will provide a new product for free. I think this kind of quality assurance is unique in Mauritius. Physical stores may not be able to do many

Hello Wu Xuping,

Do you know Kalachand, PriceGuru and Mycart.mu ?

Hello Wu Xuping,
Do you know Kalachand, PriceGuru and Mycart.mu ?
-@Bhavna

Hello Bhavna，MyCart.mu I have paid attention before. Kalachand and PriceGuru are today you tell me that I know.

Welcome when you are free, give us some suggestions, NW1776.mu

I would recommend spending some more time in Mauritius to understand why online buying is not preferred.  We all have different theories but you are making decisions for your business and you are the boss.

Hope that this helps.

I would recommend spending some more time in Mauritius to understand why online buying is not preferred. We all have different theories but you are making decisions for your business and you are the boss.
Hope that this helps.
-@prospectorland

ok，Thank you

@Wu Xuping hello. I have read your post with great interest.  We will be coming to Mauritius for half year (at least), starting in January 2024.i am very interested in knowing about your online platform for in my country, India , I buy a lot of things online. I will take a look at your website and hope you are as good as you say. Thanks.

@Wu Xuping, I read your first post but didn't have time read the following. I think most people are afraid to pay in advance before you make your brand standing. There are many shopping website provide pay on delivery. How can someone trust a business on FB?

@Wu Xuping, I read your first post but didn't have time read the following. I think most people are afraid to pay in advance before you make your brand standing. There are many shopping website provide pay on delivery. How can someone trust a business on FB?
-@shen wei

@shen wei, since you have been to both countries, I am interested to know more about the differences between Madagascar and Mauritius.  I could not find much information about Madagascar and am wondering what type of advice you would give to an expat who could be choosing between moving to Madagascar vs Mauritius.  Thank you.

@prospectorland I don't want to say too much to offend some expats here. Everyone's perspective in life is different so our experience may different. Madagascar is the poorest country I ever been. Expats in Madagascar more or less live in their small bubbles. So I can't say I really understand the country well. I feel normal when I live in Mauritius and that's quite important for my mental health. For the same reason I intend to finish the short trip in Madagascar and come back to Mauritius sooner.

@prospectorland I don't want to say too much to offend some expats here. Everyone's perspective in life is different so our experience may different. Madagascar is the poorest country I ever been. Expats in Madagascar more or less live in their small bubbles. So I can't say I really understand the country well. I feel normal when I live in Mauritius and that's quite important for my mental health. For the same reason I intend to finish the short trip in Madagascar and come back to Mauritius sooner.
-@shen wei

@shen wei, thank you for your responses. I do understand the sensitivity of writing about complex country socio-economic issues on a blog - and agree that it's best to avoid that altogether. I am relieved that you are comfortable in Mauritius. My regular trips to Mauritius are also partially for my mental health as my therapist lives in Port Louis. May be we can meet at one of the future expat.com events. We could exchange information about our therapists...

Funny but some of the best people that I have met have come from far flung places in the world....

@Wu Xuping
I have checked your shop. The issue is that Mauritius is a tiny country and competition is rude. Why would i buy your items online through a shady website while there are multiple shops locally who are importing more or less same goods as you and already selling them cheaper here?
-@groszozo1234

I checked the shop also, totally agree with groszozo. The items you sold already exist in Mauritius everywhere, online and offline, even price wise than yours. The shopping I always go is price guru, go delivery and 101.i suggest you take a look.

@prospectorland in the past we travelled for 3 weeks through Madagaskar. It's a beautiful country, but indeed very poor. For example when we visited a local street market in the capital of Antananarivo, a nice person came up to us and wispered that we had to be careful because he noticed that we were followed already for a while. Me, personally would not feel comfortable to live in Madagaskar despite the really wonderful nature. We are just too "wealthy", if you know what I mean.

It is at no means my intension to offend anybody and would love to hear good stories of (retired) expats living there!!

I am an online shopping brand from China, my brand name is NW 1776, our brand has a lot of business in Amazon USA, Newegg USA, JUIMA Africa, Amazon Japan, Amazon Europe, Amazon Australia, and all of them are very Good popularity, I opened our own online shopping website in Mauritius, I want to sell good quality but cheap goods from China to Mauritian locals and tourists to Mauritius, we even follow the Amazon standard Provide customers with free door-to-door delivery, full return without reason, and free replacement quality assurance for up to 1 year.
However, when I started my business in Mauritius, I found that most Mauritian locals who saw our products on Facebook are not used to online shopping, and they don't trust online shopping behaviors. They think that they need to transfer to our online shopping website for transactions. It's a liar, and the local Mauritians are not willing to pay 90% of the order amount first.
So I am troubled, how should we gain the trust of local people in Mauritius?
-@Wu Xuping

Thank you for your suggestion, I will take it seriously.

@shen wei Thank you for your suggestion, I will take it seriously.