Reigning E-Commerce & Websites in 2021

If there is a sliver of a silver lining to the pandemic, this is it.- the permanent end to E-Commerce darkness in Trinidad & Tobago. Pre-pandemic, websites were chugging along, but online stores and shopping were barely limping forward. It was a classic case of chicken and the egg. Not enough online stores so shoppers not shopping; not enough online shoppers, so stores not onlining. Then came Covid-19 and all hell break loose. I consider myself lucky to be in the right place in the right time. For Forward Multimedia, all my training prepared me for this moment— still momenting to this day.

Unfortunately for you, the lucky break was just for me, and those who had the foresight to get on board when it wasn’t fashionable. No, you sat on the roof amidst the swirling waters waiting for the Lord to save you. He sent WooCommerce, he sent First Atlantic Commerce, he sent WiPay, but nooooo, you wanted to make sure that the moon of Venus aligned directly with Saturn to make your move, and now it’s it aligned with Uranus, causing a real burning sensation.

So the party start and and you’re still in the shower. I hope you’re singing the blues in there, cuz that’s the only song you’ll be hearing. Meanwhile every Tom, Dick, Harry, even Tanty and Nanny making mas with their websites and overall online presence. More websites and online stores than you can shake a stick at. Web designers of all levels, newly minted and established alike, took to Facebook inviting all and sundry to the new dawn, Now they’re all so busy there’s scarcely an ad these days.

We called down the thunder and now we’ve got it. You wanted websites? You got them. You wanted online stores? You got them. Every other day a new one launches selling everything, products and services. With the pandemic still in full swing and swinging harder with new and more contagious variants, it looks like this online wave will continue at this pace till the end of 2021.

Notwithstanding the Covid vaccine, courtesy our Bajan neighbors (now that’s a real Prime Minister), there’s still controversy and opposing views on its safety and efficacy. I personally, am not going to take it. Bottom line, we’re in for a long haul people, despite what our ‘leaders’ say, You would be wise to not believe a word from their lying, corrupt mouths.

But everyone is off their butts now, no need for me to sing to the choir, it’s albeit late, but now you get it, better late than never. Those who got it before you are obviously ‘getting it’, reaping the big bucks, and rightly so, they had the vision and put themselves in place. But…. it’s NEVER too late for anything, and that’s true for life and business, and the life of your business. There’s always room for one more, there’s always room for someone different, heck, there’s always room for someone exactly the same.

And… there’s no one online store that’s on everyone’s lips, one we can say is the premier or dominant. There are popular ones now yes, all doing very well in their own space, strongly supported by their customer base and steadily circling outward, gaining new customers.

There is no local AMAZON at the moment. There are ‘amazon or Amazon’ but not AMAZON, and in my opinion, those are the stages— capitalizing the next letter till they get there My client Bel Air Store, is at the Amazon stage right now. Around 12K products and a well-oiled system, stellar customer service, and full time support by Forward Multimedia, they have it figured out.

By ‘they’ I mean ‘we’, as even with all the E-Commerce knowledge I brought to the table, it paled in comparison to what this taught me, and in all aspects. Bel Air Store really put us through the wringer. More than ever, no one can touch Forward Multimedia when comes to E-Commerce in Trinidad & Tobago.

See what I did there? I love words (thanks mom). There is no LOCAL AMAZON, i.e. Amazon for locally produced items via a multivendor platform. This is a very long, LONG way off my friends. The popular ones at the moment, and I won’t state their names because I rank well for E-Commerce (so I prefer to only name my own clients), the two main ones are PS and TTB.

There are literally at least a dozen others which have jumped on the multivendor bandwagon, a large majority even using the same multivendor plug-in, but none formidable at this point, except my client 868.market which leapfrogged to number three. With around 50+ vendors so far, we have been causing quite a stir, obviously because we are the only one actually stirring.

Our stirring has caused quite a panic in fact, prompting swift defense and even offense to counteract, as expected. What we didn’t expect was the low level one of them would sink to, actually going through our vendor list and phoning each one personally to offer a better deal. There is a universal law that business done this unethical way would never last. And a Trini law that every rope has an end.

In the meantime I’ve advised, and still advising 868.market, to continue on their path— which is to primarily be the online platform for their physical SouthMarket vendor base and creep before they can walk as this multivendor thing requires some good sense and time to execute properly. A lesson the rest are learning the hard way.

Bel Air Store and SouthMarket are the only Amazon type projects that I’ll be involved in as any similar project would be competitors and be too much of a conflict for me. So if you have such a project in mind, then I’m sorry, I won’t be your guy. I’m not going to discourage you though, but you’ll have to come really good if you do, as we’re only going to get better. But like I said, there is always room for one more; roll the dice and take your chances.

There are opportunities for all kinds online business similar to the big popular ones in the US like Angie’s List, Upwork, Fiverr etc. However these won’t be cheap and are difficult to pull off. These types of sites are more iffy though; no telling if the market is ready or how it will respond. My advice is that you can get started but only with the long term in mind for after things ‘settle’. Be prepared to carry the business financially for the next two years at least.

This pandemic has the Trini public more receptive to E-Commerce for sure and this is what’s been driving the success of smaller online stores. They are not, expensive, well polished, professional stores; many are basic and DIY. However, they are functional, which is the main thing in my opinion.

I’m certain they’re all doing just fine. As long as you have an existing customer base and move to online, they’re guaranteed to follow you now. This was the main fear pre-Covid, that customers won’t follow, and it was usually the case. My advice is to stay steady and focus on your base, keep refining and improving your site at all times.

Er… Shipping, I meant shipping, used my poetic license there… ANYWAY… there hasn’t been much change in the dynamics, and so much for dynamics if they didn’t change, giving us static dynamics. But that’s the 14 month and counting year of 2020 for you.

The main change has been the introduction of a ‘new’ online store platform, Fygaro, which has been around for a while in T&T, forced out of their shell of course, by Covid. I don’t expect anything to upset the market, the pandemic has most playing it safe, but you never know, expect the unexpected. Nobody wants to adopt a wait and see approach only to see everyone passing by while they’re waiting. I mean, it already happened once to you didn’t it?

What do merchants look for in a platform? If they’re looking to do it themselves, they look for for standard shopping cart functionality of course, then affordability, then it’s ease of use, i.e. a back-end they can handle. If they’re looking to their web designer, we make that call.

There are many to choose from but the limiting factor is always the online payment. Can our TT payment gateways be integrated? Can credit card payments be transferred to the merchant’s bank account? The answer is usually no, hence the limited options to choose from. But the options, limited as they are, by no means mean you have to compromise. Online businesses in Trinidad & Tobago are running smoothly with these very options.

If you’re into online stores and looking for options, Google and Facebook know it too, so you are no doubt seeing many sponsored ads for the Fygaro platform. I was hoping to do a comprehensive review, but after I signed up for the trial and poked around the back-end, I realized that it’s not something I would recommend to my clients.

Nothing is wrong with it per se, it provides a fully functional online store, it’s supported by local banks and all that, but for my clients it would be limited to general E-Commerce functionality. I prefer room for the additional functionality that I can get from adding any of hundreds of plug-ins available for WooCommerce, both free and paid.

There are many other minor inconveniences I can highlight if I nitpick, but it would be comparing apples to oranges, and unfair to Fygaro. It is what it is; it’s just not izzing for me, sorry.

The undisputed leader is Woo Commerce of course. It’s easy to set up and use for us web designers, and easy for non-techs who prefer DIY. Like everything else, there is a limit to what you an do yourself, you’ll eventually max out and need professional help if you want to go past the point of your ability, and there’s no shame in that.

But Forward Multimedia doesn’t just do run of the mill WordPress/Woo configuration; our projects are more complex— FAC payment integration, inventory syncs with POS systems, DHL international shipping integration, and many more customizations. I’ll still hasten to add that we do ‘simple’ too. Don’t ever think that Forward Multimedia is too big for your project. I never ‘arrived’, I’m still the same simple guy as I started ten years ago. You have a doubles cart and want a website, doh ‘fraid to call me. Maybe you did your site yourself and got stuck, no problem, I’ll take a look and point you in the right direction.

I’ve transitioned all my Magento CE stores to Woo Commerce. After the version upgrade from the 1.9 to the brand new reimagined v2, I threw up my hands and eventually gave up. Magento is to fickle and difficult to work with and requires a Certified Magento Developer on hand for troubleshooting and sometimes relatively simple edits.

Many may not be aware, but Magento has a hosted shopping cart service like Shopify called Magento Commerce. But at almost $2,000 USD per month, it’s out of reach for 99% of businesses in T&T, so don’t even bother. It’s being used by at least one company here, and with such a price tag, I hope their store’s doing ‘excellent’…

Shopify is everyone’s dream as it’s designed for DIY and everyone can afford the $29 USD/month for their starting Basic plan. You don’t have to be too ‘techy’, and you could do a pretty nice job on your own. The main problem is the payment method— FAC and WiPay are obviously not available by default, which leaves only PayPal, and we all know that PayPal is a nightmare to get working in Trinidad & Tobago (more on PayPal later).

Unfortunately, an official WiPay for Shopify plug-in from WiPay itself, is a long way off, I was told that there are issues in coding the plug-in. An FAC/Shopify plug-in does exist from another local web design company, but it costs around $2,000 TTD annually. Bear in mind, you’ll still need the FAC solution at your bank so there’ll also be the minimum $100 USD/month cost for the service there. But it’s not all bad news, I have some good news when you read on.

The same TT payment gateway integration issue applies. Unless these platforms allow developer access to integrate our gateway, then you’re stuck with their default gateways which won’t work. Yes these platforms are attractive for the non-techs, do-it-yourselfers, and the ‘I-can’t-afford-professional-web-designers-ers’, and I fully understand. But there’s nothing we can do about this.

My suggestion is Fygaro if you’re really on a budget. It’s offered and supported by local banks, maybe not as sophisticated as Wix or Shopify, but will get the job done. That’s my two cents on that.

Depending on the Point of Sale software you’re using, more than likely, they will offer an E-Commerce service as well, of course at an additional cost. I’ve done two (2) such projects, integrating WiPay for these two companies on Lightspeed, apparently a popular POS in Trinidad & Tobago:

1. Supertech (Web design and WiPay integration)
2. Cost Savers (WiPay integration only)

Generally, it simply pulls your inventory online. This means that you’ll always have to ensure that all relevant product info, i.e. what your visitor will see— images, short and long descriptions etc., are updated when you create or update a product on the inventory back-end.

As we are also on Lightspeed, it is also possible to integrate FAC as well, not only WiPay. However, I find their back-end mainly functional; there’s not much room for aesthetic customizations. Even the main menu is limited to a single level dropdown, no sub or mega menu.

Check your own POS system for an online store module, then check that they will allow developer access to integrate our gateways.

No matter what POS system you’re running, most likely we can sync it to your online store. By sync, I mean that your stock availability online will always reflect your POS stock. And it’s not only quantity updates, but our syncing scripts can also check your POS for new products, changes in existing product data and update accordingly on a fixed schedule, without undue strain on your database.

So far we’ve worked with Counterpoint, Quickbooks, Peachtree, RMS, and a few others you haven’t heard of. Some POS software also have Woo Commerce sync modules as well, which makes it much easier.

The only budget friendly, easy to deploy payment method is WiPay, our local PayPal. They also have a new WooCommerce plug-in now, where you can make the processing fee payable by the customer, merchant or both 50/50. I never knew about this upgraded plug-in, even though it was available on their site. It never occurred to them to send out an email to say there’s been an update. But this is not surprising, WiPay, is very dependable like this, always true to form Trini in operation. They never deviate from their Trini-ness.

I have no new review for you on WiPay, it works when it does and doesn’t when it doesn’t. If there’s an issue with a transaction, you have to submit a query so they can check their merchant portal and advise. I have clients who report speedy resolution, and clients who report pulling teeth. WiPay has a bright future, but only on paper, eventually someone will do it better.

Nothing’s changed with FAC either, they’re dependable and comfortable like an old shoe. The only problem is that it’s so expensive, at least $100 USD per month depending on which bank you use. The banks also have varying processing rates, up to 5%, so choose your bank wisely.

I was also told by FAC that the additional layer of fraud protection called Kount is now required for all new merchants at Republic Bank. I didn’t care for Kount back in the day when it was optional, but with local online shopping steadily growing now, there’s the greater chance of fraudulent credit card transactions. I’ve also been told by FAC that the process is much easier now, so if banks make it mandatory, so be it, as long as they make it affordable.

My review of this alternative payment option was all hopeful and positive (see here). Unfortunately they never caught on and was dropped by Scotiabank. I do believe they are available from CIBC, but I have no clients there. My opinion is that they were deliberately shut out by our banking mafia, er… system, as they would have competed with WiPay and FAC and given both a good run for their money.

I was so rooting for CX Pay, they would have been at the mid-range with WiPay and FAC at the extremes. That they couldn’t make inroads here stinks to high heaven, I smell a conspiracy. They are available in the Caribbean, and I urge my Caribbean followers to give them a chance.

If I said it once, I said it a A THOUSAND times! Let go of PayPal, it’s a nightmare to get it to work. By all means try, but I haven’t come across many people who can get it to work flawlessly.

We all know that with WiPay being available, PayPal for online stores is no longer necessary, which is why I’ve stopped getting requests. The calls and messages I’m getting are from Trinis trying to get paid from international sites. These sites usually need a PayPal account to transfer earnings to, and then transfer out of PayPal to their local bank account.

But therein lies the rub. Most inquires are for setting up a PayPal account. As per my old articles, which most refer to when they call, the process remains the same:

1. Create an account on PayPal
2. Link your locally issued credit card
3. PayPal verifies by making a small deposit with a code
4. Use that code on PayPal to verify and activate your account

However, that’s the theory, it’s not working in practice. I get messages like these:

“… I am having trouble trying to link my Scotia Credit Card to my paypal account. Keep on getting an error message. Any suggestions?”

“Hey I’m unable to link my visa credit card to my account nor am I able to open paypal account using local address”

“… I have access to a Scotia credit card but I can’t even sign up for pay pal because they asking for province and postal codes. Please can you help me?”

Unfortunately we don’t have an affordable delivery module available. The only one is Universal Packaging Systems Limited (UPSL), which integrates with WordPress and Magento, but it’s very costly to integrate. My recommendation is to use your own vehicles or a local courier service as it may be cheaper.

I don’t recommend TT Post as my clients have had endless headaches. I don’t need to remind you that TT Post is a government operation, so runs like every other public service run, and that is, to the ground. And don’t get me started on postal codes; expect nothing from these shit for brains people in charge.

I’m pleased to announce that I’ve developed my own shipping plug-in that allows for selecting either island for delivery with a drop down selector per Regional Corporation. Once your select your region, then a second list of towns appear. See it in action on this Tobago-based online store (my very first Tobago client ever!), called Shop and Swipe, located in Scarborough.

While it would be nice to use TT Post’s official postal codes, they aren’t absolutely necessary as we can make up our own codes, like my client Reliable Appliances has done, for example.

Capital R and double OSY. Pandemic bad, that’s for damn sure, but everyone has to make the best of the bad situation. The market is woke, the market is receptive… and that’s the key word: RECEPTIVE. The market is ABSOLUTELY IN NO DANGER of being saturated or dominated by any one store, regardless who you think is. Anyone else is fooling themselves if they think they are.

The reason this is so, is again because of the dependability of the Trini way. It’s difficult to pull off and deliver an American experience from beginning to end…. AND sustain it in the long run.

There’s plenty of room in the market, it’s not going to be saturated in a hurry. If you want to sell online, try going against the Trini grain and do it American style: a solid, up to date, functional website that works. Forget the flashing lights and dancing monkeys, spare us the bells and whistles, nothing fancy folks, keep it simple and you’ll do just fine. If you need any tips or pointers, don’t hesitate to give me a call.