f-commerce
Something fishy about f-commerce
The Business Quarter meets a woman who has taken her business onto facebook and finds out how successful the decision has been...
S
etting up a shop on facebook has paid dividends for a Monmouthshire businesswoman whose ethos is that ‘people should really be able to get
top class, fresh fish without having to pay through the nose for it’. This belief was the driving force for Sarah
O’Connor when, in 2009, she set up her business Fabulous Fish, selling fresh fish from her refrigerated van at markets in Monmouth and Chepstow. And now she is on a mission to bring her
products to a wider audience – using her facebook site to drive on-line sales, while also keeping shoals of customers coming to buy from her at market. Convinced she was the first fishmonger to
have an on-line sales presence on the social networking site, she says it has increased her business by about 25 per cent. “I started using facebook myself less
than a year ago. Then I went on a course organised by adventa, Monmouthshire’s rural development programme, and since then, with the advice they provided, my fans
have gone up from 80 to more than 400. It’s been phenomenal. I am not technical, but with the one-to-one hand-holding they gave me access to, I became the first fishmonger to have a presence on the facebook shopping mall! Not bad for a little Glaswegian living in the country! “They showed me how to boost my fan
base, how to advertise on facebook and how to read the analysis. At the beginning, I was just playing with facebook, now I am more structured and business-orientated. My business has increased through having facebook exposure, but not only that, it keeps people coming to the markets where they can buy face-to-face.” Sarah encourages interaction using
facebook, putting up jokes, recipe ideas, anything to start a bit of banter. “A lot of people are afraid of fish – they
don’t know how to cook it. I try and make fish fun and accessible. At the markets I have customers that I would never even think would be on facebook, coming to me and mentioning things,” she adds.
Sarah is also clear that, for businesses like
hers, facebook is a cost-effective alternative to a website. “The best part for my business is that
I don’t have to spend hundreds of pounds on a website. I shied away from that. I just have a web holding
www.fabulousfish.co.uk and that directs people to me and to my facebook site.” And looking to future trends she adds:
“Why would anyone like me pay £2,000 to £3,000 for a website when to my mind, they are becoming pretty much obsolete? “Facebook is quick, easy, it’s there as a
constant reminder to my customers and it costs nothing!” Sarah points to another advantage of
buying on facebook – this time for shoppers. “It’s like a supermarket with products
from lots of individuals – you can buy fish, and then something else entirely different, like jewellery. You pay once and facebook sends the money to the individuals.” Colleagues who, like Sarah, are members of Made in Monmouthshire, a group of artist,
“The best part for my business is that I don’t have to spend hundreds of pounds on a website. I shied away from that. I just have a web holding
www.fabulousfish.co.uk and that directs people to me and to my facebook
site.” Sarah O’Conner
20 THEbusiness QUARTER
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