Recently, we wrote an entrepreneurial story in Lider about Zorina’s Ointment, a domestic cosmetic brand that this author stumbled upon by chance in a drugstore and decided to ‘Google’ what it was about. This relatively unknown and small company has become increasingly noticeable in the Croatian market over the past few months. The reason for its significant growth (of as much as 117%!) in the past year in e-commerce and social media is evident. These channels are its main strategy, although it is also present in large retail chains. And why wouldn’t it be: in a sea of cosmetic companies – whether Croatian, American, French, German, or in recent months, Korean – not every company can stand out and gain as much space as it desires on the shelves of physical stores. Therefore, in the vastness of the internet, almost anyone can rise to the top of the algorithm; one just needs to know which strategy to apply.
It is, of course, easy for the big players. Huge budgets, numerous employees, engagement of external agencies… there are no resources that are not at their disposal, and to ensure that our micro-entrepreneurs, small and medium-sized enterprises are not left behind in the online race, we decided to reveal how to create a competitive e-commerce store. Although some may now think: ‘I don’t need an online store; my products are in physical sales locations.’ or ‘What do I need a webshop for when there is Facebook Marketplace?’, the answer for such cynics may be best articulated by the president of the eCommerce Association of Croatia, Marcel Majsan.
– If they have a physical store, they must also have a webshop because otherwise, the competition will sweep them away; it is just a matter of time. Of course, you can continue to operate ‘the old way’, but while you are contemplating whether to place an ad in the Blue Pages, others are using AI technology to optimize the text of their ads to resonate with every customer. If your competition delivers by drone, and you do not offer any delivery, who do you think customers will choose? Moreover, if you do not have an online store, you are practically invisible to 99% of your potential customers – explains Majsan.
Although Zorina’s Ointment has unfortunately not revealed the secret of its e-commerce store by the time of writing this text, the founders and directors of the Healthy Food Factory (TZH), Elvis Kajtazović and Dominik Milolož, a company that recorded revenues of 18.86 million euros last year and truly has a strong segment of e-commerce, tell us that their start was simple because they knew what they wanted and because e-commerce in Croatia was just in its infancy when they started. However, they quickly wanted to refine, improve, and modernize it even further, so the process took some time as they wanted to keep pace with the online world, from payment methods to special selection options, so maintaining the webshop is always challenging.
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