Building an e-commerce brand can be an extremely rewarding experience. But it also means you’re going to have some crazy experiences, making you wonder what #@! Is going on sometimes. Here are some of the few eye-rolling, hair pulling experiences I’ve encountered in my e-commerce journey so far:

1. Kaki Contest

You will no doubt encounter this group at some point in your journey. They have to follow your brand and tag a few friends to enter a contest / giveaway. When it’s time to choose a winner and you through the list, you see like a group of contacts just tagging among their themselves, not anyone else. If you look at their profiles, some of them refer themselves as “kaki contest”. Chances are slim they become customers, but hey, at least the post is getting traction (you hope)

2. Bots / Fake Accounts

If you take the time to click on some of your followers / likes, you will find that some of the accounts are unbelievable. Very few posts (if any), but some will have thousands of followers. Just shake your head at the madness and move on.

3. Tumpang Glamour / Spammers

I’m sure you’ve seen them online. A “person” will comment on your post, with a ready-made script about being a coin / stamp / money collector offering you top dollar for your stuff. Please - Just. Don’t. Bother.

4. PM Please

It’s one of life’s greatest unsolved mysteries. The post has everything. Details, price, description, website link. But there will always be those who still ask you to send them a personal message (pm), or message you and proceed to ask you about the same details on the post. Why? I don’t know. Maybe you wrote the post with invisible ink.

5. Influencers

Some are legit, some are fake. Some can help you; the rest don’t have what it takes. Be careful of inflated numbers of followers. Unless they are actually famous, don’t agree to pricey amounts / packages unless they prove themselves first. Monitor and see if the results are there. End of the day, everyone wants to cari makan. But don’t get taken for a ride. Trial and error needed to find the good ones.

6. Boosting

Ah yes, boosting. Sure-fire way to increase views and likes on your posts. But be prepared for close to zero percent conversion in followers / sales. Honestly, you have a higher chance of striking the lottery. And expect a message from the social media platform asking if you were satisfied on the outcome of the boosting campaign (and not replying to your 2am feedback on how they stole your money). Alternative? Old school reaching out to family and friends, and word of mouth connections. Time-consuming, but it’s worth it.

I'm pretty sure there are more crazy stuff out there, but this will give you a good idea.

Vikram Pillay is a certified project (PMP, IPMA) and risk (PMI-RMP) manager who believes in light of the current Covid-19 pandemic, it is especially important for businesses and professionals to network with each other to leverage ideas, adapt, take risks, and innovate so that the “new normal” of the future can be managed well. Connect with him at https://www.linkedin.com/in/vikrampillay/