Do you sell digital products and you’re tired of constantly replying to DMS online or processing individual orders on your business social media accounts? Well, countless platforms in Africa are rising to fill this need. As a creative or small business, using industry giants like Paystack and Flutterwave might be a little overboard and so you need a solution that caters to micro and small businesses.
If you’re a digital creator, all you need might also be to create a globally acceptable link for receiving payments. That’s why in this post, we’ll be looking at the top five platforms you can use to sell your products, services, and receive tips internationally. Keep reading to find out more.
Selar
Selar is an eCommerce store builder that helps Africans across the world sell any digital product or service online. You can also set up recurring subscriptions so users can pay for your service over time. At the moment, you can host your eBooks, courses and membership, event tickets, coaching services, consultations, and even physical goods.
As an entrepreneur, all you have to do is sign up for an account, set up your store, upload products, and share the store link with your customers. If you have foreign customers, there are multiple payment gateways to ensure that you don’t miss a payment. With integrations like Paypal, Stripe, Visa, Mastercard, Verve, Tigo, American Express, Mpesa, and others, you can be sure to receive both local and international payments.
Asides from the store, you can set up an affiliate marketing system, create custom sales/landing pages and set up automated follow-ups. You can also integrate it with your other tools like Mailchimp, Facebook pixel, convert kit, and Zapier. It has a free plan and the monthly paid plans start from $20 or N8,000
Get Fidia
Looking for a way to manage your creative business? Fidia helps you to collect payments, send invoices, sell online and get unique payment links. There are customizable template invoices you can send directly from your account with Fidia invoices. You can also sell your digital products and get paid faster without needing a complicated website.
Create a no-code website also known as a creator profile and receive donations, payments, tips from your clients and fans with your payment link. There’s also the option of converting this into a QR code. Fidia charges a 5% commission on every earning you make as a creator. Although this covers the payment processing fee, there’s also a 0.5% charge for every withdrawal you make into your bank account.
Creathor Africa
Designed specifically for African creators and influencers, Creathor Africa is a platform that builds tools for content creators to make money from their content and audience. Although it’s still in beta, at the moment, you can create a custom link to help you receive tips from your fans and other people that love your content anywhere in the world.
To get and use this unique link, sign up to the Creathor platform, tap on the create payment link button, and rename your payment title. Next, share it on your next TikTok Live, IG Bio, or other Creathor platforms you use. Your Creathor account is directly linked to your bank account so you can receive payments directly.
Unlike other platforms, you don’t need to pay for a plan – especially since some weeks might have low sales. So, since there’s no fixed fee, you only pay when you get fan tips. There’s a small 2% commission on every tip you receive which is cheaper when compared to alternatives like Fidia and Aircart.
Aircart
Aircart is a one-stop platform for content creators and entrepreneurs to sell products/services online and receive payments digitally. Although this platform might be restrictive to Nigerians because you have to withdraw to a Paypal account, other African countries like Kenya and Rwanda can benefit from this. At the moment Aircart is available in 100 countries. Asides from their weekly automatic payouts, you can withdraw your money at any time.
There are no limits to the number of products you can sell. Get real-time notifications when your products are sold so you don’t have to constantly log in to check your sales. Like Fidia and Creathors, Aircart operates a commission-based system. However, the charges are a bit high at 10% on every successful sale.
Catlog
Built around Whatsapp, Catlog is an ideal platform for vendors who don’t want to leave Whatsapp sales behind. Sell food, drinks, clothing, gadgets and so much more. With the Catlog platform, you can create a list of all your products, and add links customers can use to reach out to you on Whatsapp. It’s great for hosting your catalog, FAQs, and order forms. So once they send a message, you immediately get the order and delivery details.
Asides from receiving orders, with this platform, you can easily record the orders you’ve received on Whatsapp. Easily add orders to your dashboard from Whatsapp, keep a record of all customers who have ordered from you and see the analytics of how well your store is performing. There’s a free plan. However, the paid plan for this software starts at N900 a month. Unfortunately, Catlog is only available in Nigeria for now.
We hope you’ve found this post useful. Join millions of digital creators who sell their digital products online with any of these platforms above. Don’t forget to share this post with your network. So tell us which of these options will you be trying out first?
