What is Will-Tech Ordering Service

Will-Tech Ordering Service is a service designed specifically to facilitate the everyday consumers in Montserrat to purchase goods and services online from the North American market and receive these goods in their hands on island. The service came into existence because of the lack in variety of goods on Montserrat and the difficulty for the average person import goods themselves.

How does it work

The service utilizes a combination of social media, custom software, E-Commerce websites and mobile environments to perform the task. Basically most people tend to window shop online and see products that they would like purchase but for various reasons do not have the ability to purchase these products. For those people that have the funds but not the facilities to perform e-commerce Will-Tech would be your solutions.

Social Media and Marketing      

Will-Tech uses social media such as Facebook as advertising and communication protocols. For example, there is a Will-Tech Facebook group page that advertises particular products that are popular within the local market at lower prices than the competing stores on island. The post from this page are often shared several times over across the social network of local people thus attracting them to the page seeking more information. Once they arrive at the page there would be a contact number available and messaging options for them to use in order to get more information on the products being advertised.

WhatsApp and Communication 

There are some people that contact Will-Tech via the messaging options on the Facebook group page itself, while others do regular phones calls. However, the most popular option of contacting the service is WhatsApp (messenger and calling) since both options are free. Once communication is established the process for acquiring the products are then explained to the potential clients making them aware that the business is about the service and not the products. Clients would then inquire about other products besides what is seen on the ads.

Custom Software and Payments  

Will-Tech uses a specialized spreadsheets and databases that are coded to emulate the customs process in Montserrat to instantly tabulate the cost of ordering a product. The basic formula used to describe the process in its simplest term is (price +shipping + customs charges+ service charge). Payments can be all upfront or in two stages; (price + shipping) upfront to start the process and then (customs charges+ service charge) when the product arrives on island, the second payment is all generated cost based on the software. Most people pay in cash face to face or with cheques, while others pay with bank transfers or direct deposits to Will-Tech accounts followed by images of receipts sent via WhatsApp based on previous communication. However, with the introduction of mobile money in the near future the entire service would be fully green until the order is delivered.

Walkthrough

Basically the clients see an item the want to purchase on the internet, they then send the URL for the item to Will-Tech via Facebook or WhatsApp to request an estimated cost and time-frame for the item to reach on island. The item is then looked up and tabulated by the custom software and a response is given to the client with the full payment and two stage payment method along with the turnaround time.  Once the payment is made the item will be purchased from that URL and shipped to Miami then trans-shipped to Montserrat where a second payment(optional) is made, customs charges paid and the item is delivered to the client directly.

Conclusion

The process is very straight forward and fast acting since most of the communication takes place in an IM environment. The idea is innovative as it mashes a combination of E-commerce, Social Networks and Software Engineering to offer a service that has evolved from catalogs, postal services, cash and bank drafts that took weeks and months to a service that takes a few days. Business through Social Media.