Over a million hits daily for Trolleymania.com

There are two ways of viewing TrolleyMania: the eMall portal – www.trolleymania.com, where customers can browse through all the products on sale. There are thousands of products already available on TrolleyMania, empowering customers to compare similar items from different suppliers in order to get the best deal possible.

The individual eShops: each eShop operator has a stand-alone shop with a unique web address. This gives the merchants the opportunity to promote their online stores individually through their respective URL. When customers view the eShop they will be able to see only those products on sale by the operator in question – competing products will not come up in product searches. Some examples of individual eShops include ijs.trolleymania.com; silveronline.trolleymania.com and nutrilook.trolleymania.com.

The Merchant interface on TrolleyMania allows sellers to register, set up their product catalogue, manage payments, control shipping logistics and maintain their online store through a user-friendly interface. Setting up an eShop on TrolleyMania costs €250 ex VAT (one-time fee). The annual running fee, which includes all licences and hosting is €232 ex VAT.

The process of setting up an eShop on Trolleymania is done completely online. The Merchant can register, choose a design template, add products in the product catalogue, choose delivery options (own delivery, MaltaPost delivery) and select preferred methods for receiving payment (cash on delivery, debit and credit card payments, or both). Online credit and debit card payments will be processed by the Alert Payment Gateway, which is PCI-certified and accredited by the local banks.

Once all the settings are in place and a few products have been uploaded, eShop Operators can launch their online store at a click of a button.

TrolleyMania was developed by Alert Communications Ltd (www.alert.com.mt). The company is responsible to run the eMall and also to keep developing it on a continuous basis. The aim is to launch new and enhanced functionality for eShop operators and their clients every few months.

Alert Communications is responsible to ensure that TrolleyMania is promoted as effectively as possible, thus driving traffic and business to the eShops in the eMall.  This will be achieved through a partnership with Government, resulting in a concerted marketing campaign that includes internet, press, TV, outdoor and social media.

TrolleyMania was launched on the 19th October and the response was astounding, surpassing the expectations of even the most optimistic people involved in the project. Over the last few days the portal has been experiencing an average of 917 visits an hour, with each visitor viewing 31.5 pages per visit i.e. a total of 28885 page views per hour. This adds up to more than a million hits daily!

What is even more positive is the fact that people starting shopping immediately, filling their trolleys with a wide range of items, including books, decorative items for the home, kitchen equipment and even shoes! Savvy shoppers took the time to compare prices on TrolleyMania to those on popular sites such as Ebay and Amazon and they realised that in many cases it was possible to get a better deal from the local site, especially seeing as purchasing from local shops gives the added peace of mind of having after-sales service easily accessible.

The TrolleyMania Facebook page (www.facebook.com/trolleymania) has also been an instant hit, with hundreds of people rushing to join in the first few days after it was launched.  This page will feature weekly competitions with fantastic prizes put up by different eShop operators, ranging from weekend breaks at the Fortina Spa Resort to gym memberships and even paintings.

There’s no doubt that TrolleyMania is going to make a big difference in the local eCommerce scene – companies that  previously did not have the financial or technical resources to sell online can now do so easily and securely. In fact 50 shops have already signed up to join TrolleyMania. 37 of them are up and running while the rest are still in the process of populating their online stores.