The Letha Brand, How It Started

As a company that has been in the software industry for over 25 years, in the leadup to the initial COVID lockdown, we had a conversation around sustainability. This conversation focused on both our own sustainability as a small business, and how we could use our expertise to provide new opportunities to local community businesses that would be impacted by the looming restrictions.

Little did we know just how severely many local businesses would be impacted. These businesses had been dependent on foot traffic in one form or another, whether at local markets, in-person visits to collect goods from the local store, or small vendors directly delivering goods to their customers. All of these in-person interactions disappeared overnight.

We also saw a number of people elevating their “side hustles” and many others bringing out their hidden entrepreneurial sides to start online businesses, but many were overwhelmed by the expense and complexity of getting their products to market.

We found ourselves in a position where we had the experience and the tools to develop an eCommerce platform that would enable entrepreneurs to help themselves.

The question we asked ourselves was:

“How can we equip small businesses to quickly, affordably, and effectively add an online store to their business?”

Keeping Your Brand Forefront

A common approach for small businesses venturing into eCommerce has been to sell products through other sites, or online marketplaces. The problem with using a marketplace is that your brand and brand experience disappear into the background.

 Your brand experience is ultimately why customers visited your place of business before the restrictions. Because of this, the core Letha objective is to ensure your brand is forefront in every customer interaction or touchpoint.

 We therefore set about designing the Letha platform around the principle of

 “Your Brand is Forefront”

 Given the challenge of providing an affordable eCommerce solution for small businesses, we consider the following to be paramount:

•  Your brand identity is conveyed through your logo, colour scheme, and content.
• The shopping site is your site, with context and positioning of your brand. It is not just a standalone catalogue of products.
• You have control over content updates.
• Customer communications and touchpoints reflect your brand.

Our Purpose As An Online Store Builder

Letha was created to give you:

•  A fast start-up time – from within a few hours to a day, you could have made your first sale.
• A friendly interface that is intuitive enough for technophobes to use with ease.
• A one-stop shop – you deal with us and nobody else. No unnecessary admin dealing with server hosting or payment gateway companies.
• Everything you need for an online presence – a website, an online store and a mobile app.

And so, Letha was born. An investment was undertaken, resulting in an eCommerce platform of which we are proud. We look forward to partnering with your business on our shared vision of contributing to sustainable communities with thriving local eCommerce .