Best Platforms for Reaching the Halal Online Consumer

You’ve done the research and development and created a great Halal-certified product. You know that there are more than a billion Halal consumers out there and many are opting to buy products online, but how do you reach online Halal consumers, get the word out and start selling?

What are the best platforms for reaching the Halal online consumer?

Depending on your target market, plan on reaching new customers by using several channels and platforms.

Develop a Website

It’s important to have an online store that features your product and enables customers to buy from you directly.  There are many platforms available to create your sites, like Shopify, Magento, BigCommerce, SquareOnline, SquareSpace, or WordPress-WooComerce.  Choosing a site depends on your business needs, time constraints, and budget.  Do some comparison shopping. It’s worth getting a feel for what services these sites offer, reading customer reviews, comparing prices, and figuring out which platform is best for your business.

Expand Your Market Presence

Once you have your eCommerce site, choose additional platforms to sell your products. Halal consumers are on several platforms.  The ones listed below are some of the largest and most well-known. They differ in cost, services, and complexity.  For some, like eBay for example, you can register, upload images and text and start selling within 10 minutes. For others like Walmart for example, there are weeks, upon weeks of forms, vetting, and approvals.

• Amazon
• eBay
• Walmart
• Facebook Marketplace
• Instagram Shop
• Alibaba
• Etsy
• Google Express
• AliExpress
• Groupon

Advertise for Visibility

Once you have chosen which platforms to place your products and uploaded your products, it’s important to make yourself visible.  If possible, advertise to ensure that your product will be featured in customer search results. For example, to advertise on Amazon, you would set up banner ads and sponsored posts based on keywords and categories. On Facebook, you would put your ads in front of targeted Halal consumers. Advertise based on audience demographics, interests and groups, and communities.  This is where you will need information and customer insight.

Use Common Search Words

Key search words depend on the product, its uses, features, and benefits. Think about how someone would search for your product. They might say “Halal children’s vitamins” or “Halal nail polish” or “CBD Certified Halal” or they might say “Halal certified meatballs”.  The most common Halal long-term search phrase is consistently “Halal food near me”.   Whatever the name of your product is, whatever the features and benefits of your products are, put the keyword Halal in front of it.

You can also use Halal alternative keywords like Tayyib or Zabihah and other words like ‘Vegan’ or ‘Meatless’ as they apply.  That is how Halal consumers will find your product on your site and various platforms.

Your Halal Niche Amongst the Many

Your Halal niche exists within each platform. The goal is to have your product appear when people search for it.  Your customers are amongst the shoppers on each of these platforms. There are:

• 300 million active monthly users on Amazon
• 100 million active monthly users on Walmart
• 2.8 billion users on Facebook and Instagram (over 70% of users in the USA are shoppers)
• 150 million shoppers on Ali Express
• 160 million shoppers on eBay

No business will get access to these shoppers if they are not on these platforms. One additional benefit of large platforms is that when your product is searched, it will rank higher in search organic engine results. Simply selling your product on Amazon, for example, will increase awareness of your product on a Google search.

To advertise, set your sales objectives and your budget. Then choose your keywords and categories. You will typically be charged on a “pay per click” basis and your product will appear as a banner ad or sponsored post when someone searches for it.

Exclusively Halal Platforms

Halal Travel platforms have emerged recently and some have become very successful.  These are great for hotels, restaurants, and tour companies. Halal consumers are using these platforms to manage business and leisure travel. There are opportunities for hotel chains, restaurants, and leisure, tour, event, and entertainment businesses to expand their markets using these platforms. Some examples are below:

Halal Trip
Halal Booking
Halal Holiday

Halal products platforms and Halal malls are beginning to emerge.  There are a few international Halal malls and some national grocers. The opportunity exists for more development in this area. Some examples are below.

International Marketplaces

Halal Mall Online

WeHalal
DagangHalal
Amazon. ae (An Amazon Company)

National Online Markets

The Halal Food Shop (UK)
Halal World Depot (USA)

There are some excellent opportunities for Halal businesses to place products and services on multiple platforms.  Choosing the right platforms for your products will take some research and analysis. Mainstream business with Halal-certified products and services can expand their markets on national and international Halal platforms. There is an opportunity in the market to develop more and diverse Halal platforms that include, pharmaceuticals, supplements, chemicals, flavors, colors, ingredients, agricultural products, meat and poultry, cosmetics, and much more.

ISA Halal certification helps companies expand their markets nationally and internationally to nearly 25% of the world’s population.