Sunday, January 31, 2010

Literature Review- Clarifying the term ' Business Model'

The literature on e-business models reveals many different interpretations of the popular term 'business model'.  Where once companies talked about 'business plans', 'business models' became the catchphrase that encapsulated the e-commerce revolution in the 1990s.

Osterwalder, Pigneur and Tucci (2005) documented the various uses and meanings attributed by different researchers in the field.

Some like Galper (2001) and Gebauer and Ginsberg (2004) refer to business models as the way companies do business.  Others like Gordijn (2002) and Osterwalder (2004) considers it as a conceptualization of a company's business, that is, its elements and relationships.

Osterwalder et. al. (2005) proposed the following definition for business models:

A business model is a conceptual tool that contains a set of elements and their relationships and allows expressing the business logic of a specific firm.  It is a description of the value a company offers to one or several segments of customers and of the architecture of the firm and its network of partners for creating, marketing, and delivering this value and relationship capital, to generate profitable and sustainable revenue streams.

They summarized the business model components studied in the literature and proposed Nine Business Model Building Blocks:

Friday, January 29, 2010

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Blogshops on You Tube

Blogshops have a presence on many popular social media sites, like Facebook, Friendster, Twitter and Youtube.

Owners are able to find different ways to utilize social media sites like Youtube to advance their business.

Here are some of the ways they are using Youtube to complement their blogshop businesses:


1. Promotions and creating awareness







2.  Announcements and events

Here is a young 'entrepreneur' announcing her intention to start a blogshop business.



Here is a 'news reporting' video about an offline blogshop event.



This particular blogshop uses Youtube to announce lucky draw winners:



Here is a video that captures a fashion event featuring blogshop dresses.



3. Tutorials and other activities that call attention to the blogshop culture

Here is a 6-easy step tutorial on how to start a blogshop business.



This next video teaches blogshop fans how to write reviews about blogshops on a popular blogshop forum/directory called Spree2spree and then export it to Facebook.



And of course, some are just for fun, like this one with Hitler:



These are just a few of the many creative ways in which blogshoppers- owners and fans- are able to use a popular social media like Youtube to support and further their businesses and interests.




A primer on eCommerce

The CREC group at the University of Texas developed a conceptual framework that provides a good bird's eye view picture of e-commerce.

Their framework breaks down the Internet Economy into four layers: infrastructure, applications infrastructure, intermediary, and commerce (see table).  Click on table to enlarge.



Source: Based on "Measuring the Internet Economy," Center for Research in Electronic Commerce, University of Texas, June 6, 2000, www.internetindicators.com. 

Monday, January 25, 2010

Literature Review: Business models on the Internet

Despite the popularity of the term 'business models', especially in relation to Web business, there has not been a lot of attempts to define it in explicit terms.

The most widely cited definition of business model comes from Timmers (1998) who defined business models as:

- an architecture for the product, service and information flows, including a
description of the various business actors and their roles;

- a description of the potential benefits for the various business actors; and

- a description of the sources of revenues.

Timmers (1998) also offered a classification of ten types of business models:

- eShop
- eProcurement
- eAuction
- eMall
- Third Party Marketplace
- Virtual Communities
- Value Chain Service Providers
- Value Chain Integrator
- Collaborative Platforms
- Information Brokers

Rappa (2000) added to this definition by stating that a business model is "...the method of doing business by which a company can sustain itself -- that is, generate revenue. The business model spells-out how a company makes money by specifying where it is positioned in the value chain."

Rappa gave a similar categorization of business models, as listed below:

- Brokage
- Infomediary
- Advertising
- Merchant
- Manufacturer
- Affiliate
- Community
- Subscription
- Utility


Many of the business models are described in terms of what they should accomplish.  For instance, Chesbrough and Rosenbloom (2002) outlined six functions of a business model:

  1. to articulate the value proposition
  2. to identify a market segment
  3. to define the structure of the firm’s value chain
  4. to specific the revenue generation mechanisms
  5. to describe the position of the firm within the value network
  6. to formulate the competitive strategy.



References


Rappa, M. (2000). "Business models on the Web." Managing the digital enterprise. North Carolina State University, USA. Available at: digitalenterprise.org/models/models.html

Timmers, P. (1998). "Business models for electronic commerce." Electronic Markets, 1998, vol.8, no.2, pages 3-8. Available at: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.22.2665&rep=rep1&type=pdf.

Chesbrough, H. and Rosenbloom, RS. (2002) "The role of the business model in capturing value from innovation: evidence from Xerox Corporation's technology spin-off companies." Industrial and Corporate Change, vol.11, no.3, pp.529-555.


Lambert, S. C. (2006). "Do we need a ‘real’ taxonomy of e-business models?" School of commerce research paper series, 06-06. Available at http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.94.7222&rep=rep1&type=pdf.

Osterwalder, A. and Pigneur, Y. (2002). "An e-Business Model Ontology for Modeling e-Business." 15th Bled Electronic Commerce Conference, E-Reality: Constructing the e-Economy, Bled, Slovenia, June 17-19, 2002. Available at: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.16.633&rep=rep1&type=pdf.

[Osterwalder & Pigneur have different versions dealing with e-Business models, including:]

Osterwalder, A., Pigneur, Y. & Tucci C.L . (2005). "Clarifying Business Models: Origins, Present, and Future of the Concept".  Communications of the CAIS, vol 15, Article. Available at:


Gordijn, J., Osterwalder, A. and Pigneur,Y. (2005). "Comparing two Business Model Ontologies for Designing e-Business Models and Value Constallations." 18th Bled eConference, eIntegration in Action, Bled Slovenia. Available at http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.77.5601&rep=rep1&type=pdf.



Troutman, M. & Timpson, S. (2008). "Effective Optimization of Web Sites for Mobile Access: The Transition from eCommerce to mCommerce." Journal of Interactive Advertising; Fall2008, Vol. 9 Issue 1, p1-12. 







Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Article: Blissfully Beautiful aims to make fashion affordable for everyone

Stylish and elegant
by Soo Wern Jun
Blissfully Beautiful aims to make fashion affordable for everyone


Who would say no to shopping? At the mention of a shopping trip, almost none of us could resist the idea of getting a new outfit to go with another pair of new shoes or maybe a new pair of earrings. If only we had the resources and sufficient funds to keep replenishing our cravings for the latest fashion treats.

Wanting to make fashion more affordable for herself and also her friends, the initial nature of the blog shop owned by Joyce Cheng was an experiment gone useful. It was not something which she had in mind to venture into considering that she pursued her studies in civil engineering but Cheng is getting a hang of handling her blog shop and is even planning for a long term business venture.

"Although I love shopping, starting a blog shop had never crossed my mind since there are so many other blog shops available out there. When I was approached with the idea, it felt like I could never sustain a blog shop as I have to compete with the rest. For a person without experience in the retail business, I just didn’t see how it could work for me," expressed Cheng.

The 25-year-old only started with a small amount of stock in hand last October, but has gradually grew to have more than 50 returning buyers up-to-date. For a newcomer in the market, Cheng is excited about the near future.

However, in any business-oriented "affairs", one could not possibly avoid complications which may occur due to any kind of unexpected situations. Maintaining a blog site alone may be easy, but managing a blog shop, Cheng agrees it’s something else altogether.

"I never thought dealing with buyers were so difficult until some of them demanded for their items to be sent to them almost immediately. I’ve received orders in the morning from customers who have requested for the clothes to be sent the same night itself. Some have even requested for their items to be sent immediately. I wasn’t in a position to say no because it is too big of a risk to take in letting go of the buy and having to end up with dead stock," expressed Cheng.

Back-out buyers are also one of Cheng’s worst feared problems in running the business. They would request for an item and would turn her down weeks later expressing disinterest in the item.

"When this happens, I would have to search for a new buyer since I don’t carry too many pieces of a particular item. Imagine having to say ‘no’ to a buyer because there isn’t any stock left only to find out days or weeks later that the existing buyer no longer wants the item. Money is not paid but I am left to bear the costs of the unsold items," added Cheng.

Although Cheng faces such occasional setbacks, she constantly looks on the bright side of the business and strives to provide fashionable items which are wearable yet stylish. Placing her focus more on dresses, tops and occasionally skirts, Cheng counts herself fortunate to have found a good supplier who provides her with designer material items.

"Buying my stock from this particular designer keeps me free from having to deal with mass-produced items. I don’t have to worry about my customers comparing prices or materials of these respective items knowing that there aren’t similar pieces out there. For pieces which are designed and made in small quantities, these dresses, tops and skirts are able to maintain their exclusivity," explained Cheng.

As a fashion "provider", Cheng makes it a point to dress up each time she delivers her items to reflect her stylish collections.

"What would my buyers think of me if they see me in a sloppy outfit? They may not trust my taste in selecting my stock Since starting this business, I’ve seldom gone shopping at retail stores. Instead, I’m buying from my supplier, wearing the collections that I’m selling to set an example," added Cheng.

For details, visit blissfully-beautiful.blogspot.com  or email your enquiries to blissfully.beautiful@gmail.com. The items are priced from RM45 to RM100.
 

Literature Review- Defining eBusiness and eCommerce

One of the difficulties with research in this area has to do with definitions.

Various terminologies that seem to approximate each other have emerged in this field.  For instance, e-commerce (or electronic commerce), online commerce, e-business, online business,  e-marketing , Internet marketing, digital marketing, Web marketing, and online marketing.  

The field has not matured to an extent where there is no clear agreement about the various definitions and terms, so it is quite common to see terms like e-business and e-commerce being used interchangeably.

For the purpose of this project, the following definitions will be used:

eCommerce:

The process of buying, selling transferring, or exchanging products, services, and/or information via computer networks, including the Internet.

Source: Turban et. al. (2006)

Simply put, eCommerce means buying and selling over the Internet.

This definition shall encompass the following perspectives:

Communications - ECommerce is the delivery of goods, services, information, or payments over computer networks or by any other electronic means.

Commercial (trading) - ECommerce provides the capability of buying and selling products, services and information on the Internet and via other online services.

Business Process - ECommerce is doing business electronically by completing business processes over electronic networks, thereby substituting information for physical business processes (Weill and Vitale 2001, pg 13)

Service - ECommerce is a tool that addresses the desire of governments, firms, consumers, and management to cut service costs while improving the quality of customer service and increasing the speed of service delivery.

Learning - ECommerce is an enabler of online teaching and education in schools, universities, and other organisations, including businesses.

Collaboration - ECommerce is the framework for inter-organisational and intra-organisational collaboration.

Community - ECommerce provides a gathering place for community members to learn, transact and collaborate.



eBusiness: 

eBusiness is the transformation of key business processes through the use of Internet technologies.

Source: www.ibm.com/e-business  (since moved)

IBM was one of the first organizations to use the term in 1997 to describe its services, and this definition is broad enough to encompass the various sub-components of an organization that practices e-business.

Dave Chaffey's efforts to distinguish between the two terms can be found here.

Basically, the differences in these terms can be made in terms of their scope.  

eCommerce is essentially buying and selling online, and it includes the buy-side eCommerce which interfaces with organizational suppliers, as well as sell-side eCommerce which are the organization's customers and end users.

eBusiness is a broader concept that encompasses eCommerce.  It also covers organizational processes and functional units.

Chaffey's diagram below illustrates this perfectly and should dispel any confusion as to how these terms apply.


Photobucket

Blogshops are therefore a type of e-business organization because they operate on the Internet and have processes that are Web dependent.  

They are also a type of e-commerce entity because their primary activity is online selling and buying.  In this regards, they are an e-retailer or e-tailer (online retailer) as their interface is usually with end-users.

So, the hierarchial scheme should look like this:


References:



Chaffey, D., Ellis-Chadwick, F., Johnston, K., and Mayer,R. (2006). Internet Marketing, Strategy, Implementation and Practice. Prentice Hall, Third Edition, Essex, England.

Turban, E, King, D., Lee, J.K. and Viehland, D. (2006). Electronic Commerce 2006: A Managerial Perspective, Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006 edition, New Jersey.


Weill, P. and Vitale, M.R. (2001). Place to Space: Migrating to eBusiness Models. Boston: Harvard Business School Press 2001.



Article: Business savvy kids turn blogs into e-shopping outlets

 From The Straits Times, Jan 8, 2007:
Business savvy kids turn blogs into e-shopping outlets








Business-savvy kids turn blogs into e-shopping outlets
RACHELLE Yee is 11 but she already runs two shops - online.
One is sweetified-shop.blogspot.com, where she sells clay jewellery she makes herself. The other is lolly-fantasy.blogspot.com, where she customises lollipop pendants based on customers' requests.

INTERNET FINDS: Some of Rachelle Yee's handmade clay jewellery. Net-savvy entrepreneurs who run blogshops are profiting from their creativity.
The Primary 5 pupil who started her business last month has already sold 19 pieces of her creations, ranging from bracelets to mobilephone charms. She has made a profit of almost $30.
She is part of a fast-growing group of youngsters - in true digital native style - who are setting up shop using their blogs and earning extra pocket money from their ventures.

The Straits Times polled 80 youth, aged 13 to 19, and found that Internet shopping is the preferred choice for half of them, because of its convenience and unusual finds.
Whereas digital immigrants might prefer the old-fashioned consumer technique of haggling face to face, natives make a beeline for the Internet. There, they trade on a wide array of items ranging from second-hand clothing or brand-new ones they bought on impulse (and now want to get rid of), to handmade accessories or art pieces.

Portals which consolidate blogshop numbers, like OneShop or Emall.sg, showed more than 200 such shopping blogs in Singapore by teenagers, with most started last year.

Rachelle hit on the idea of starting a business after seeing her cousin Cheryl Lui, 17, start hers successfully at www.treaties.blogspot.com

She now spends six hours a day updating her blog during school holidays in addition to another few hours creating her clay jewellery - her stock.

She also sells charms or little mementos which she imports from Japan with thehelp of her cousin.
Said Rachelle, who studies at De La Salle School in Choa Chu Kang: "Running a business is not easy. Sometimes I need to post something out and the nearby shop runs out of stamps. Or I may have to handle customers' complaints that the workmanship is not good enough."

And for an entrepreneur as young as she is, collecting payment from her customers is not straightforward because she does not have an Internet banking facility.

Some of her teenage customers also have no access to online banking and so theyhave to post her hard cash, hidden in an envelope - a payment procedure aptlycalled "concealed cash".

Others do a fund transfer to her POSB account, but in order to check that the money is in, she has to take a free shuttle bus from her Hillview home to West Mall shopping centre where the nearest ATM is located.

Rachelle, who designed her own blogshop, learnt Web design by experimenting on her father's computer while she was in Primary 1.

She plans to continue her business even during schooldays, but will close her shops during the Primary School Leaving Examination next year.

The plucky girl said: "If business is good, I plan to open my shop worldwide. I can send items by airmail and they can pay me using Paypal."

Paypal, an international payment facility and currency of the Internet, calls for the use of a credit card which Rachelle does not yet qualify for.

But she and her many peers are undeterred, going by the number of blogshops in the virtual world. On most shopping blogs, there are also links to at least another 100 blogs owned by young digital natives.

Some teenagers who are more tech-savvy go a step further - they even design from scratch websites of their own.

Monica Lie, 15, from Singapore Chinese Girls School, for example, owns theglassbead.vze.com, a professional-looking site she designed herself. The self-taught graphic designer has been interested in design since she was nine.

She borrowed $50 from her mother to start her jewellery design business, and has already made a profit of $500. She even received two orders from the United States recently.

Before she started the online shop, her mother helped her apply for Internet banking.

Said Monica: "I prefer an online business because it's cheaper to set up, I don't have to pay rent. But because I don't think it's safe to just meet someone I know online, I always post items out instead of arranging to meet up."

To keep her designs exclusive, she makes at most five pieces of each.

While handmade jewellery remains the most popular items sold by teenagers, there are others who prefer to sell something different - for instance, hand-painted canvas Mary Jane shoes or art pieces, or whatever appeals to them.

For these teens, the range is endless.

Lin Xin, 17, a first-year Singapore Polytechnic business administration student, paints Mary Jane shoes in leopard, sunflower or stripes prints.

At Button Parlour (button-parlour.blogspot.com), colourful buttons are turned into fanciful earrings by adding a stud behind the button. Prices start from $1.90 for a pair of plain coloured studs.
Another shop, Pixel Pastry (pixelpastry.com), has digital artworks and graphic designs by artist and boss Lim Si Ping.

The 19-year-old LaSalle SIA College of the Arts design student said her site is more a hobby than a career for now, even though her clientele has grown quickly to include overseas ones since she started the shop last year.

While working with the Internet has allowed her to reach clients on the other side of the globe, she said it has disadvantages because "anyone can rip my work off from the Internet and use it illegally".

Parents of these teenagers are still trying to get used to the idea of their child starting a business.
As Rachelle's mother, housewife Madam Joanna Qua, 40, put it: "At first, I was worried she might be doing something illegal. She's still so young and I don't know much about IT. But now I see her putting in so much effort, I feel quite happy and proud of her."

First published: The Straits Times, Jan 8, 2007

If you want to start an e-biz, I would recommend that you focus on the products that you want to sell online.. Back in 2000, as far as I remember, people put too much attention on the technologies and most online websites are nothing more than just a showcase of technologies. 

I would recommend that you begin with selling online through ebay.. All the infrastructure and marketing effort are already done for you.. It is a very low cost way of starting an online e-biz.. ;)
Posted by: Wong Keat Wai at Sun Dec 14 16:37:37 SGT 2008
Zakoola is long gone. A good alternative is this bookshop called OpenTrolley Bookstore. Hope it doesn't have the same fate as Zakoola.
Posted by: tacktacktack at Sun Dec 14 12:48:19 SGT 2008
Many e biz are gone. 

The few that survived are staying a float just. Just cant beat the mortar and bricks of shopping.
Posted by: old_dilbert at Wed Dec 19 22:31:49 SGT 2007

Article: Blogshops warned to stop contact lens sales

From: The Straits Times, available at:

Push Cart Forums, Singapore:

Blogshops Warned to Stop Contact Lens Sales


 Blogshops Warned to Stop Contact Lens Sales

10 March 2009
The Straits Times





Ministry tells online sellers to remove all related posts at once
By Serene Luo




THE Ministry of Health (MOH) yesterday morning warned unlicensed blogshops to stop selling cosmetic contact lenses. 


The Optometrists and Opticians Board of the ministry sent e-mail letters, which The Straits Times obtained, to blogshop owners to remove all contact lens-related posts from their blogs immediately as well. 


If they did not, they could run foul of the Optometrists and Opticians Act, and face jail of up to six months or fines up to $25,000, or both, for prescribing and dispensing contact lenses without being qualified to do so. 


The cosmetic lenses are popular with teenage girls, but some users have developed complications, such as corneal ulcers or conjunctivitis, from wearing them. 


Last month, The Straits Times' forum published a letter from the board, warning buyers to buy lenses only from licensed and qualified sellers. 


The cosmetic lenses are being sold on personal blogs, which have become a platform for teens and youth as young as in primary school to sell clothing and accessories. Their customers are usually other youth. 


This is the second reported action taken by a government agency on casual, typically unregistered, online businesses. 


About two years ago, two blogshops selling food products were asked by the National Environment Agency to remove mention of their wares online. The law prohibits food prepared at home from being sold to the public because of food safety concerns. 


Checks by The Straits Times last week found there were at least 10 online 'stores', mostly run by young women in their teens or early 20s, selling cosmetic contact lenses. 


These lenses, which are usually imported from South Korea, may or may not be powered but reportedly make the users' eyes look 'bigger and more sparkling'. 


But a Sunday Times article last month reported that eye doctors and opticians had seen a spike in eye infections in users who had bought cosmetic lenses from online sellers. 


In Singapore, only qualified and licensed practitioners are allowed to prescribe and sell contact lenses. 


When contacted, a number of blogshop owners said they would sell the lenses only to overseas customers. 


A few also said they had certificates from suppliers to prove the lenses were 'authentic' and not faked goods.


One blogshop owner, a 21-year-old who wanted to be known only as Miss Tan, said she would stop all sales after completing her current order this week, as many customers had already paid. 


She added that even though she had announced on her blog that she was stopping sales because of legal restrictions, a number of youths, some aged just 12, had approached her to supply them with lenses to sell. 'They are completely unaware of current affairs and news,' she said. 


A board spokesman said that if sellers continued their trade in contact lenses, 'enforcement action may be taken against them'. 


It conceded that enforcement against the online sale of contact lenses would be 'highly challenging', since owners of websites are hard to trace, but it would issue stern warning letters to those it can trace. 


It has also informed contact lens suppliers and companies to supply contact lenses only to qualified sellers, its spokesman said.


Thursday, January 14, 2010

Eastern Times article about Blogshops

This article on blogshops appeared in the WEAR TO GO column of the Eastern Times newspaper today:

Wear To Go Logo.jpg
By Antonia Chiam

Online shopping is nothing new in this electronic age. Many brick-and-mortar businesses have long extended their presence into Cyberspace, while some businesses started off solely as virtual stores, allowing IT-savvy customers to buy things at a click of a mouse.
A recent phenomenon in online shopping is the flourish of 'blogshops'. These are run by individuals with no company alliance using their own resources. Personal websites, blog-hosting services like blogger.com or livejournal.com  and even social networking sites like Facebook and Friendster are common platforms for these blogshops that sell various kinds of products, ranging from fashion to gadgets to crafts and others. Basically anything and everything, the only limitations being one's resources and creativity.
Fashion blogshops, or as some of them prefer calling themselves 'online boutiques', have been around in Singapore and West Malaysia for a while, gaining notable popularity in the past one year or so. Wear To Go! surfed into some recommended Malaysian blogshops to check out their fashion (mostly clothes) offerings.

IreneLim.com
http://www.irenelim.com/fashion

irenelim1.jpg
This is one of the established online boutiques in the country. The clothes are mostly sourced from within the country as well as Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. There have been a great number of positive feedback on Irene's service and product quality, as can be seen from some testimonials in the site itself. Price range is between RM30-RM90 depending on the products, which are mostly tops and dresses.

Clothes For Fun
http://clothesforfun.blogspot.com
clothes-for-fun.jpg
This blogshop is back after being 'offline' for awhile. Living up to its name, it returns with a quirky layout with various outfits that are sure to add colours and fun to your day, whatever the occasion. From blouses to bags to bangles, there is much choice for everyone at fairly affordable prices. Also worth noting, this site was recently featured in female, Malaysia's leading fashion and beauty magazine. 

Elegant Extravaganza
http://elegant-extravaganza.blogspot.com
elegant-extrava.jpg
Do not be put off by the minimalist design of this blogshop because it has very attractive offerings with equally attention-grabbing pricing. There are not many fashion blogshops where you can shop for below RM30 but here you can find bargains as low as RM10! From personal experience, this is THE blogshop for budget shopping, and best of all, you get good quality clothes.
Jessabella's Plus Size Stealz
http://jessabellapluzsizestealz.blogspot.com/
jessaplussize1.jpg
Plus-size friends often voice their difficulty in finding trendy clothes in this country of mostly petite people and physical stores tend to neglect the segment of full-figured customers. Blogshops like this one provide the solution to affordable and stylish plus-size fashion. Nothing more than RM40, claimed the blogshop owner Jessica. Please note the 'pluz' in the URL is deliberate and correct.

I'Adore Facebook Boutique
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kuching-Malaysia/IAdore-Fashion-Boutique/116356079543
i-Adore2.jpg
This is a fairly new online boutique, operating from the popular networking site Facebook by two Kuching-based ladies. The Japanese and Korean import fashion are pretty popular, if the speed of items sold out or out of stock is any indication. They are slowly expanding their items so it is worth to join the Facebook Page to keep abreast of the latest updates. Most items are priced between RM30-RM45. 
These are just a handful out of the possible hundreds of blogshops in Malaysia alone. Should you know of any noteworthy sites, do share the URLs or your blog-shopping experience with us atnews@easterntimes.com.my [Subject: Wear To Go!] as we love to hear from our readers. Happy shopping!

Article on eBoutiques and Online Blogshops

Article from Shoppingnsales.com about eBoutiques and Online Blogshops in Malaysia:



blogshopping
Star is timely and would be useful to some of you; and may even encourage some others to start a similiiar thing; especially with the economic situation around us getting dimmer and dimmer.
Check out these key directory listings, so that you can be assured you’re not alone, if you wanna start up your own Blog Shop :  Emmagem Fashion Directory , MOFSD Listing and Malaysian Babes’ Blogshop
One of our friends also started her own online thingy called Choobs, where they specialized in Trinkets & Baubles and she’s saying that business is overwhelming!:)
So we guess, if you have an online BlogShop and you would like to share with us your experiences and also what you have to offer, we will “switch off” the spam filters for today! :) Tell us what u have available on this Post!!
And for the rest of u, do you want to start an eBoutique or an Online BlogShop on your own?  Read on . . .

The next best thing to having a successful online boutique is taking it offline.
ALL is going well at the Youth ‘09 bazaar in Kuala Lumpur for Goh Rui Yee, or “Venetia”, as she is known on her online boutique. So many people have stopped by at her stall; some have bought from her, while others received her name cards directing them to her blog (sassychic32.blogspot.com).
Venetia, 22, has had an online boutique for almost a year now. Late last year, she discovered “offline” bazaars, and decided to try setting up stall at one in December.
One-on-one time: By going offline, online boutique bloggers get to make a personal connection with their customers.
“I liked the idea of meeting my customers face-to-face, and since I was on holiday, I decided to do it,” says the college student.
There are many others like Venetia; these days, it’s sometimes not enough to just run an e-boutique from behind a computer screen.
Online boutiques are nothing new. Run by young fashion enthusiasts who buy their products in bulk, locally and overseas, there are hundreds of e-boutiques craving publicity and attention to boost their businesses.
Showing proof: Venetia Goh Rui Yee believes that offline bazaars are a good way to show customers that products sold online are of good quality.
Enter the offline bazaars – a space for e-boutique owners to meet their customers face-to-face, interact with other vendors, and step away from their computer screens once in a while.
How these vendors run their stalls is entirely up to them. Some bring all their stock to the bazaar, while others showcase their old stock and new arrivals, and direct their customers to the website for other sizes and colours of goods on display.
“There is still a large group of people who are sceptical about online shopping. To instill more trust, we have to come offline to show them that our products are not merely nice pictures. This is a way of proving that our items are up to standard, and also a good opportunity to promote our website to a larger crowd,” explains Venetia.
Promoting it: Patricia Sharon Ponisa gets owners of e-boutiques to take part in bazaars by announcing them on her blog (www.pinkypiggyscloset.blogspot.com).
At the recent Youth ‘09 event, more than 30,000 youths thronged the halls of the Putra World Trade Centre, browsing through the 80 stalls at the bazaar.
The trend is catching on fast. Two weeks ago, at least five bazaars were held in the Klang Valley at various venues. On most weekends, there is at least one medium-scale bazaar happening in the city.
Offline bazaars are even happening in campuses. At the recent Universiti College Sedaya International (UCSI) Unifest event in KL, e-boutique owner and aspiring businesswoman Patricia Sharon Ponisa, 19, stood proudly among the vendors of a bazaar she curated.
Customer service: Grace Chew May Jern enjoys offline bazaars because she gets to meet her customers face-to-face.
“I have an e-boutique which sells items bought in bulk, and also designs by a friend of mine. Organising bazaars is a good idea because it brings website owners out into the public, especially in universities. This is because our stuff is quite affordable to students,” explains Patricia, who operatespinkypiggyscloset.blogspot.com.
Grace Chew May Jern, 20, a vendor at the same bazaar, is a shopaholic who just loves to share her fashion sense with the public.
“The point is to establish trust,” she says. “It’s a way of meeting current, and potential customers, which make transactions more interesting as I can personally give fashion advice and negotiate prices.”
Grace estimates revenue to be about the same offline and online.
Your choice: If you’re wary about buying stuff online, you may want to go to an offline bazaar to check out the products first.
“Of course, sales generated in two or three days in offline bazaars exceed a two-to-three-day online sale, but after deducting the cost of operating during the bazaar, it comes up to about the same,” says Grace, who operates the blog lushserendipity.blogspot.com.
Not everything is rosy all the time at bazaars, howevr. Vendors and organisers have their fair share of problems when it comes to working together.
“Space is definitely one problem, as there’s no way of knowing what the space will be like when you arrive, and sometimes a few vendors can be inconsiderate by eating up more space than they’re entitled to,” explains Venetia.
“Plus, there are some vendors who smoke at the trading area, which is bad because then it will stink up our clothes on sale. Thus, it is very important that you get good neighbour vendors,” she adds.
On the part of the organisers, Patricia agrees that there are some common problems, for example meeting vendor’s expectations.
“There are often disputes about space, racks and tables, and it’s difficult to please everyone. There’s also the issue of electricity, fans and so on. It’s all about being able to communicate properly and understanding one another’s needs,”says Patricia.
“As an organiser, I have to keep searching for events to hold the bazaars. This takes up time and it’s a balancing act between focusing on my studies, and running my e-boutique.”
For Venetia, Patricia and Grace, apart from having their businesses blossom in “real” life, as opposed to in cyberspace, the best part about being in a bazaar is meeting people.
“To see the happy smiles on our customer’s faces when they find something they like at our stalls is priceless. It’s also good to be able to exchange ideas and insight with neighbouring vendors, to improve our businesses,” says Venetia.
“Bazaars are a place where we can share fashion, earn pocket money, and gain experience in running a business,” says Patricia.









Business with soul

Almost every weekend, one-off bazaars are hosted in and around the Klang Valley, featuring e-boutique owners, creative entrepreneurs, and second-hand items stall owners.
Young women, many of whom are students, throng these bazaars, either as vendors or customers. They are eager to interact, network, and shop.
One of the first bazaars of this kind to attract public attention was Bijou Bazaar, pioneered by Maryam Samirah Shamsuddin, 29, who runs the project with her friend, Nirwana Tuan Sariff.
The women behind Bijou Bazaar: Maryam Samirah Shamsuddin (left) and Nirwana Tuan Sariff. — Pictures by MOHD FADZA ISHAK
Bijou Bazaar has grown from a hobby of creating handmade accessories and re-fashioning old clothes to a massive lifestyle event with up to 180 vendors, food, fashion shows, and acoustic music performances.
“I grew up watching my mum run a duty free retail set up. When I was doing my A-Levels, I followed her on buying trips and sat in negotiations with designers or brand houses because that was the only time I got to see her,” explains Maryam.
“I learned a lot from watching her, and this was the trigger to my interest and passion in retail,” adds Maryam, who left her job as a business development manager to pursue her passion.
Maryam started out by selling her handmade accessories. But when the orders exceeded her capacity to produce them, she chose to build up Bijou Bazaar.
The first bazaar, which was held a little over a year ago, had only around 30 vendors. Their vendors now have grown to 180, depending on the scale of the event.
“To be honest, I would have loved to keep it small,” says Maryam. “When building managements and big event organisers invited us to hold Bijou Bazaar with them, I agreed so that more vendors and retails enthusiasts could benefit.”
According to Maryam, the sprawling shopping malls and cookie-cutter boutiques in the local retail landscape are impressive, but unfulfilling.
Growing business: Bijou Bazaar started out as a handmade accessories project by Maryam. It is now a major event involving at least 30 vendors at a time.
“It’s no more just products the shoppers crave, but an exchange of ideas, knowledge, and experience. Today’s soulless shopping landscape needs a corrective, we seek to do so by yoking commerce to culture,” she says.
At Bijou Bazaar, fashion is mixed with creative entrepreneurship. E-boutique owners, vintage fashion retailers, fashion designers and fashion enthusiasts selling their selections converge with creative entrepreneurs selling their own work.
All this makes for a good mixture of products and personalities at the bazaar, made more exciting by live acoustic performances by Indie musicians, an addition that Maryam believes makes the event more than just a “regular flea market”.
She likes to think of Bijou Bazaar as a “business with soul”, an environment that encourages vendors to make friends and help one another out.
“We see a lot of collaborations, sharing, support groups and win-win partnerships within the independent scene. We are not purely profit motivated, we are about our community; we are looking at nurturing young micro retailers and creative entrepreneurs within Bijou Bazaar.”
On the booming phenomenon of e-shopping, Maryam believes it is attributed to convenience.
“People today are more receptive to online retail for the convenience it offers. Life is complicated enough as it is, anything that whispers convenience will be well received.”
The next Bijou Bazaar will be happening on Feb 14 and 15, at Soho KL, Solaris Mont Kiara in KL.
To keep abreast with what’s happening with Bijou Bazaar, visit their website atbijoubazaar.blogspot.com.