Blogshop Reviewers talk about Blogshops

Blogshop reviewers play a major role in the blogshop-sphere.  Here is an article that interviews a number of them who are quite prominent in the blogshop scene.

NOTE:  There is a strong sense in which blogshops are synonymous with e-commerce in Malaysia.

While online shopping came on the scene with the dotcoms in the 1990s, they were not big in Malaysia then.  There were some e-commerce sites dedicated to e-commerce, and a handful of auction and online community sites like Lelong and Lowyat that provided spaces for e-commerce (usually C2C), but online shopping then was still insignificant (I need to research deeper into this to get some statistics about the early days of e-commerce and online shopping in Malaysia to get a confirmation on this).


Therefore, do blogshops represent the e-commerce/online shopping revolution in this part of the world?  

In  other words, are we having our own 'version' of e-commerce, one that is fueled by cost-free blogshops instead of typical e-commerce sites from the dotcom era?


From the Sun2Surf site: http://www.thesundaily.com/article.cfm?id=51748

Shopping redefined
by Soo Wern Jun

Pung Sha-Lene	Michelle Ong

ABOUT a year ago online shopping was a bizarre idea to many of us who until today still prefer to get shopping done at malls even though shopping convenience is only a few clicks away on the computer. It was a new concept which took a while to sink into shoppers’ minds while having to get used to receiving shopping items through snail mail. This however did not stop blogshop and e-boutique owners from establishing a "buy and sell" community on the wireless sphere. Today, based on statistics provided by four individuals whom have been actively keeping tabs on these businesses online which are based in Malaysia alone, the number has risen to more than 2,000 sites.
 

Yes, you read it correctly. There are more than 2,000 shops online and the figure is rising. You begin to think, there are so many physical shops out there which you cannot actually cope with, how can you keep track of these additional shopping avenues? Well, this is where blogshop reviewers come to our rescue. The majority of us would assume, how hard can it be to manage a blog site, but think again, with information overload from existing blogshops, the new emergence of blogshops and not forgetting continuous requests for new blogshops to be featured, it is not an easy task to juggle.

Some have been successful whereas many have shut down without a trace. Similar to how you do your research online with regards to what is the best buy of a certain item through reviews, the blogshop review sites serve the same purpose for online shoppers. But which do you actually want to read and believe before you make an investment on an item?

REVIEW WITH A DIFFRENCE

"There is no competition among us blogshop reviewers. At least from my side, I don’t see that we are competing. My observations show that blogshop reviewers complement each other in the blog-sphere as there are too many blogshops to keep track of and due to that, I feel that there is no way that I can list all of them," explained Pung Sha-Lene, 22, of yourshoppingkaki.blogspot.com, who is a student majoring in journalism and communications at Monash University in Bandar Sunway.

Introduced to online shopping in 2009, Sha-Lene is the host of Your Shopping Kaki blogshop review site where she provides firsthand shopping experiences and tips. It was not something which was planned, but simply because she enjoyed writing and loved the convenience of shopping online.

"Your Shopping Kaki takes on a different approach where readers get insights to where or why I’ve purchased certain items. Each review is written in an article form where I feature blogshops I’ve purchased items from instead of telling someone about what other blogshops have without purchasing anything from them. I also feature other shops in my review site and blogshop owners are most welcome to share links on Your Shopping Kaki where readers can locate certain items which they’re looking for," added Sha-Lene.

MOTHER OF ALL REVIEWERS

Soh Yien Yee	Sara Khong

As for A Shopaholic’s Den (www.ashopaholicsden.com), a reviewer who many regard as the pioneer who kick-started blogshop review sites, Soh Yien Yee, 22, continues to keep readers informed with the latest updates posted by blogshops although she is now a full-time events management executive. However, Soh noticed several downsides of the current reviewing trend as compared to when she started back in 2008.

"When I first started the review site, it focused on helping friends and fellow shoppers locate items which they could not find at their usual shopping spots or if they were avid online shoppers and were looking for something in particular. On my site I share about what’s in and where shoppers can purchase them online and tips on shopping efficiently online. At times I would also be reviewing products if there are requests," said Soh.

"However lately, I’ve noticed that there are several review sites which are set up solely for profit-earning purposes. I think it is unethical to do so especially when you have just started the review site and have not even gained credibility or traffic. To immediately post up advertisement space just doesn’t fit the picture. We’re supposed to be sharing knowledge and not profiting from others’ knowledge," expressed Soh.

ROLL-ING IT RIGHTThe number of blogshops kept growing and so did Michelle Ong’s review site, shoppingroll.blogspot.com since the 20-year-old wanted to list down as many blogshops in the blog-sphere. Still Ong needed to do regular maintenance work where she monitored the activity of blogshops to see whether or not they were constantly updated in order to be "kept" on Shopping Roll.

"I started shopping online in 2006, way before people even heard about buying things online. So you can imagine the amount of shops I explored on the Internet. I didn’t start the review site immediately but instead only started in 2009 when more and more shops were available. In fact, the database in Malaysia has grown to about 2,200 blogshops on my count. Initially starting with two blog rolls, I have nine today!" Ong further elaborated.

"As a shopper myself, occasionally I do go around investigating if certain blogshops are providing good services or whether they are honest in dealing with shoppers. Apart from that, on Shopping Roll, you will notice that I have a ‘Looking For’ column where shoppers can post items which they are looking for and I will try my best to help them locate them. At the same time, blogshop owners can also exchange information through that column by matching items to a shopper’s request," added Ong.

SHOPPING EFFICIENLY

Just like any shopper who was new to the idea of shopping online, Sara Khong, 24, the host of the fashiono.my site, was once clueless about the hype of doing shopping without driving to the mall.

"I only started shopping online a year ago and I knew nothing about it. I had so many questions; How do I make a transfer via Maybank2u? How to place an order? What does COD means? What other boutiques are available online? I couldn’t find any site which have all that I wanted to know. So I decided to start a site which not only tell girls where to shop online, but how to shop online," said Khong.

Preferring to regard it as an "online fashion" review site, Khong reviews only blogshops in Malaysia and goes by the tagline: "An online shopping guide and fashion review site for Malaysians." Although she has written about various blogshops in Singapore, Khong stated that she prefers to focus on Malaysia’s e-commerce sites and readers.

"Starting this site not only educated me as it also helped many clueless online shoppers like me earn some pocket money and make friends with other entrepreneurs. Seeing that things were going on well, I’ve decided to put looking for a job in the legal department aside and give myself a shot at running this review site as my full-time career. I’ve found three wonderful writers who are really into fashion to help me. I am also planning my new e-commerce site, www.zikkos.com that sells accessories," added Khong, a law graduate.

INTENSE COMPETITION
With the increasing number of blogshops in the market, there is definitely intense competition to grab a bigger market share. Keeping this factor in mind, blogshop reviewers make it a point not to compare the price of items or products in different blogshops.

So, are you an online shopper yet? Or have you been wanting to try it out? If you have qualms about shopping online and did not know where to look for answers, check out the blogshop review sites here and shop away!


Updated: 11:25AM Mon, 13 Sep 2010