This move gives legitimation to blogs as EC sites, and is a significant move toward legitimizing the whole blogshop scene.
From: http://www.penn-olson.com/2012/02/22/livejournal-lj-checkout/
LiveJournal Announces LJ Checkout, Makes Blogshops More Professional
LiveJournal Singapore announced yesterday that all 50,000 blogshops in Singapore will now be able to enjoy more e-commerce features through its brand new ‘LJ Checkout’ platform.LJ Checkout will provide blogshop owners a seamless suite of features which include product catalogue creation, a shopping cart system, and an online payment gateway. LiveJournal made this possible by partnering with MOLPay as its payment partner. Folks can still use bank transfer or cash-on-delivery to make payments if they prefer.
For the product catalogue and shopping cart system, LiveJournal has exclusively partnered with Singapore-based startup, PayWhere, which is also the creator of TackThis which we looked at last year. That’s the startup that allows users to create an e-commerce store and embed it on their Facebook pages, blogs, or any website. Now LiveJournal blogshop owners will be able to try this service at no cost for the next 30 days.
We contacted the LiveJournal crew in Singapore who clarified that the exclusive partnership with Paywhere is only for the starting period. Aarti Doshi explained further:
During this period, PayWhere will be our exclusive shopping cart provider. LiveJournal users will also be given a preferential rate which is not offered anywhere else. […] Blogshop owners will have four package options to choose from depending on their business needs. The basic package with 10 products is sufficient to upgrade the blogshop to a premium e-commerce store and is free of charge.When last we checked in, we learned that LiveJournal’s 50,000 blogshops in Singapore generated US$72 million in 2011. With LJ Checkout now in place, that figure should rise as blogshops mature and get easier to setup and use.
How PayWhere system would look like on a blog. Image provided by LiveJournal Singapore.
About Willis Wee
Founder of Penn Olson who is also an entrepreneur since 2005. He has had experience in crafting social media strategies for organizations such as Marriott Vacation Club, James Cook University, Reach Singapore and Unilever. Contact him at willis[at]penn-olson[dot]comFrom: http://sgentrepreneurs.com/news-stop/2012/02/21/at-last-full-fledged-e-commerce-system-comes-to-livejournal/
At last: Full-fledged e-commerce system comes to LiveJournal
LiveJournal has been a popular platform for Singaporean blogshop owners to sell their stuff, due to its strong community features. But it does not come with a full-fledged e-commerce solution. That is now a thing of the past.
It has launched LJ Checkout, a combined product catalogue, shopping cart, and online payment system.
The blogging platform is partnering with Malaysia-based MOLPay to provide the payment gateway.
MOLPay will work with merchants to allow them to collect payment via physical locales like NETS and AXS kiosks, and online channels like credit and debit card payments, MOLPoints, and PayPal.
LiveJournal has also signed an exclusive deal with Singapore-based PayWhere, a provider of social commerce system TackThis!. The online software will power LJ Checkout, providing users their own shopping cart. It will also enable merchants to sell via social networks like Facebook.
Consumers will also enjoy a better online shopping experience, with the ability to view product from all angles and zoom in on details.
Bloggers will be able to pick from four packages best suited for them. They will also get a 10 percent discount on these packages that will enable them to run their online stores across multiple social and blogging platforms. Users will also be given a 30-day trial to allow them to test the system to see if it suits them.
E-commerce is a lucrative market in Singapore. According to LiveJournal’s press release, it will quadruple to over S$4B (US$3.2B) by 2014. Transactions on LiveJournal’s 50,000 blogshops in Singapore reached S$100M (US$80M) in 2011, which represented eight percent of the country’s total online transactions.
Competition in the local fashion e-commerce space is also heating up. More blogshops are always being launched, stretching the consumer dollar thin. Big players like Rocket Internet, a German startup, has also launched their own fashion offering in Singapore and Malaysia.
The introduction of LJ Checkout, if well-implemented, should give small blogshops the push they need to stay competitive.
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