Blogshops Today, Close Shops Tomorrow

Here is an online news article about blogshop stores at the Far East Plaza in Singapore.

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From: http://www.allvoices.com/s/event-6258927/aHR0cDovL3RucC5zZy9uZXdzL3N0b3J5LzAsNDEzNiwyNDgxODIsMDAuaHRtbD8=
By Geraldine Yeo
July 8 2010

A year ago, they were featured in newspapers and magazines because of their innovative business model. But today, the couple are wanted by their tenants – who claimed that they have disappeared with their rentals and deposits. Mr Ang Chuang Yang and Ms Tsai Siha's business plan was simple: Rent a shop space, then sublet the store racks to online shops – or blogshops – to physically display and sell their items beyond cyberspace. The couple, both 20, were so successful that their first shop– which opened at Far East Plaza in July last year– expanded to three as of April. The other two units were also in Far East Plaza. All three stores, called Best of Blogshops, sold clothes, jewellery and accessories for women imported from countries like Hong Kong and Thailand. It charged an average of $600 a month for a clothes rack that could hold up to 25 pieces of clothing. The shop also collected an additional 20 per cent commission on all sales at the end of every month, claimed tenants The New Paper spoke to. But since April, the shops have suddenly closed, leaving more than 20 tenants high and dry. Collectively, they have since lodged a police report, which a police spokesman confirmed with The New Paper. Four tenants The New Paper spoke to claimed their losses amounted to $13,200 in total.

Nuffnang co-founder starts Jipaban

This news might be worth to note as it involves Malaysia's biggest online ad server Nuffnang which is the adverising muscle behind the local blogging scene.  With Jipaban, they are providing a one-stop shopping portal for blogshop owners.

Curiously, the Jipaban site has a Singaporean domain: http://www.jipaban.com.sg/

A look at the screen shot will show that this site is different than the countless other directories and aggregation sites in that it has a distinctively Web 2.0/social media feel to it.  It also has social networking features which adds to its uniqueness.

Here is an interview article with Cheo Ming Shen, the co-founder of Jipaban:

From: Today Online website: http://www.todayonline.com/Shop/EDC100703-0000033/Five-questions-with-Cheo-Ming-Shen

Written by Lynette Koh

If you are a fan of blogshops, you should bookmark new e-commerce website, Jipaban.com. Launched in May, Jipaban brings together small retailers to create a one-stop virtual shopping portal. With about 80 retailers currently onboard, its name may be a bit of an exaggeration (jipaban is Hokkien for one million), but still, it offers e-shoppers a reasonably hefty selection of products, including clothes, accessories, and lifestyle products.

Its co-founder, Cheo Ming Shen, is also one of the people behind blog advertising website Nuffnang.com. Here, the 27-year-old entrepreneur tells Today about e-commerce, his ever-growing watch collection, and how the name of his newest venture came about.

Nuffnang was started in 2007. You and your partners have co-founded several other web-based businesses since, such as Jipaban. Why the focus on e-commerce?

I believed then, and I believe now, that the Internet is a "greenfield" for today's entrepreneurs. In South-east Asia, in particular, there is very little locally developed content, so this represents great opportunities for prospective dot-com entrepreneurs who are willing to innovate and work hard.

Why did you call your new website Jipaban?

"Jipaban" means one million in Hokkien. It first came up when I heard a Hokkien song of the same title. The song reflects the aspirations of a wannabe millionaire. There are two reasons why the name is relevant.

Firstly, it represents the aspirations of its retailers to make money and become millionaires. Secondly, Jipaban is currently in its embryonic stage. In the future, we will expand and bring in more variety for our shoppers. The limits are endless.

Where do you shop?

I shop online quite a lot. My favourite online shops are www.firebox.com (a British gadget store) and Amazon (where I buy e-books for my Kindle). I also go to

www.manutd.com and www.icons.com to buy football memorabilia.

What are your retail weaknesses?

Definitely watches. I have over a dozen watches. My favourite watch is Mr Roboto, (an automatic steel watch) by Azimuth, a Singaporean-founded company. The watch cost about $6,000.

What's your worst buy?

Although I spend a lot of money on thingamabobs, I usually deliberate over an item quite a lot before I actually buy it, and I have a natural attachment to the things I buy. They usually represent a memory or have some other significance, so I haven't really regretted any single purchase so far.

Malaysia's 1st Online Entrepreneurs Weekend

This event will be happening at the Mid Valley Convention Center from 13 to 15 August.

http://www.malaysiantoday.com.my/node/1574

I am going to attend it as it will be a chance to begin my initial round of interview as there will be many blogshop owners and other participants there.

Malaysia's 1st Online Entrepreneurs Weekend


They were only biding time. Now they too are at the forefront of fashion: Blogshops. Once restricted to the space within the virtual world, Blogshops are now present in the physical dimension. Making this possible transition possible is Malaysia's Online Fashion Entrepreneurs' Weekend 2010.

While surfing on popular networking site Facebook, you find that someone has tagged you on a picture. Clicking on the notification, curious to see if it was a good shot of you, you see that you have been tagged as a left sleeve.

We are getting more and more of these pictures as more of our friends decide to earn extra income by trying to become entrepreneurs. They set up shop by placing their products for sale on various blog platforms, advertise on Facebook, and update their stores' progress on Twitter.

There are a few site dedicated to highlighting the myriad of stores such as diaryofane-shopaholic.blogspot.com, ashopaholicsden.com, will-shop-till-drop.blogspot.com and many more. These sites suss out the best from the rest and update the shoppers on which of the blogshops have new collections.

An event called Malaysia's Online Fashion Entrepreneurs' Weekend 2010 (MOFEW) organised by A&O Brandbuilding Consultants aim to bring these entrepreneurs out of the four corners of the screen to set up shop on ground at Mid Valley Convention Centre come August 13 to 15.

You can expect some of the crowd favourites to be displaying their wares. The full list of blogshops who will be participating on the three-day event is listed on MOFEW's Facebook fanpage at http://tinyurl.com/MOFEW. 

On the Fan Page as well, you will be able to view the competition between blogshops as they rally for votes online in the first round of 'The Search'. The second round will have the top 25 highest voted blogshops to be judged by the main sponsors such as Elizabeth, Snips Salon and the organisers themselves.

The panel of judges will be giving points based on the blogshops' fashion, creativity and marketing knowledge from their creation of three product shots. The fashion shots will also be judged by public votes on the same Facebook fanpage.

In the final round, the shortlisted top eight will be required to create a total image for an assigned model using their own products with the assistance of the SNIPS team who will provide make-up and hairstyling. A fashion show will follow suit and the whole ensemble will be judged by the same panel of judges before one is eventually crowned Malaysia's Online Fashion Entrepreneur.

For those of you who own an iPhone, there's more for you! MOFEW has a dedicated application which is downloadable free from Apple AppStore. The app will have all the listings of the exhibitors, contacts, their shop's web address, the blogshops' catalog along with vouchers and discounts for shoppers.

There's even a nifty search function to let you browse the specific categories without needing to flip from page to page.

Log on over to mofew.com.my for more information on the first ever Malaysia's Online Fashion Entrepreneurs' Weekend.

Their Facebook page is: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Malaysias-Online-Fashion-Entrepreneurs-Weekend/122251237790413?ref=sgm&v=wall#!/pages/Malaysias-Online-Fashion-Entrepreneurs-Weekend/122251237790413?v=info&ref=sgm

Web Entrepreneurship models

Here are some useful slides about Web entrepreneurship models.

The author is Adnan Ali, from UMT.

http://www.slideshare.net/adnanbwp/web-entrepreneurship-models

Dr Anita Greenhill makes a presentation about Blogshops

Dr Anita Greenhill (a co-author of the first known academic paper on blogshops, available here) presented a lecture on her work on the Singapore Blogshop at the American University of Beirut recently.  The following is a write up of the event from the AUB website:

From: http://alignwithosb.com/2010/06/anita-greenhill-blogshops/

Blogshops: Singaporean Youth’s e-Commerce Model

June 15, 2010 by Bilal Malaeb ·

Dr. Anita Greenhill of the Manchester University Business School recently gave a lecture on “Blogshops: Technology and Social Networking in e-Commerce.”  Dr. Greenhill’s research interests include digital cultural practices, space, virtuality, technology fairness and equity, and e-Government and governance. She presented on blogshops in Singapore in which female teens use technology, particularly blogs, to manage retail and take advantage of e-commerce.



In order to maximize consumption and purchasing power, young Singaporean girls use blogs to sell used goods or items they had originally purchased, but did not use. These blogs are a perfect example of marketing, as they are highly visually oriented and utilize pictures from mobile phones or graphics from websites or other blogs to feature items.

“What are blogshops?” Greenhill asked. These are pages on host websites, typically www.blogspot.com, and used by females between the ages of 13 to 25, and are widespread in Singapore. In her study, Greenhill sought to study the demography of the process to see if it can be replicated elsewhere. The blogshops tend to market fashion items, and the sellers determine their own rules for merchandising their products; claims such as “If the goods bear any defects or do not look like their photos, I am not responsible,” are quite common. Some sellers also charge fines to their buyers if the buyer is late to their meeting. Meet-ups among the sellers are an obvious networking phenomenon of the process, and represent a cultural component of the business that deviates from traditional meet-ups in which teenagers would otherwise meet up to gossip or discuss the latest fashions.

Greenhill described women’s shopping behavior as determined and irrational. “Women over-purchase, and when they are calm and out of the consumption mode, they find that some of the goods are useless and quite redundant.” Thus, these female teenagers use the web to sell clothing or accessories that they found, after their shopping high, to be useless. The selling of these extras is entrepreneurial in its focus and uses technology to resist capitalist hegemonies. The blogshops business has no budget or investment, and so it is accessible to the masses. On a social level, according to Greenhill, this is a grassroots project which acts as a political form of resistance or participation. Their expertise is local and particular to Singapore. Notably, the youngest female seller that has used the interface was aged twelve, suggesting that the population is becoming more accessible to younger age groups.

Greenhill says that the girls take no responsibility over any defect in the items they sell.

 An example of the highly-visual, graphical blogshops.

For transportation, the sellers utilize the metro system, which is complex and well-organized in Singapore, and therefore increases the sellers’ efficiency. Singaporean female teenagers also make use of social contexts to complete their transactions, as their business practices typically occur without their parents’ knowledge. For instance, some take advantage of paying visits to grandparents, whereby, they would deviate to make a quick transaction in the metro station and then continue their route.

However, the process bears some disadvantages. There is absolutely no privacy involved, and a huge amount of trust is required. “I would not feel comfortable having my twelve-year-old daughter go unwatched with money or goods to some far place in the city to buy or sell items, with all blog users aware of her destination and transaction,” said Greenhill. Moreover, the government of Singapore does not encourage the process because it does not make a profit from the transactions because no taxes or records are involved in the trade.
Though blogshops have their disadvantages in terms of safety, privacy, and trust, the blogshops are truly inspiring as an alternative model of community e-commerce and are admirable as an entrepreneurial initiative for their profit maximization and utility optimization.

Blogshops for Men?

That blogshops are predominantly owned and visited by women begs the question:  Why not men?

Here is an article from the Spree Crunch website that argues for blogshops for guys.

From: http://spreecrunch.com/2009/06/08/is-blog-shop-only-women-paradise-what-happened-to-male-blogshop-owner/

Have you always think that sales and marketing is always so natural for women? It’s like they are born to do it? Well, there are no doubt a lot of successful male counterparts, but sales and marketing always seems to rhythm so well with the ladies.

In these instances, blog shop owners are mostly ladies, they ranged from high school teens to middle-aged mums. Occasionally, there are a few men who have also ventured into the blog shop entrepreneurship. Its may be true that most people like to shop based on the service rather than on the gender of the blog shop owner, but women are perceived to be more delicate and patient when it comes to service.

Why should guys start a blog shop too?

There are plenty of reasons to start a blog shop and most of them we have discussed previously before. Of all the reasons, it still came down to earning an extra income and firsthand taste on business.

• Less Competition
  Perhaps it’s easier now to be a guy blog shop owner than in the near future, reason being, there are still relatively less men products on blog shops which generally means less competition. If you managed to get hold of some great men products, you may want to contemplate on starting a purely male blog shop.
• Different Opinions
  You may not realize but some people might just like to buy from male sales personnel. They may like you to offer them another gender opinion.
• Huge Demands
  In fact, researches have shown that not only females love to shop online, males are equally interested as well and they are getting more. The spending power of males should not be disregarded and there are lot of impulse males shoppers as much as females.
• Great Stepping Stone Platform
  Starting an online blog shop gave you a great opportunity to test your business skills. You will take charge from sourcing for products to sales and marketing, this is a good training to gage yourself and see if you ready for doing business alone or need partnership.

There may be more benefits for a male to start a blog shop however it will be good for male blog shop owners to share with us those benefits themselves.

Easy Breezy Shopping

Here is an article from The Malay Mail newspaper.  It is an interview with a blogshop directory owner whose site Emmagem is one of the most established blogshop directories in Malaysia.

Worthwhile points to note:

1. Blogshops collaborate with other sites (like Emmagem) to create online business ecosystems that bring value to customers.

2. Blogshops do relate to or integrate with increasingly wider ranges of businesses in the fashion industry, for example the evolution of Emmashoppe connects the blogshop culture to local fashion design.  This is something worthwhile to track.

3. There are over 2000 blogshops in Emmagem. 

Follow-up article is also interesting, about a blogshop owned by a Muslim woman.  It is interesting to note her motivations to start the business.

From: http://www.mmail.com.my/content/40080-easy-breezy-shopping

Easy breezy shopping

Submitted by dominah on Wednesday, June 16th, 2010

Janis Seet

Wednesday, June 16th, 2010 12:37:00

 

Online shopping has proven itself to be more than a trend in today's fast changing world.

In fact, it looks like it is something that will be around for a long time to come.

It provides convenience and affordable clothing, making anyone who has an Internet connection its tar­get market.

What goes on behind the scenes? For a more in-depth look on the mechanics of online shopping as well as some im­portant factors to take note of when we decide upon a picture of a pretty blouse online, we speak to Tan Yet Mee.

She is the owner of www.emmagem.com, an online hub for all things fashion, beauty and lifestyle.

Besides being a hobby of hers, em­magem.com is also home to the first Malaysian Online Shopping Directory (MOFSD), listing over 2,000 blogshops.

Having spent years in the retail line as a buyer, Tan decided in 2006 - on a whim - to start selling jewellery through a newsletter.

"The newsletter looked a little bare, so we also added articles and such on fashion. It then evolved into a website in 2008.

"The whole online shopping section started because we had an in­tern who was very much into the online shopping scene and after some research we found that there wasn't an online di­rectory at that time, so we set one up."

What started out as a listing of a few online shops has since grown exponentially through the power of word of mouth.

"Once the listing page went up, I start­ed receiving emails from other blogshop owners who requested to be listed and the numbers just kept growing. From there, we also realised that Bangsar was an up-and-coming fashion place with boutiques mushrooming all over so we also did an online Bangsar shopping di­rectory!"

The thousands of blogshops are not lumped together in the directory but categorised into sections like 'plus size', 'muslim chic' and so on. Talk about on­line shopping made easy.

Tan's fa vourite: A local designer piece by the talented Donna Chew

With thousands of blogshops to choose from, it's sometimes hard to make a choice.

To help out users, the site also features articles on the latest fash­ion and styles, also suggestions on what to wear.

With the success of emmagem.com, Tan has embarked on a new project, www.emmashoppe.com, an online mall.

On top of her passion for online shop­ping, Tan is also a strong advocate for the local designer scene and you would normally see her decked out head-to-toe in the likes of Donna Chew, Karl Ng and other local designers.

"I see emmashoppe.com as an avenue for local fashion designers to showcase their products online as well as a dif­ferent marketing base to allow them to reach out to a bigger scope of people," said Tan.

Her love for designs by local designers stems from the fact that they are differ­ent, yet affordable.

"They have a lot of talent and most of the time, they are not expensive to buy. From RM100 for a blouse maybe? Which is the same price or even cheaper than mainstream brands like Zara.

"The best part about buying from local design­ers is that they do follow the seasons but their pieces remain off beat and unique as they are the ones who determine the end product. I love the uniqueness of it."

Tan went on to cite an example of white shirts. While white shirts are pretty standard, she expressed that her favourite white shirts are those bought from local designers as there are details that make it one of a kind.

"I wish more local designers would dare to experiment, but sometimes there is a compromise due to the commer­cial side of things. There are those who have made it and there are those who are struggling and that was one of the reasons why we started emmashoppe. com."

emmashoppe.com provides not only a platform for local designers but it's also a means to give back to society.

"There is a lot of work involved for them to set up their own site. What we are looking at is to help them showcase and promote while they spend their time on creating their pieces.

SOMETHING DIFFERENT: A unique white shirt by Terrenz

"We are also working with refugees and indigenous groups to help out with the sewing and bead­ing, using the fair trade system," said Tan, who hopes this will not only encourage local design­ers but also help the less fortunate.

"We know that as far as Malaysians go, they do not mind do­ing charity but when it comes to buying ap­parel and stuff, they will not buy solely based on charity."

With regards to complying with the fair trade rules, Tan expressed that they are still doing research on the guidelines but they will try to comply as far as pos­sible.

"We of course hope to make a profit, but more importantly it gives people opportunities.

"We are also looking at some designers who predominantly de­sign ethnic-inspired clothing as with the beading and other aspects of the appar­el as it could provide refugees with jobs and much-needed cash."

On top of being able to make their livelihood easier, it is a sustainable skill that the refugees and indigenous peo­ple will be able to take away and use wherever they are, she added.

"I hope that this new chapter we are embarking on will be an example for others. Support local designers, help out some people and also make a profit. It is a win-win situation!"

Her top picks

http://theshopaholicsbar.blogspot.com/

• What they sell: Brand new and pre-loved authentic designer bags/wallets
• Where they get their products:
• Brand new - Bought during their travels to Europe, the United States, etc, and pre-loved Malaysian bag owners.
• Price range: Brand new are between 25 per cent to 35 per cent cheaper than retail (depending on the brands) while pre-loved are usually 35 per cent to 60 per cent cheaper than retail (varies according to the condition of the bag)
• Why Tan loves it: "They have a good variety of beautiful designer bags, and I personally also find the price and mark-up reasonable. "The store offers virtual-consignments where we only take a maximum 10 per cent of the sale price (to cover advertising services) while retail usually grabs over 30 per cent to cover overhead costs (electricity, rental, etc). Hence, the bag owner could recoup more from their bags," said Tan.

http://chicettes.wordpress.com/

• What they sell: A mix of lingerie, bikinis, bags, shoes, apparels and accessories
• Where they get their products: All sourced directly from the United States
• Price range: Lingerie starts from RM40, bikinis start from RM110, bags start from RM290, shoes start from RM150 and accessories start from RM150
• Why Tan loves it: "They have some very cute bikinis. I also love the fact that their brand selection is varied."

Her tips to begin online shopping

1 Measure yourself from top to toe - "Most blogshops have a measure­ment chart measuring shoulder, chest, length and such. The only way not to go wrong is if you measure yourself be­forehand to see if the measurements fit you."

2 Communicate with the seller - "It is important to email or contact the blogshop if you have any doubt what­soever. You should know what you are buying into, so do clarify if you have any queries."

FIRST STOP: Head to www.emmashoppe.com (above) to check out a collection of designs by local
designers and more!

3 What if the item has a defect? - "Report it to the blogshop. For those listed in emmagem.com, we do not govern them as we do not take any pay­ment from them but we push home the point that it is important to be honest when in business."

4 What are the risks of online shop­ping? - "Honestly as in anything there are no guarantees, but with over 2,000 shops listed with us, there have been less than 10 complaints in the years we have been doing this which proves pretty good odds for consum­ers."

5 What is the best method of pay­ment? - "There isn't really a best method, some shops request to bank in money before delivery, normally peo­ple will build up a relationship with the shop and know whether they can be trusted. An alternative is to opt for cash on delivery."

www.kipswit.blogspot.com

MODERN LOOK: Nur Aqidah (right) wearing a colourful shawl and an instant hijab with funky designs on her business blog

Want to set up your own blogshop? It is really not as tough as it seems. Why not follow in the footsteps of this online entrepreneur, mother and wife (by the way, she has a day job too!) and try your hand at online commerce. She makes it sound so easy!

The Malay Mail speaks to Nur Aqi­dah Azizi who runs kipswit.blogspot. com to find out what challenges a blogshop owner faces, and what it takes to set one up yourself.

1. What made you want to start up an online shop and how long has it been running?

It all started during my confine­ment after I gave birth to my twin babies in July last year. During that period, I was surfing the Internet to keep myself updated with the latest fashion as well as trying to 'rebrand' myself after I gave birth. Along the way, I found a lot of muslimah fash­ion, including hijabs.

I was amazed and stunned by the design and funky-coloured hijabs, but there was one thing that made me think twice before buying - the price. The hijabs sold on the Internet were quite expensive. Some are al­most as expensive as the branded ones.

I thought customers like me, be­sides wanting the hassle-free online shopping experience, are also look­ing for reasonable and affordable items, as we also have to bear the shipping costs.

So I thought why not try to sell hijabs on the Internet and try to re­solve these issues.

2. What do you sell on your store and how did you decide on it? 

What kipswit.blogspot.com sells are up-to-date instant hijabs, with a variety of sizes, colours and designs. Since our customers come from dif­ferent walks of life, we have to make sure that the design will cater to their preferences. We have hijabs that are targeted for youngsters as well as for middle-aged customers. So everyone will get a little something from kipswit.

3. What are the major problems a blogshop owner would face? 
 

Since this is a virtual shop, most of the customers are strangers to us. The most challenging part is to convince them that we are not here to cheat them. Some customers do feel insecure with online shopping - perhaps due to bad experience.

The challenge is even greater for first time customers. They ask a lot of ques­tions, but I don't blame them. As an on­line shopper myself, I understand their hesitation despite their interest in our products. Thank God, so far, most of my clients are repeat customers who trust us.

At the same time, our customer base is expanding. However, I have had some bad experiences with customers who misunderstood us and simply accused us as liars. They didn't fully understand the terms and conditions as stated in our blog. From then on, I always re­mind potential customers to read the T&C (Terms and Conditions) first before making a purchase with us.

4. How do you drive traffic to your site? 

Besides Facebook, my blog­ger friends also help promote kipswit on their blogs. At times, we exchange links with other bloggers, and that proves to be one of the best ways to drive traffic to our blog.

Besides that, joining real life ba­zaars is also a way to promote the site. From my experience, kipswit's traffic has improved a lot after our first involvement in an independent bazaar. Also, newspaper interviews help a lot.

5. What advice do you have for people out there who want to start up their own blogshops? 

I don't think I am qualified to give advice since I am still a greenhorn in this field. However, I believe if you have faith in what you do and enjoy it as much as you enjoy life, things will work out.

Be sincere and never ever cheat. God willing, your humble business blog will surely go a long way!