- 1. Shop.sg 31 August 2013 The geeks of chic have descended upon
Singapore, as a slew of online fashion retailers have decided to
make the Little Red Dot a hub for their global businesses. By May
Yip AS much as Singaporeans pride themselves on their shopaholic
habits, it's no secret that fashion retail takes place in an
incredibly crowded space. And the online shopping realm offers even
less wiggle room than the back stage of a Chanel show, what with t
Zalora, a plethora of blogshops and bargain marketplaces such as
Qoo10. But that has not stopped new players from trying to satiate
the appetites of online shoppers here, especially since a recent
Mastercard Online Shoppin respondents use the Internet for
shopping, up 8 points from 2011. Although online commerce in Asia
has also grown by almost 140 per cent annually in the last three
years, according to a research report by private bank J Safra
Sarasin, the entire region is set to account for just 23 per cent
of online sales this year. Which is perhaps why the latest online
upstarts in the highly competitive industry here are casting their
nets wide, focusing as much on the shopper in Mo So intent on
luring international shoppers is five (invertededge.com) that it
has gathered a team of founders from diverse Lavender Road base:
Its CEO was born and raised in New Zealand, the COO lived most
recently in the Caribbean and South America, and the French chief
buyer was last based in Dubai before relocating here. "The Inverted
Edge team is very in up here for multiple reasons," says CEO Debra
Langley. "First, Singapore has a strong infrastructure for, and the
government is very supportive of, start tech ventures like ours.
Second, sinc and Australia/New Zealand, geographically, this is a
great base for us. And third, because Singapore Client : PayPal
Publication : The Business Date : 31 August Topic : Shop.sg
Circulation : 37,500 Link : NA The geeks of chic have descended
upon Singapore, as a slew of online fashion retailers have decided
to make the Little Red Dot a hub for their global businesses. By
May Yip AS much as Singaporeans pride themselves on their
shopaholic habits, it's no secret that fashion retail takes place
in an incredibly crowded space. And the online shopping realm
offers even less wiggle room than the back stage of a Chanel show,
what with the presence of heavyweights like Zalora, a plethora of
blogshops and bargain marketplaces such as Qoo10. But that has not
stopped new players from trying to satiate the appetites of online
shoppers here, especially since a recent Mastercard Online Shopping
Survey revealed that 65 per cent of respondents use the Internet
for shopping, up 8 points from 2011. Although online commerce in
Asia has also grown by almost 140 per cent annually in the last
three years, according to a research J Safra Sarasin, the entire
region is set to account for just 23 per cent of online Which is
perhaps why the latest online upstarts in the highly competitive
industry here are casting their nets wide, focusing as much on the
shopper in Moulmein as the fashionista in Moscow. So intent on
luring international shoppers is five-month-old fashion platform
Inverted Edge ) that it has gathered a team of founders from
diverse backgrounds at its Lavender Road base: Its CEO was born and
raised in New Zealand, the COO lived most recently in the Caribbean
and South America, and the French chief buyer was last based in
Dubai before relocating here. "The Inverted Edge team is very
international, which is one of our differentiators, and we set up
here for multiple reasons," says CEO Debra Langley. "First,
Singapore has a strong infrastructure for, and the government is
very supportive of, start tech ventures like ours. Second, since
we're working with designers who are based primarily in Asia and
Australia/New Zealand, geographically, this is a great base for us.
And third, because Singapore Country : The Business Times Section :
2013 Page : The geeks of chic have descended upon Singapore, as a
slew of online fashion retailers have decided to make the Little
Red Dot a hub for their global businesses. By May Yip AS much as
Singaporeans pride themselves on their shopaholic habits, it's no
secret that fashion retail takes place in an incredibly crowded
space. And the online shopping realm offers even less he presence
of heavyweights like But that has not stopped new players from
trying to satiate the appetites of online shoppers here, g Survey
revealed that 65 per cent of respondents use the Internet for
shopping, up 8 points from 2011. Although online commerce in Asia
has also grown by almost 140 per cent annually in the last three
years, according to a research J Safra Sarasin, the entire region
is set to account for just 23 per cent of online Which is perhaps
why the latest online upstarts in the highly competitive industry
here are casting ulmein as the fashionista in Moscow. old fashion
platform Inverted Edge backgrounds at its Lavender Road base: Its
CEO was born and raised in New Zealand, the COO lived most recently
in the Caribbean and South America, and the French chief buyer was
last based in Dubai before relocating ternational, which is one of
our differentiators, and we set "First, Singapore has a strong
infrastructure for, and the government is very supportive of,
start-up e we're working with designers who are based primarily in
Asia and Australia/New Zealand, geographically, this is a great
base for us. And third, because Singapore Singapore BT Living 12-
13
2. is really in the heart of the incredible middle-class growth
that characterises the Asia-Pacific region right now." Although
paltry as compared to the online shopping markets of the US and
China, e-retail here is forecast to hit $4.4 billion in 2015,
according to a 2011 study by online payment service PayPal. Last
year, card processing giant Visa experienced a 23 per cent growth
in ecommerce purchases made on Singapore Visa cards. But while the
obvious reason for online stores setting up shop here might be the
local pool of credit card-wielding, logo-chasing consumers, the
real lure is pragmatic: Seed money from home-grown investors, the
ease of starting up a business and great location. Inverted Edge,
for example, has raised $2 million in funding from a group of
venture capitalists backed by the Singapore National Research
Foundation (NRF), Incuvest, Accel-X and four other undisclosed
private investors. Incuvest is a government-appointed VC under its
Technology Incubation Scheme (TIS), which offers 85 per cent of a
decided sum from the NRF if Incuvest comes up with the remaining 15
per cent. It's almost chump change compared to the US$100 million
raised by Asian online giant Zalora last year. Even then, the
Singapore-based operation, with a presence in Hong Kong, Indonesia,
Malaysia and Taiwan, booked a net loss of US$91 million in 2012.
Not all is bleak in this rapidly growing industry, however. Qoo10
has transacted $90 million in sales here, and its Korean founder Ku
Young Bae is gunning for an initial public offering in three to
five years' time - in other words, heartening news for e-retail
entrepreneurs like Lisa Crosswhite. A former brand strategist from
Canada, Ms Crosswhite founded a very different online fashion site
Gnossem (www.gnossem.com) over a year ago, focusing on the much
more luxurious wares of independent designers, rather than the
varied mix of bargain buys on Qoo10. She also cites the presence of
"mature investors" here as an advantage. At the moment, 70 per cent
of sales are from Singapore, but the one-time model has recently
launched a UK version of the site. A global platform is all the
more essential for new B2B fashion e-commerce site Tivanity
(www.tivanity.com). Public relations veteran Vanessa Seow came up
with the idea for the company when she noticed retail space being
dominated by cookie-cutter styles, and retailers' need for fresh
designs to captivate their customers. Despite being based in
Singapore, she hopes that her current batch of designers from
Singapore, China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Ukraine and Lebanon
would attract buyers from markets as far- flung as Europe and the
US. "E-commerce sites are global in nature, but most e-commerce
sites are unidirectional," says Ms Seow, whose site is named after
herself, co-founder Timothy Choon, plus a dose of insanity. "For
example, companies would typically gather their goods in a
warehouse, and then fulfil orders by sending goods out to anywhere
from their warehouse." To allow buyers and designers to transact
efficiently across the globe, Tivanity has set up a "market
exchange" platform and is in the midst of enlarging the system to
include users upstream and downstream of the apparel industry. In
the near future, it also aims to be a platform for collaborations
among manufacturers, designers, retailers and shoppers. 3. For
recently unveiled site Modajar (www.modajar.com), an eclectic mix
of international designers helps establish its status as a global
fashion destination. It currently has close to 30 labels such as
House of Holland, a UK brand known for its kitschy designs; and
Korean fashion marque LIE by Lie Sang Bong, favoured by stars like
Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Rihanna - all directly sourced from
designers. "Modajar was conceived with the idea of catering to
fashion-forward women and men who are creative, bold and in search
of distinctive fashion and lifestyle products to express themselves
and their individuality," says founder and CEO Bryan Tan, who
founded the company with partner, fellow Singaporean Esther Wee.
"These consumers are not limited to Singapore. Having said this, we
concentrate on bringing in upcoming and established designers but
will mix this with brands that have broad appeal too, for example,
Patrizia Pepe." Beyond the domestic market Similarly, Inverted
Edge's buyers and editorial team cement their global status through
their product mix and content. "By definition, e-commerce sites are
global because they can, or should be able to be, accessed from
anywhere in the world," notes Ms Langley. "But actually, many sites
are not global as their content is focused more on meeting the
needs of a domestic demographic, and that is absolutely fine. Our
content is focused on a global readership, and that content is not
just the products we select, but also the editorial, our
'blogitorial' magazine section called 'The Thread'." While the
Modajar duo admitted that they founded their company here simply
because, "We are Singaporeans and Singapore is our home," they also
list geographical location and logistics as reasons why this makes
a good base. "Setting up in Singapore just felt like the natural
thing for us to do as Singaporeans," adds Ms Seow, who was based in
China for over a decade before quitting her job to start Tivanity.
"Singapore may not be the most ideal when it comes to the fashion
industry since there really isn't a strong network of
manufacturers, retailers and designers, but it certainly is very
attractive for any e-commerce start- up in any other industry." She
reiterates the convenience of business-friendly infrastructure in
place to support new companies, such as a ready pool of technical
experts and programmers, free flow of information and ease of
banking and logistics as some of the advantages of setting up an
online business here. In short, for Ms Crosswhite, Singapore is an
epicentre for well-travelled style sophisticates, and a great
market from which to build an international network. As she quips,
"It's one of those special places in the world that is developing
so fast, in such an impressive world-class way, that you can't help
but catch the bug and be enthusiastic for the future as well."