eCommerce Zen

Alibaba Super HQ

2011-12-28T20:59:00.000+08:00

Alibaba, the undisputed China #1 E-commerce Giant. So how does the office looks like? (can't fall short of expectation right?) Indeed! The giant dashboard showing the statistical data in real time for their websites will blow your mind away. Take a quick tour around the Alibaba HQ - be awed! Don't miss out this brilliantly done infographic about Alibaba created by Penn-Olsen http://

How FedEx Guy (really) Delivers

2011-12-25T23:59:00.000+08:00

Want to know how your packages get delivered really fast? Firstly, the drama... Here goes the package, flying off the fence to the valley of death. This guy did it so smoothly that, as if he's well trained to do so. When it comes to e-commerce, it really doesn't matter if you have the lowest price, the best checkout experience and the best customer service. Coz if your delivery guys screw up

PayPal opens Global Op Centre in Malaysia

2011-11-02T19:10:00.002+08:00

01.11.11, this special date marks another milestone for Malaysia E-commerce Industry. PayPal has officially opened their Global Operation Centre (GOC) here and is proudly officiated by our Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister, Dato Mukhriz Mahathir. (See official speech here) Dato Mukhriz giving speech, he posted his speech transcript online~! VIPs - left to right: Sarah

Rocket quietly landed in Malaysia

2011-10-21T08:42:00.000+08:00

UPDATED! Sorry, it's not this rocket that most Malaysian are familiar with. Instead, it's Rocket Internet from Germany. Dubbed as German's most successful incubator (started by Samwer Brothers) having a staff strength over 5,000 peoples in their portfolio companies, which include e-commerce site like http://www.Zalando.de It appears that they are going to launch a fashion online

eCommerce in China

2011-10-18T02:36:00.000+08:00

We all know China, will be the largest consumer market in the world in a very near future. We also know, eCommerce, is HOT & BIG in China. An army of excavators parked beside the highway - simply neat, big & awesome. But how hot & how big is it? According to a weibo post by DHGate.com CEO - Diane Wang, it says by 2011, China will overtake Japan as World's 2nd largest e-commerce

First post via blogger iphone app

2011-09-09T13:05:00.001+08:00

The book, banned by steve jobs himself from itunes. Apple secrecy makes people craving for more, and the banning will make this book a must-read for job's fan boy too. ;)

PayPal seller self-protection, or customer satisfaction?

2010-12-12T14:30:00.004+08:00

If you are an online merchant and receiving payment via PayPal, what should you do after receiving this email from PayPal? It's a notification email saying that payment has been received from buyer. For an ordinary merchant, it's well, payment received and all set to ship the items. In this case, this merchant has shipped the items without much hesitation, as clothings apparently carry a

7-11 Taiwan - Part 3: Payment

2010-12-07T10:30:00.114+08:00

President Chain Store Corporation has storefronts and logistics well covered, but payment is arguably the only piece of puzzle that still has some room for improvement. icash is a prepaid card issued by 7-11 in Taiwan, sort of like pocket money used for micro-payment mainly in 7-11. It has a point accumulation system and benefits like cash rebate to promote spending. icash has reached an

7-11 Taiwan - Part 2: Logistics

2010-12-03T10:31:00.044+08:00

Logistics, it seems like a simple single word but it contains many aspects - warehousing (storage), location, packaging, labeling, invoicing, delivery, acceptance, tracking, reporting et al. It's definitely a burden for small-medium-businesses. But in Taiwan, SMBs can rely on 7-elevens, or precisely Wisdom Distribution Service Corporation (大智通文化行銷). Online merchants can store their goods in

7-11 Taiwan - Part 1: Storefronts

2010-11-29T10:34:00.022+08:00

We all know that convenience store, well is just for convenience. You can't expect a huge selection of products there. It's different in Taiwan though. More than 4,000 of 7-11 outlets + online stores (under President Chain Store Corp) + in store catalog book (for pre-order) + various complimentary services = Super Store! Knowing that by just having the 7-11s is insufficient, President Chain

7-11 Taiwan - Super store on the cloud?

2010-11-24T16:18:00.013+08:00

Taiwan has a great ecosystem supporting e-commerce surrounding 7-11s, the convenience stores. It's arguably the best in the world, bar probably Japan. President Chain Store Corporation (統一超商) owns over 4,000 of 7-11 outlets located all over Taiwan, and various complimentary services supporting their online and offline retail. Imagine what you can do when you walk in to their 7-11s... You

A meetup with Taiwan E-commerce Godfather

2010-10-17T23:02:00.090+08:00

I had a lucky break bumping into Taiwan E-commerce Godfather, Mr Jan Hung-Tze (詹宏志) on a recent PayPal Event in Singapore not too long ago. 詹宏志 and I In case you don't know who's Mr Jan Hung-Tze, he's the founder of Taiwan largest and publicly listed ecommerce mall - PC Home Online (http://www.pchomeonline.com.tw/), it also serve as a platform for over 8800 online stores (3rd party

Taiwan: E-commerce powered by service

2010-09-30T10:18:00.002+08:00

Back in 1998, the Taiwan government has had a campaign to get 1 million businesses to go online and transact.Similar to most parts of the world, e-commerce in Taiwan had faced the following challenges at that time:Maintaining the e-commerce system (software, hardware and infrastructure).Staying up-to-date with constant evolution of Internet technologies.Integration with financial / payment

Cloud computing and cool power

2010-09-27T11:53:00.005+08:00

Why is cloud computing (云计算) and cool power (酷力量) related? The simplest example is to present the case is Steve Job's Apple. As everyone knows, Apple has a range of highly popular gadgets and devices, from Mac, iPod, iPhone to the latest iPad. But wait, what has it got to do with cloud computing? Let me ask you one question, which gadget do you think is the most successful (or to be precise

How much Amazon spends on Google Ad?

2010-09-07T16:24:00.044+08:00

Guess how much Amazon.com is spending on Google Adwords a month? According to what Advertising Age had revealed (based on a reportedly leaked Google's internal search-spending-document), Amazon is spending a whooping USD $5.85 million on June 2010 alone. (However, it didn't state whether the amount was for U.S. web searches or Global Searches.) Interestingly, Ebay only

Taiwan PayEasy expansion via Vending Machine?

2010-08-27T23:09:00.012+08:00

It not uncommon for us to hear what's started off as online pureplay e-commerce, expanding their business via brick & mortar. We have seen small business, growing from one-man-show blogshop, to a full fledge webStore, and then follow by a physical retail outlet (which easily double their gross sales, both online & offline) We have seen also the famous t-shirt site like threadless.com,

PayPal Takes Visa & MasterCard, No account needed?

2010-08-16T23:30:00.013+08:00

PayPal is taking Visa & Mastercard, this time without the need of registering a PayPal Account? We know PayPal has been saying buyer can checkout without a PayPal Account (by just using key-in their credit cards details) if they shop with Merchant who accepts PayPal (must be either Premier or Business Account.) Now they have released something "newer" - dubbed as "GUEST PAYMENT" (via

Is postal service in Malaysia really that unreliable?

2010-08-05T10:30:00.007+08:00

There is an online group-buying site being launched in Malaysia a few months ago, which has quickly became popular among local consumers - thanks to the heavily discounted retail vouchers being offered. However, it seems like many don't receive the vouchers via post. Proof: their Facebook page. The complaints are mounting and people are being suspicious whether the group-buying service is

This is why Asia has big E-Commerce potential

2010-08-02T10:42:00.038+08:00

Many have said that Asia has the biggest market potential in almost every industries. The question is, does that include e-commerce? ComScore has just released State of the Internet with focus on Asia Pacific (July 2010) and it gives us some basic indications on the market potential of online retailing in Asia Pacific. Key takeaway points on Asia Pacific: Retail sites in

China largest fashion etailer a Copy Cat ?

2010-07-17T18:00:00.002+08:00

China largest fashion e-tailer - Vancl.com, is accused of copying FlyingMouse365 (a Malaysia-based company) design on one of its newly released Graphic Tee.Just a lil bit of background info.Vancl.com - founded by a china serial e-commerce entrepreneur, Chen Nian. The same guy who founded Joyo China which being bought out by Amazon in 2004. Vancl is now china largest online-only fashion etailer,

Facebook-MOL Love Relationship

2010-07-15T19:07:00.006+08:00

MOL, arguably the largest online payment provider in Southeast Asia is certainly making headlines recently. The Malaysian based company has acquired the declining Friendster by the end of 2009 but many have questioned the decision back then."Why on earth the acquisition is worth $100 million?"There isn't any clear strategy being announced (until today) and we can't argue on why people are being

What does Group Buying mean For Retailers?

2010-06-28T17:43:00.009+08:00

Group buying sites like Groupon continue to gain popularity in United States, Europe, Asia and all over the world. China itself has more than 100 Groupon clones, heck? This resembles Facebook's early years to a certain degree, where everyone is trying to clone and develop some sort of social networking services. Business model of the year? Not really. Surely there had been plenty

E-commerce = Delivering Happiness

2010-06-27T22:51:00.025+08:00

Just finished reading "Delivering Happiness" by Tony Hsieh (CEO of Zappos.com - the world's most successful shoes etailer), ok, or more accurately, the world's top service company just happened to sell shoes online as a start. :) It's an Entertaining Read, and it makes you reflect on your life. It got me thinking about my 3P - Pleasure, Passion, and the ultimate Higher Purpose, in search for

An Outlook on Asia Pacific's E-Commerce Statistics

2010-06-08T18:30:00.000+08:00

Well, this post is all about charts and figures. Read on to get a glimpse of e-commerce outlook in selected countries of Asia Pacific. Hopefully, you will get a rough idea on those markets that you are not particularly familiar with. Personally, I am not really convinced with how the penetration rate is weighted in the chart above. Anyway, it is obvious that China has the biggest market in