Zilingo offers e-commerce ecosystem for fashion SMEs
Zilingo, an e-marketplace proprietary platform, has created an e-commerce ecosystem for small and medium-sized fashion and lifestyle-product enterprises and designers.
The firm hopes to get 10,000 SMEs and fashion designers to provide their products via the e-marketplace next year.
Ankiti Bose, chief executive officer of India-based Zilingo, said the company began providing the proprietary platform last year, so small- and medium-scale enterprises and fashion designers can offer lifestyle items, fashion products and accessories via an e-marketplace to support their operations, as well as facilitate online shoppers in Singapore and Thailand.
More than 2,000 SMEs, fashion retailers and designers now participate in the e-marketplace platform, offering over 400,000 products, with around 80 per cent of all business generated via the site coming from Thai SME businesses and fashion designers, she said.
Zilingo next year will expand into Indonesia and expects to have more than 10,000 SMEs, fashion retailers and designers participate in the e-marketplace in its three markets, offering more than 2 million fashion, lifestyle and accessory items to online customers.
Bose said the company generated revenue from the transaction fee paid by businesses and designers selling their products via the e-platform.
Zilingo this year expects 70 per cent of its income to come from Thai sellers and 30 per cent from Singaporean operators, the CEO said, adding that it had been able to engage numerous local designers and shoppers from these markets who prefer uniquely styled fashion and lifestyle items.
“We only started the business last year, but have experienced a steady growth rate of 30 per cent per month, making Zilingo the fastest-growing e-commerce site in Southeast Asia. The e-marketplace also allows customers to search for products via image searching,” she explained.
The platform now has some 400,000 active customers, around 98 per cent of which shop via mobile devices and applications, with just 2 per cent shopping via the firm’s desktop website.
About 60 per cent of these active customers are from Thailand, and a similar percentage shop via Facebook and Instagram.
With the expansion into Indonesia already in its sights, Zilingo also plans as its next step to set up a business in the Philippines, which is a big fashion market, the chief executive said.
“We have created an ecosystem for small and medium-sized businesses, fashion retailers and designers who want to provide their products via the online channel to support the lifestyle of shopping online and via e-marketplaces for the next generation,” Bose said.
