Fri, Jan 02, 2004 page10

• Soho International offers virtual mall for retailers

  • By Jessie Ho / STAFF REPORTER
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  To help small entrepreneurs exploit the growing potential of e-commerce, Soho International Service Inc (甦活國際資訊) and Taiwan Soho Association will kick off an online shopping mall today featuring distinctive and innovative products.

  "We found that the virtual marketplace is a perfect starting point for small businesses, as the required capital and resources are much less than for bricks-and-mortar stores," Bonnie Hsu (徐敏慧), deputy sales manager of Taipei-based Soho International said yesterday.

  Resistance to online purchasing still exists among consumers due to security concerns, and some start-ups were damaged by the fallout from the uncontrolled spending during the Internet bubble.

  But a growing number of entrepreneurs are now more comfortable with the medium, as shown by the Market Intelligence Center's (MIC, 資策會) statistics that about 3.8 million Internet users surfed online shopping sites in 2002, a 72 percent jump from the previous year.

  Furthermore, business-to-customer (B2C) e-commerce sales reached NT$22.09 billion last year, a 40.3 percent increase from 2002, according to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

  "With the enormous potential of e-commerce, I think small businesses do have the chance to grow using the Net," Hsu said, "And we hope to help them develop into bricks-and-mortar businesses in the long run."

  Unlike other online shopping malls, which rent Internet facilities to retailers, Soho International provides consultant and evaluation services to help entrepreneurs achieve success in the cyberspace.

  Each store using the mall pays an annual fee of NT$88,000, which includes Web site operation and maintenance, a 30-hour training class on e-commerce and consultant and marketing services for a year, Hsu said.

  Currently, 32 entrepreneurs have signed up with the virtual mall to sell a variety of products, including food and local desserts, Chinese-herb medicine, personalized seals and handicrafts. Soho International hopes to recruit up to 100 retailers, Hsu said.

  However, not every business is qualified for joining the mall. That means companies must develop profitable ideas and find ways to keep customers, or they are destined to die, Hsu said.

  "Products with no competitiveness or which can be easily obtained in traditional markets will have no success in cyberspace," Hsu said. "Knowledge-based e-businesses, rather than those that merely peddle products, are more appealing to consumers."

  For example, an online store contractor, Me-Care, originally considered selling Syh Wuh Tang (四物湯), a traditional herbal medicine composed of four ingredients, including Tangkuei, to female customers.

  "But we told the company that the product won't sell well on the Internet, because Syh Wuh Tang is a medicine that can be obtained on the streets easily," Hsu said.

  After taking advice from Soho International, the online tenant decided to build up its public image first by providing healthcare information and consulting services for women, she added.

  Other online stores in the mall also follow the suit. A coffee bean retailer, Lavita, provides coffee-making tips and imported beans; an online art gallery, Artbear, shows how to make clay pots, while a local snack bar, Sabafish, even offers its recipes on the site.
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