Budding Entrepreneurs

built an e-commerce ecosystem for these sellers thousands of sellers, spanning millions of products which includes logistics, payments, inventory accessible to consumers across South-east Asia. management, order management, cataloguing, We’re aggregating sellers that have traditionally content production and even short-term loans to been sidelined by larger businesses – the long-tail break the barriers of entry into e-commerce for fashion and lifestyle industry. these sellers. This frees them up to do what they Using our platform, the seller’s reach do best – crafting great products. multiplies and expands way beyond his offline The consumer now has access to millions market. At the same time, our objective is to of fashion and lifestyle products in a seamless provide a host of services to support the seller’s e-commerce experience. They no longer have entry to e-commerce – starting with basics such to scourge Instagram or Facebook to discover as logistics and payments to special services like independent labels or small brands. We allow dedicated marketing, video shoots, short-term for even more discovery by highlighting new loans and even skill-based training. collections and curated content every two weeks In terms of business operations, we make so that there’s something new to discover on sure to maintain a certain level of sustainability Zilingo all the time. over only prioritising growth and scale. We grow aggressively, but we have always been mindful WHAT WAS THE INSPIRATION of maintaining excellent unit economics. Our BEHIND STARTING ZILINGO? networks and partners are streamlined, we’re While travelling through South-east constantly gunning for optimisation of all our cost, Asia a few years back, I fell in love with our monthly overheads are kept to a minimum, the myriad of products crafted by small and we are savvy with how we spend. designers and was amazed by the large, labyrinthine markets places like ’s WHAT CHANGES DO YOU FORESEE IN famous Chatuchak market and what they had THIS EVER-DEVELOPING INDUSTRY? to offer. It was unfortunate seeing how these As always, I believe that it will be technology and small sellers were situated in large markets, but its use to enhance the shopping experience that had little to no access to digital platforms aside will continue to change in our industry. from Facebook. To start with, small sellers are becoming more Together with my co-founder and chief open and more educated about the benefits of technology office Dhruv Kapoor and three other growing an online business. On the other hand, friends, we immersed ourselves in local markets young businesses like us are leveraging technology in and week after week, and application programming interfaces (API) learning the stories of sellers, and this propelled us to build networks and ecosystems that support to dig even deeper. Seeing these small merchants online shopping and allow even the smallest towns inspired us to create a platform where all small to enjoy shopping online. sellers can get together to showcase their products The use of data, machine learning and

PHOTO: YEN MENG JIIN to customers all over the region. artificial intelligence (AI) will also bring about a new and more optimised way to make decisions WHAT LESSONS HAVE YOU LEARNT and do business. For example, at Zilingo we’re FROM THE CORPORATE WORLD already using AI and image recognition to CONNECTING THAT YOU HAVE TAKEN IN WHEN catalogue and curate our millions of products. STARTING ZILINGO? Video and cross-channel marketing is also going Having spent years previously working in a to change, especially in fashion. Technology can venture capital specialising in consumer Internet help us scale video production and use it to craft WITH A CLICK and e-commerce opportunities on mobile more engaging, more visual touch points for users platforms, it gave me the confidence to start looking to discover fashion. At the same time, The digital disruption presents challenges to “mom and Zilingo because I knew that there was a need for we’ll need to find innovative and creative ways to such a product in the market. craft marketing messages both online and offline pop” operations in less digitally engaged communities On top of that, my experience at a to appeal to an a young, easily bored audience of around the world. But at the same time, it can be a boon management consulting company exposed me millennials. At Zilingo, we experiment heavily to those who tap into its advantages. Meet a startup that to operations across various industries. This gave with video and dynamic “shoppable” content to me an early window into strategic thinking and enhance the experience of discovering fashion. has presented such businesses in South-east Asia with the making data-driven business decisions. opportunity to go global; and for consumers, the ability WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HAVE to get products from famous markets such as Bangkok’s WHAT CHALLENGES DID YOU FACE AS IN STORE FOR ZILINGO? A YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR? We want to be a household name and the go-to Chatuchak to your doorstep – all just a click away. Zilingo’s Regardless of age, I think entrepreneurs are place for our customers when they think about a founder and chief executive officer Ankiti Bose (above) constantly bombarded with one challenge fashion and lifestyle marketplace. We’re going to shares her journey. AS TOLD TO NAVIN SREGANTAN after another. The first challenge is always just start investing a lot more in building awareness for having the fire in your belly to take the leap our brand in all our markets into entrepreneurship. and continue to improve the user experience The second is raising capital to scale the on site to make sure that customers love CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT ZILINGO AND business and making sure that your business using our platform. THE SERVICES THAT IT PROVIDES? is on the way to profitability from day one. In order to heighten the shopping Zilingo is a fashion e-commerce platform The third challenge – and probably the most experience, we are striving towards that aggregates fashion and lifestyle sellers of underestimated – is building a team of dedicated, next-day delivery. On top of , Thailand, Indonesia and hardworking, smart people who will take your that, we want to focus more on a single platform. We now have over business to the next level. on cross-border purchases. It 5,000 small enterprises that sell apparel, allows us to put these smaller accessories, bags, shoes and lifestyle products. WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE SOME sellers on an international We provide fashion and lifestyle sellers FACTORS THAT SET ZILINGO APART platform and allow our with a platform that allows them to start selling FROM OTHER E-COMMERCE PLAYERS? customers more accessibility online, and grow their business online. We have At Zilingo, we aim to make fashion from to even more indie brands. ■

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