Grow your online business with Zalora

MANILA, Philippines - Zalora, Asia’s online fashion destination, has placed itself at the forefront of growing the online shopping business in the Philippines. With over 40 million Filipinos with access to the Internet, Zalora Philippines sees huge untapped potential for e-commerce in the country, citing a stronger local Internet penetration as compared to other Asia Pacific markets.

“E-commerce adoption in the Philippines continues to be fuelled by our customers’ trust for online transactions. Through the years, we’ve seen a lot of Filipino consumers spending a lot of their time online, providing more opportunities for online retailers to get their products to them,” said Paulo Campos, co-founder and CEO of Zalora Philippines.

Rising access to the Internet has undeniably changed the way Filipinos go about their daily life. Students can use their laptops to submit their school requirements without being inside the campus and businessmen can manage their day-to-day work from their phones.

As a fashion brand, Zalora gives Filipinos an avenue to fulfil another daily activity with just a few clicks of the mouse: shopping for the latest fashion trends. Shoppers can now easily find their next “outfit of the day” (OOTD) look without ever having to step foot inside a mall.

Simultaneously, fashion retailers don’t need to set up an actual store to reach their customers. This new trend greatly benefits aspiring entrepreneurs looking to make their mark in the competitive fashion industry. With just a click of a button, they too can easily make their products available online, be it through a website or even on social media.

The problem, however, is that with almost every brand in the world already online, there is a challenge for these young designers and retailers to stand out from the crowd and effectively reach the customers they are targeting. Instead of fighting over retail space, they must now fight over online attention and often times, it is a hit-or-miss opportunity. That is why Zalora Philippines created the Zalora Marketplace.

Zalora Marketplace is an exclusive fashion community of selected boutiques where independent retailers and designers are able to sell their own products and styles to the global network of Zalora. First launched in the Philippines, the Zalora Marketplace follows a business-to-consumer model that allows aspiring entrepreneurs a chance to reach their customers easily and grow their brand with Zalora Philippines, which currently registers a total of up to 120,000 visits per day.

“Zalora Marketplace is not simply a buying and selling website, but it is also an avenue for young and aspiring fashion entrepreneurs to make a name for themselves in this tough industry. Together, we also help grow the fashion industry as a whole, providing opportunities for young fashion entrepreneurs to grow their brand with us,” said Jessica de Mesa, head of Zalora Marketplace.

Through the years, Zalora Philippines has witnessed many success stories of brands that started knowing very little about online selling, but then utilized the tools provided to them by Zalora, to become full-fledged online fashion retailers. One example is Cez Ciruela, the owner and head designer of Soleful by Cez, a fashion brand specializing in making handmade crafts, accessories, shoes, and bags. Since she started selling in Zalora last July 2014, she has seen her gross sales even reach above P200,000 at times.

“When I started with Zalora Marketplace, it gave me a wider perspective on what online selling is. It was an entirely new experience for us. My whole family is so grateful for Zalora Marketplace because they gave us life,” Ciruela said.

Another proud partner of Zalora Marketplace is Eye Know Right, an eyewear brand operated by fashion couple Bugsy Ancheta and Queenie Ong. Fresh after graduating from college, Queenie and Bugsy first started their online business by selling their products on Instagram. Since partnering with Zalora, they have seen their sales triple in growth and have already opened two physical stores, all before their 1st anniversary.

“It was a huge opportunity for us to be part of Zalora because it is the number one in online fashion. Since we joined, product awareness became more intense which helped us sell a lot more, and they’ve been very generous with their marketing. Zalora helped set the standards for everything and we couldn’t be any more grateful,” Ong said.

“Zalora Marketplace was created to help the independent sellers who do not have a lot of operations and marketing budget. Creating a website is easy but driving traffic to it isn’t. Zalora is able to provide them all this, together with access to our Zalora network. We guide them in how to use the tools that we are making available for them so that they can grow their brand,” de Mesa said.

Since starting operations in April 2014, Zalora Marketplace currently houses over 450 homegrown brands that manage their own web shops or fashion boutiques under the Zalora platform. The company aims to grow that number to 1,000 by year-end. Interested parties may contact [email protected] or visit the official website at www.zalora.com.ph to see how they can be a part of Zalora Marketplace today.