Local E-commerce success

I had heard in my lecture and tutorial class about the successes and failures of companies in e-commerce but all the examples that was mention there wasn't even one that was a local company. I have been thinking why didn't my lecturer and tutor gave a local example since we are in Malaysia and we ought to know about it. They should have included a local company example even though it might be in a smaller scale, the impact is not so great in the world, not many people knew about it or it's achievement is nothing compare to the examples of the international companies given by them.

It might seems so that way but we as Malaysian should be proud that there are local companies who tried to venture into e-commerce knowing that it is like an uncharted sea where danger lurks everywhere during the late 90s. Their success might be not be much in the eyes of the world but in Malaysia, its' success mean a lot to all Malaysian who are trying to venture into e-commerce. It shows Malaysian to can be successful in e-commerce. So i try looking for article or news that might talk about our local e-commerce success and at last i found it in our own local online newspaper Thestar.com.my. Here is a part of the article:

"YOU'VE probably heard a lot about dotcoms over the years – from the ones that were hugely successful, to the ones that were absolute failures.

But most of these companies you hear about are probably not Malaysian.

Though on a much smaller scale than the United States, Malaysia has its own share of e-commerce companies, online retailers and various e-businesses.

These companies have been around since the Internet hit our shores in the early- to mid-nineties.

And just like their global counterparts, many were also wiped out when the dotcom bubble burst in 2000.

A few survivors, like Martin Cheah, remain, to tell their stories."

To read the entire article, it is at http://star-techcentral.com/tech/story.asp?file=/2007/9/20/itfeature/18927703&sec=itfeature.

In the article, it mention a few local companies that was successful in e-commerce. 1 of them is a company that i knew. XL-Shop Dot Com Sdn Bhd is a toy shop that have been around for almost 11 years. It venture into e-commerce in 1999. Till now it had been successful, me as a customer can be sure of it. Even though i knew about it's website when i was studying in KTAR in 2005, i had always wanted to collect figurines since i was young but i just don't have the cash then. But i only started collecting these figurines in 2007 when i had saved some money to spend on things that i like. The link to the website is http://www.xl-shop.com/. Here is a few screenshots of the website of xl-shop.

I had bought a few figurines from xl-shop. Even though i don't purchase it online but i relied on its website for the latest update of products that xl-shop will be getting. With those information, i know when to go to their shop to purchase the figurines that i want. They have 3 shops located in Midvalley Megamall, Ampang and Berjaya Times Square. It's customer doesn't consist of Malaysian only but also foreign customers from other countries. Being able to draw in foreign customers is because of e-commerce. This shows how xl-shop have been successful in attracting foreign buyers to buy from them, our own Malaysian online shop. It had received many positive feedback from local and foreign buyers for its services.

The facts that why it is able to continue successfully and not failed like the rest had already been mentioned in the article. Just to elaborate some points, first impression really matters. The first time i enter its website, i like the design, it looks very neat and have a lot of attractive information display in it. It made me want to check it's products. The best part of it is that it is constantly being updated by the staffs if there are new products arriving. Their forum is also a very good place to get information about toys and also to talk to the members of the forum about random stuffs because it's members are very active especially the staffs. It's products price are also cheaper compare to other online toy shop. Given that a figurine already cost me Rm200+, imagine how much it would cost me if i bought online from toy shop from other countries.

If possible i would like to upload my figurines pictures to the blog but let's just see how it goes.

So to end my post, no matter how insignificant it might be local e-commerce success should not be ignore, new entrepreneurs who want to venture into e-commerce should try to emulate their success. International companies success are hard to follow but local companies success are more feasible to achieve. Their success can paved way for future local companies in e-commerce. MALAYSIAN BOLEH!