Creative Idea Powerhouse

When we conceptualizing our solution initially, the SMilDS.com is design as a pure e-commerce trading platform that build in CRM, payment gateway, and logistic. It never be different than rakuten, taobao or yahoo can provide except we have the cross selling engine, which is our killer apps.

We know we needs to be lots more unique, special, outstanding and innovative in order to stand out from this battle of e-commerce. It is a cyber trading battle and we are new, we can be attacked by any big giant from all kinds of tactics, or backdoor without us realizing it. Yeap this is the real world..

After going back to the traditional business school 101 toolbox and dig out the swat tool, our only differentiation is our strategy in positioning ourselves correctly, south east Asia where the e-commerce marketplace are still green. That will also enable us to buy time to learn the market before we get ourselves over expand and get into trouble like alibaba did before during the early day of Y2000.

With this, our next target marketplaces will be focus in s.e. Asia countries, taking 3 years to build ourselves to be the largest e-commerce platform in all the countries we have presence.

In term of our Strategies on e-commerce, we will fully focus on building the new generation of social e-commerce, a e-trading engine that enable our young entrepreneurs to venture into e-commerce with little investment and risks free.

Tapping into the social network we have in the market currently, it is a perfectly match that enable more young people to start their entrepreneur journey in young age.

Looking at our next generation who have been eat, sleep, and get entertain by internet, social e-commerce will be the next new thing for us to look on.

Been in the middle of design, redesign, engineering and reengineering the concept of a complete eco-system of e-Commerce for the past 2 months, and finally we got something interesting out. The new system, leverage of alot of the social e-commerce model, will soon, in our believe, a pretty strong tool to help merchants to have a solid presence when they get online via SMilDS.com

The next thing, is to get ourselves into business, the stage of ‘Go to Market’ model. This is very crucial, as we can have the cutting edge product, patterned pending IP, or even the all in one – one stop solution, but we do not have a solid marketing strategy, we are doom. So for the past 2 weeks, we are basically putting ourselves inside a self-developed black box and try to think and act outside the box.

We have our target laid down, we have our key indicators drawn on the board and every one agreed on the exciting figure. Next, we start to get into the working sheet. Deep details into execution. First of all, is our branding and tagline, as Guy Kawasaki used to said, coming out with a mantra … what and how we want our people to associate us when they listen, or they see our branding or logo?

We had gone through a series of 3 days multi-channel brainstorming. From smilds here smilds there to smilds up smilds down, some c&p event to clone the others tag … such as below:

1. SMILDS.COM – Priceless
2. SMILDS unlimited
3. Smilds my lover

However, come to the last stage, we finalize our tag and mantra to SMILDS everyday. For our staffs, for our agents, for our merchants, for our partners, and for our customers and consumers.

When we were drafting our initial project plan for platform2u.com, our idea was simple, to build an e-commerce solution that enable the Internet entrepreneur. The buzzWord glocalization never came into our mind at all. All we aim for is our enthusiation to help the young Internet entrepreneur to find a point of start up and utilize their existing familiarity on Internet to earn their first fortune.

Throughout our journey, the plan and idea evolved, and the Big Picture slowly reveal. Our dream and vision become bigger and extended to a regional basis – to build a cross countries e-commerce platform that able to facilitate regional trade through internet.

I need to admit that to build a web shop or e-commerce for Malaysia is easy, but when we need to extend to a regional cross trading, many consideraiona come into picture. Localize payment gateway with local currencies exchange is a challenge; cross border logistic for micro or small sme with small quantity shipments is a challenge; to prevent and proactively reduce fraud case on e-commerce is a never ending fights against the non ethical buyers in internet. We know all these challenge and we need to call for a choice to go local or global. It is beyond the technology concerns of server loads, hardware and apps uptime, or language compatibility issues. We know that for the nex three year, there are one after another challenges that we can’t predict nor avoid awaiting us. We take the bold step to move on and build this platform, and fortunate, we have launched our first e-commerce 4.0 system in April 09, continue with a month later to launch in Hong Kong, and in next month in Manila, Philippines.

The buzzword glocalization came across our mind a month after we launch our system , during one of our business briefing session with our prospect merchant. I gave an example, if you sell something online and you have 100 agents or cross sellers selling your product online, you are doing a global business. And when your product is cross-sell by the 100merchants in their individual local webstore, with local look and feel website design, your product actually selling as localize one. On the term, this is glocalization… And SMiLDS.com is the enabler for this glocalization business, and we help Asia retailers to glocalize their business at every countries we presence. This is our vision and we will definitely make it happen!!

Today when we having the discussion with one of the editor from local business magazine, something came up at my mind, the yet another buzz word ‘glocalization’ – the combination of the globalization and localization.

I first notice the real big MNC been practicing these, by seperating the operation and management of individual countries into regional, and let the local management team to handle the day to day works base on local culture and organization structure. HSBC, one of the pioneer in introducing glocalization concept, global expertise, local presence sort of stuffs.

When I try to look back into e-Commerce, how many of the big players in Asia really successfully crossing their own countries borders and expand to oversea market? Rakuten is one of the millions who does that up to now. It has been in Japan for a very long time – 10 years, and really step strongly before it make the bold decision to expand its Rakuten Ichiba out to oversea – particulary Taiwan. Who else in this region has ever ‘try’ before? Is that the local market is ‘big’ enough for them, or it is very difficult for these players to take the bold decision to move out? Lelong has passed its 10th year presence and look back, it is still Malaysia boleh only company in Malaysia. That really make us think again, is that being the largest in Malaysia good enough for us? My answer is NO for sure.

Our vision, in Platform2u.com, is to realize the e-Commerce dream in Asia, to be the largest e-Commerce Platform provider that from Malaysia, and cross over to the entire Asia countries. It never be easy. After landing our foot print in Hong Kong, follow by next in Philippines during this coming July, it is the time we take a bold and aggresive move again to reinforce our marketplace in Malaysia and Hong Kong.

Glocalization, will be the spirit, the value, the core of our entire e-Commerce attempt. Be the global e-Commerce provider to help all the SME and SMIs to find the new global marketplace, and continue to help those SME and SMIs to localize their presence each and every countries we establish our foot print. It sounds imposible to help all our SMEs and SMIs to be glocalization companies in past, but during today interview, I have the new insight, yes, we going for glocalization model, to help all our partners merchant to transform them into glocalization companies – IN ZERO ADDITIONAL COST to them. It is a new thing where even Rakuten won’t able to achieve easily, but we will try. When Rakuten bring over few hundreds merchants from Japan to enter Taiwan market, they work very closely and hard to help those Japanese firms to have a local presence in Taiwan through their glocalization attempt, but I believe our model will make a different from Rakuten, easier, faster, and more dynamic.

Glocalization – it will be our brand new focus…. We wish to be to first in China to introduce Glocalization e-Commerce, are we able to buy enough time on this? Is our speed fast enough then the speed of Internet? Let’s the result reveal end of this year 2009…

Platform2u.com was established in October 2008 by a team of young and ambitious technopreneurs. The company was formed with the vision to provide a complete end-to-end e-commerce platform to the Asia industry by easily setting up online-businesses and trading in the global marketplace. In a short span of three months, we have obtained the MSC status from Malaysia Government in early January 2009 to recognize for our innovative research and development efforts in e-Commerce era. In April 2009, when Platform2u.com was just seven months old, we are proud to launch our brainchild, SMILD(S), the fourth generation e-commerce solution to the public. Being young and energetic, SMILD(S) was well received and we were pleased that in a glimpse; our community grew to several hundred merchants and still growing.

Platform2u.com’s mission is to become the Pioneer and Enabler as well as a being a professional Service Provider in a brand new Business-to-Business-to-Consumer-to-Consumer (B2B2C2C) platform in Asia Internet Retailing industry. It has been our vision to be the Top 5 Internet Retailing platform in Asia Pacific Region and to build our very own Malaysian brand and make a stand in Asia. As our motto says “We will definitely make it happen!