SEAk Marketplace
One-stop-shop for Southeast Asian suppliers to go global
Idea in Commerce and Shopping
Introduction
Problem
Today, Southeast Asian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME's) lack the resources they need to navigate a fragmented export market.
MSME’s are 90% of businesses in SEA. They produce high quality products that are export-ready, but currently need to go through multiple intermediaries to get to their target audience abroad.
Global retailers, on the other hand, cannot capitalize on high consumer demand for Southeast Asian products due to lack of access and high shipping costs.
In order to connect, Southeast Asian MSME's and global retailers face three main pain points:
- First, it is difficult for them to connect in the first place, and would entail one of them reaching out and negotiating via email or social media
- Second, it would be risky for global retailers to bring on an untested supplier who they have never met, or whose items they have never seen
- Third, even if they did get to an agreement, there would be high international shipping costs and a complicated payments system
Opportunity
Our solution is a two-sided marketplace that aggregates orders to bring down shipping costs. We have three main value propositions.
- First, we are an all-in-one marketplace that allows retailers to browse items from hundreds of suppliers in one place. We take a ~25% commission on GMV to monetize.
- Second, we de-risk the transaction by offering 60-day free returns on opening orders with a new supplier. We also only carry curated items from verified suppliers.
- Third, we have multiple value added services. We aggregate shipping to bring total shipping costs down. We also offer integrated payment and shipping solutions. We plan to offer analytics, SaaS tools, marketing and loans.