Note: This is not a sponsored post. It is written as a how-to article.
As I mentioned in my last post on Lazada, e-commerce is becoming a popular way for Malaysians to make money. In this post, I will show you how you can get started one of the largest online marketplace in Malaysia: 11Street.
11Street is an online marketplace that began in South Korea and has since expanded to X countries, including Malaysia. If you have been wanting to sell online but have not yet started, 11Street can be a good place to start. With over six million visitors, you can be sure to put your products in front of a big audience.
But even if you are already a seller on other online marketplaces such as Lazada, you could still benefit by listing your products on other online marketplaces such as 11Street.
As I have done for Lazada, in this post, I will discuss the pros and cons of selling on 11Street Malaysia as well as how you can get started.
Are you ready?
Let’s get started.
Quick Navigation
Summary
Review of: 11Street.my / Use: Sell products in online marketplace.
| The good: | The bad: |
| Market rate commissions
Good shipping system Option to adjust shipping fee Option to buy ads to rank for keywords |
On-boarding training not available.
Help section not comprehensive enough. Seller back-end not user-friendly. No product or product information exclusivity (anyone can replicate your products). |
Summary: 11Street is an online marketplace. It is a good place to start for people who do not want to set up their own e-commerce system.
I put this review together to explain the pros and cons of selling on 11Street as well as how you can set up your own store there. Enjoy!
It’s Free!
Who Can Sell on 11Street Malaysia?
Like Lazada, both individuals, as well as businesses can sell on 11Street. This means that even if you do not have an SSM-registered business, you can sell on 11Street.
All you have to do is click on the button below the description that suits you best.
Now let’s look at the pros of selling on 11Street.
Pros of Selling on 11Street Malaysia
Control over shipping fee
Unlike Lazada, 11Street allows you the freedom to pick your own shipping fee. This means you can choose to offer your customer either normal shipping, reduced shipping or free shipping.
This gives you some control over your customer’s buying experience. For example, you can opt for free shipping to make your offer more attractive than your competitors who might not.
You can also opt to subsidize part of the shipping fee by choosing a rate that is lower than normal (e.g. normal shipping is RM5, you offer shipping rate at RM3).
If you do not want to subsidize shipping, you can opt to offer exactly what you pay for.
No matter what your choice is, being able to control the shipping will allow you to customize part of your customer experience.
Option to pay to be listed first
As you might remember from my Lazada post, Lazada uses algorithms to rank products. This means you will not be able to pay to be listed first.
This is not the case for 11Street. For 11Street, you can choose to buy ads which put your products on the front page billboard, sub-category billboard etc.
This way you have some control over how many people see your products on 11Street.
You can find out more about paid advertisements on 11Street here.
Offline classes
Although 11Street’s online support system is not as comprehensive as Lazada’s, you can opt to attend their offline classes.
11Street offers a variety of offline classes to help you improve your sales performance on the online marketplace.
All you have to do is register a spot and attend the class.
This is especially useful for those who have no experience selling online.
Free photoshoots
With better product photos, your products will appear more attractive to your potential customers. If you had to pay someone to do this, it might cost you a few hundred ringgit. 11Street can do this for you for free.
All you have to do is book a photoshoot session:
However, the photo shoots are limited to KL. 11Street does not currently offer free photo shooting for other parts of Malaysia.
Opportunity to get Certified
Unlike any other online marketplace in Malaysia, sellers on 11Street will have the opportunity to get certified.
It is a free two-day course that guides you through selling on the 11Street online marketplace.
People who are new to e-commerce will find this useful as you will be taught the basics of e-commerce and online marketplaces.
Cons of Selling on 11Street Malaysia
Fees
Although listing is free, you will be charged a few fees when you make a sale on 11Street.
Like Lazada, 11Street will charge a product category commission and transaction fee for every sale you make on the platform.
This means your final profit is:
final profit = product price – product category commissions – transaction fee
No initial training
Unlike Lazada, 11Street does not have a compulsory training to guide new sellers.
Instead, most of the learning on 11Street is self-initiated. Once you are registered, you are left mostly to figure things out yourself.
While this is not a problem for IT-savvy sellers, this can be a problem for those who are unfamiliar with IT. If you are unfamiliar with IT, I would suggest that you enroll yourself in the offline classes.
The backend is not user-friendly
Unlike Lazada, 11Street’s seller backend is not user-friendly.
You will need some time to get yourself familiar with all the sections and functions within the backend.
Though so, the good thing is that you can attend the offline classes to learn how to use the backend. However, if you live outside of Kuala Lumpur, it may cost you some money to fly in to attend the class.
Limited guides
The help section for 11Street is quite limited. It does not have comprehensive guides like Lazada. When you click on the ‘Help’ link, this menu will show up:
Most of the information inside is brief:
For some people, this may not be enough to help them with their problems.
Lazada or 11Street?
This is a question some of you may be asking yourself: With so many online marketplace platforms to choose from, which one should you go for?
The good news is that there is no right or wrong answer. There are pros and cons for each platform. I would recommend that you test each one out before making a decision on which to focus on.
Some sellers have opted to sell on both platforms after seeing that they are able to achieve decent sales on each one.
But not everyone has the resources to manage both platforms. If this is you then you will need to evaluate and finally pick one platform to focus your online sales on.
How to Start Selling on 11Street Malaysia
Step 1: Register
It is easy to register as a seller on 11Street. First go to the seller registration page here.
Click on the button below the description that matches you. If you do not have an SSM-registered business, you can register as an ‘Individual’ seller. If you are an SSM-registered business, you can register as ‘Business’ seller.
If you register as an individual, you can use your personal bank account. But if you register as a Business, you will need a business account.
Step 2: Wait for 11Street to review and approve your application
Once you have submitted your application, you will need to submit your documents for 11Street to review your application.
Once you are approved, 11Street will notify you by e-mail.
Step 3: Start selling!
As an approved seller, all you have to do is log in to 11Street’s seller office, upload your products and start selling!
How to Sell More on 11Street
As I mentioned before, selling on online marketplaces depends on a few factors. Let’s look at them one by one:
Product demand
Like any other online marketplace, simply listing a product on 11Street does not automatically translate to sales.
Before you invest more time and money into a particular product, it would be beneficial to you if you are able to check for demand.
The simplest way to do this is by looking for the specific keyword for your product. When you find that your product or a similar product has been listed many times, it could mean there is a high demand.
For example, a search for ‘organic soap’ on 11Street comes up with over 1,000 results. This means there could be potential demand for your product.
The next thing you need to do is check for reviews. People normally leave reviews when they love or hate the product a lot. For organic soap, the top three search results have 2-6 reviews.
This means there might be buyers for your organic soap.
Though so, it does not guarantee that there is demand for your product. Though there are many other factors that will affect whether there are buyers for your product, you can use this method as your first step to finding out.
Keyword ranking
Being listed on the top for searches is straightforward in 11Street. All you need to do is pay for the improved listing.
However, keyword ranking is only one of the factors that you should consider when you are selling on 11Street.
Let’s look at the next factor that affects your sales performance on 11Street.
Pricing
Like any online marketplace, your customers will be prone to making comparisons on the price. Especially if you are selling the same exact product, it is likely that your customers will go for the cheapest product.
At this point, it will be up to you to decide if it makes business sense for you to lower your price to attract more customers.
Since in 11Street you get to control your shipping fee, one way to reduce the price is by reducing the shipping fee or offering free shipping.
Seller Grade
The Seller Grade is used by 11Street to help customers decide on the quality of a seller.
When you become a seller, you will be given a guideline on how to maintain or improve your rating on 11Street.
A better seller grade would make you appear as a more trusted seller and customers would be more willing to buy from you.
Conclusion
E-commerce is growing in Malaysia. If you have been thinking of making money online, selling products on online marketplaces such as 11Street can be a good place to start. If you have already started selling on other online marketplaces such as Lazada, it may help you by selling on 11Street as well.
Are you ready to sell on 11Street?
It is easy to start selling on 11Street. All you have to do is register a seller account and start selling. Click here to register today!
Read more on online marketplaces
Why You Should Sell on Lazada Malaysia and How to Get Started in 2017
Why You Should Sell on Shopee Malaysia and How to Get Started in 2017
Next:
If you are curious about any of these online marketplaces, subscribe to Entrepreneur Campfire and I will email you when there is an update.