February 5, 2020
E-commerce is booming in Cambodia. From Facebook-based retailers to e-shopping platforms based in China, Cambodians love the convenience of getting their shopping done with a few clicks.
You don’t need to have a particularly sharp eye to see it. E-commerce
is booming in the Kingdom. From Facebook-based retailers to e-shopping
platforms based in China, Cambodians love the convenience of getting
their shopping done with a few clicks.
Yet, one of the most successful e-commerce platforms in the world
does not cover the Kingdom. US-based Amazon does not, generally, deliver
to Cambodia, although there are a few exceptions.
You can get Amazon products through a local agent, but that
could cost you around 10 per cent the value of your order in fees, and
you could be waiting for several weeks (even months) before you get your
purchase.
To fill that void, Jack Lee and Sovannareth Theab started Smile Shop
in 2018. With a wide array of products for sale – from consumer
electronics and appliances to books, cosmetics, and locally-grown coffee
– Smile Shop aims to become the Kingdom’s number one homegrown
e-shopping platform.
“Amazon was a role model for Smile Shop,” co-founder Theab
says, explaining that the goal was to bring Amazon’s user-friendly and
stress-free shopping experience to Cambodian consumers.
“Like Alibaba’s Tmall and JD.com, Smile Shop allows consumers to shop
for quality products with outstanding customer service, including a
seven-day free return policy and a 14-day exchange policy.”
Theab tells The Post that his business-to-consumer platform offers
free deliveries within 24 hours in Phnom Penh. In the provinces,
consumers are guaranteed to receive their orders within 72 hours.
He says what sets the platform apart is its emphasis on quality and
original products, as well as the payment options available.
“Most other platforms in Cambodia are only cash-on-delivery,” he
says. Besides, he notes, Smile Shop provides full support to merchants
selling through the platform.
Smile Shop is also helping promote the ‘Made in Cambodia’ brand abroad.
“Another goal of Smile Shop is to help local small businesses sell
their products in Cambodia and abroad. Some of the companies listing
their products on our platform include Sela Pepper and rice-maker Royal
Mongkut, which export a lot to China through Smile Shop,” says Theab.
The shopping experience in Smile Shop – described by the founders as
“The Cambodian Amazon” – is strikingly similar to what the US-based
e-commerce firm offers.
“A customer simply scrolls through the app and clicks on the products
they wish to purchase and, like Amazon, add it to their cart. When they
are ready to check out, they choose their method of payment – either
online payment or cash-on-delivery,” Theab says.
“Smile Shop is always adding to its product inventory, and customers
can always order a product even if it is not on the app,” says Theab,
who is also the CEO.
He says the platform is particularly convenient for foreigners.
“Right now, Western expatriates in Phnom Penh are ordering through
Amazon and waiting a week or two for a local company to ship the
products.
“With Smile Shop, suddenly, they have to wait no more than a day,” he
says, adding that the lack of an e-commerce law has kept the industry
giants from establishing a presence here.
Ny Siya, a web developer for a local company, says she loves shopping
online. From household products to electronics and books, she uses
mostly Chinese e-commercial platforms to get her shopping done.
She laments that Amazon is not easily accessible in the Kingdom.
“If I want to purchase something from Amazon, I have to go through a
middleman who will charge me 10 per cent of the cost of the products
plus transportation fee. On top of that, I have to wait a long time to
get my delivery,” she says.
Smile Shop aims to fill that gap, Theab says. But the company wants
to be much more than an online shopping website. It plans to develop
into a “super app”, expanding its services to include online consumer
financing, groceries, and bus tickets.
“Consumers are very busy. Being able to order quality products that
come with warranty with just a few clicks makes e-commerce a no-brainer
in Cambodia.
“Cambodia is heading in the same direction as China and the US, where e-commerce is the preferred way to shop,” says Theab.
For more information, you can visit the Smile Shop Facebook (page @smileshop.cambodia) or its website: www.smileshop.club.