PETALING JAYA, Jan 10 — With more consumers shopping for goods online, internet marketing services and dropshipping platforms have become vital for e-commerce merchants and marketplaces.

In Malaysia, aspiring e-commerce retailers looking to earn extra income have Kumoten to turn to, a dropshipping service that lets merchants sell on multiple online marketplaces without the hassle of buying and keeping stock.

For the unfamiliar, Kumoten operates like a hypermart with over 100,000 products for retailers to select from and easily upload to their marketplace of choice such as Lazada, Shopee, Lelong.my and 11street.

Once a buyer purchases an item, Kumoten packs and ships it directly to the customer.

Part-time entrepreneur Goh Siew Hwa reaped the benefits of the dropshipping platform for her e-store, which sells anything from hardware equipment to automotive products.

The Penangite began using the platform last October and came in first place for Kumoten's Sync and Win contest where she was awarded RM2,000 for synching 15,000 products to Lazada.

“I like the idea that we don't have to keep any stock. When the customer orders from us, we don't have to manually key in their information which saves a lot of time and effort because it autosyncs from the marketplace to Kumoten's dropship site,” she said today at a prize-giving ceremony in Puchong.

She told Malay Mail that electronics products were the most popular among customers and hopes to make her part-time project a fulltime endeavour.

Leong says Kumoten lets merchants sell without having to worry about managing inventory.
Leong says Kumoten lets merchants sell without having to worry about managing inventory.

Kumoten was established four-and-a-half years ago and currently has 40,000 sellers on its platform.

Managing director Issac Leong said the dropship site makes selling a breeze for those wanting to get on the e-retail bandwagon.

“Most of us have no idea how to sell online and not know how to manage inventory if you have a day job and most of the time, the stock ends up as Christmas presents because you can't sell them all.

“A lot of times you are stuck with your sock because you need to take photos and write descriptions which many cannot do.

“We have over 100,000 stock keeping units (SKUs) — we source, upload professional pictures according to the marketplace's specs, provide product descriptions and we also have lifestyle images demonstrating to buyers how to use the products,” added Leong.

With major expansion plans ahead for the Malaysian tech startup, Kumoten will launch in Indonesia followed by the Philippines and Thailand this year.

In conjunction with the upcoming Chinese New Year festivities, Kumoten is running an RM1,888 ang pao contest from now until Chap Goh Mei (February 19) where sellers have to select and sync as many products as possible to their Lazada store in order to win the coveted cash prize.

Find out more here.