Multiply starts selling new features to users

BUSINESS BITS
Carlo Mallo

Social networking turned social shopping site Multiply is eyeing to become the home of 80,000 sellers from the country by the end of the year, reflecting the strong entrepreneurial spirit of Filipinos.

Data from Multiply showed that 2,000 new sellers have joined and opened their online stores in the Website in April, followed by 4,000 more in May. June had the biggest increase with 6,000 new sellers joining the Website. Claudio Pinkus, executive chairman of Multiply, said the growing number of sellers using the Website as their store fronts, is just the tip of the iceberg.

"Given the strong entrepreneurial spirit of people in the region, we are far from reaching the saturation point," Pinkus told Entrepreneur.com.ph

In Southeast Asia alone, there are over 13 million users of Multiply with more than 55 percent using the Website as a shopping site. Being a public domain, Multiply enables just about anyone to create their online store and sell retail products that range from jewelry, clothes, food products, fresh produce, pets and even real estate. Multiply is now shifting into what most of its users are presently using it for - as an online store window for their businesses.

Because of this, Multiply is no longer just another social networking site that was used by many, primarily to post their photos as it was capable of uploading high resolution images and had features that are similar to photo albums.

With more than 51,000 registered sellers in the country, and thousands more in other Southeast Asian nations, Multiply claims to be the social shopping site that is most actively used in the region. Multiply also launched several new features that seek to boost its bid to be the premier social shopping site in Southeast Asia.

"First we have released the Multiply Promote, a program that enables the sellers to advertise their own products and stores within the Website. They can design their own ad and schedule the time and placements of their ads," Pinkus said, saying that the feature is one of the most successful products launched in the Website.

Multiply Trust, a trusted seller feature of the Website, was also launched with the aim of boosting the confidence of a buyer with sellers who have consistently delivered on the credibility and accuracy of their products.

There are three levels of verification within the Multiply Trust program, each with additional requirements for verification. To be qualified as a "Verified Seller", one must present two government IDs and a proof of billing. Subscription will cost P1,999 per year. For the "Verified Business", a Multiply subscriber will have to present requirements for the "Verified Seller" plus business/tax registration and the establishment should already be operating for at least a year.

On the other hand, to be a "Trusted Business", a seller will need to submit all the above requirements plus an established track record as a top Multiply seller. The feature costs P4,999 per year. "There is a lot of demand for the two products and we are looking at adding more specialized set of tools for sellers and buyers," Pinkus said.

One of the features that may be launched soon is the single payment system for Multiply shopping. Instead of the usual single transaction per store, Multiply is looking at developing a shopping cart system wherein shoppers can place orders from various online stores within the Multiply Website and pay for all the products in a single transaction.

Specialized for sellers, Multiply is also turning its photo albums into a catalogue-like feature for sellers to better promote their products while buyers will be more at ease in browsing through the photos of the products. "We want to make Multiply a social shopping site that sellers will choose [and] at the same time a trusted environment for buyers to buy more," Pinkus said.