SITEC speaks to the Gan brothers of Sally Fashion and their recent win at the Top EC Merchant Awards 2016
People may not believe it when you tell them, but, contrary to stereotypes, Sally Fashion was started by two brothers from Kelantan, Kay Gan Chin Heng and Gan Chin Hock, rather than anyone named Sally. The company was formed on April 4th, 2012, when the brothers decided to merge their respective businesses to form Sally Fashion.
From L – R, Sally Fashion’s founders: Kay Gan Chin Heng and Gan Chin Hock, holding their prize at the Top EC Merchant Awards 2016
“We each have about two years of prior experience with online selling before we merged to start Sally Fashion. Our businesses were doing the same thing, selling women’s apparel, and we decided to merge to increase efficiency and leverage on our strengths,” explained Kay.
“Hock is good in programming, so he handles that part of the business, whereas I handle the management side of things, and everything has been smooth since we performed the merger,” added Gan.
Demystifying “Sally”
Prior to the Top E-Commerce Merchant Awards, there were many who had thought the company was started and run by a woman called Sally, which is patently untrue.
Gan clarified: “when we merged, Hock’s girlfriend is named Sally, so we decided to just call the company Sally Fashion on a lark.
“And yes, Sally is currently still Hock’s girlfriend”, he added with a chuckle.
Hock checks on clothing stock at their warehouse
According to Gan, the company is always looking towards growth; within three months of their merger, sales had gone up by over 100%.
Company Strengths
When asked about the unique points and strengths of Sally Fashion, Gan shared that the purely online store prides itself on being able to bring in a lot of new products every day, as well as providing a strong customer service front with online chat-based customer service available on their site from 9AM in the morning to 1AM in the wee hours.
“We also focus on providing a wide variety of products, as well as do our best to keep prices competitive and attractive to everyone. We also run promotional campaigns, such as offering extra discounts, or providing free delivery,” explained Gan.
When asked about the local e-commerce scene, Gan noted that the sector is currently offering a lot of opportunities for enterprising merchants.
“Just by comparing ourselves to neighbouring countries, we can see that our e-commerce market is not as mature, and that we still have a lot of room to grow. One example would be food delivery services or even grocery delivery services, where the services we have here are not as good as those of our neighbours,” said Gan.
“There is also what Ms. Wee of MDEC said (at the Top ECM Awards) that our e-commerce sector’s contribution to our GDP is not as high as that of other countries yet. This shows us just how much more we can grow,” added Gan.
When asked about winning the Top E-Commerce Merchant Award of 2016, Gan stated that he welcomed the exposure to the media as well as the outside world, so to speak, which helps with their brand.
“At the same time, I also learned a lot from this, and have also met up with other merchants. This event had also generated a lot of awareness of the e-commerce industry, and I hope that this will lead to more opportunities for the industry,” said Gan.
Watch Sally Fashion’s Winner’s Video here!
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