Kim Lato
As a budding entrepreneur, Kim Lato definitely had her work cut out for her. Her goal was to offer brand new, guaranteed original gadgets at unbeatable prices across the country. To do that, she had to make it available on a wider scale, something which a physical store would not be able to offer.
She decided to take her business online – a risky move given the inherent apprehension Filipinos had with online transactions.
“Back in 2006, I joined and used Multiply to start my business because it was the fastest growing networking site. It served as my online catalog. It was a good way to introduce my brand, to advertise my products on a larger scale,” Lato shares.
Today, Lato is recognized as one of the most reliable resellers on Multiply.com—which has since evolved to become an e-commerce platform serving both merchants as well as consumers; and Kimstore (multiply.com/store/kimstore) holds the honor of being one of the best performing online gadget resellers on the site.
Credibility and reputation is very important for the nature of her business—particularly when transactions are conducted over the Internet. For this reason, Lato emphasizes the need for customers to be very careful when choosing whom to make purchases from and for merchants to make sure they provide impeccable customer service.
It’s as simple as ensuring that you make purchases from trusted online sellers. Reviews and referrals are useful, but make sure you dig a little deeper into the credibility of each.
“What’s good with Multiply is that it protects the interest of both the buyers and the sellers. When making a purchase, buyers should always look out for the Trusted Seller badge—this guarantees that you are buying from a reputable seller,” she adds.
Over the years, KimStore experienced a shift in terms of consumer behavior. More and more buyers are using the payment gateways provided by Multiply versus the usual Cash On Delivery (COD) or actual meet ups.
In addition, since it shifted from a social networking site to an e-commerce site, Multiply has upped its efforts to empower merchants to provide only quality products for their customers while ensuring convenience and ease.
Lato says to check for selling sites that are able to provide customers with access to numerous legitimate payment options—this ensures that they have reputable partners that will safeguard online transactions. Multiply, for instance, provides merchants access to credit card facilities, G Cash or Smart Money services, Paypal and various other reputable payment options.
“Between the technology and their vision to empower buyers and sellers, it really is the best, simplest and most trusted way to make sure that you get your money’s worth,” she ends—take it from the award-winning proprietor of Kimstore herself.
Kim Lato was invited to be a panel speaker in the recently concluded Digital Commerce Summit 2013, organized by the Digital Commerce Association of the Philippines to talk about hitting it in big in E-Commerce. At the age of 24, Kim has received a notable number of recognitions: Go Negosyo YoungSTARpreneur Awardee 2011, awarded most successful online seller by GoNegosyo and Multiply, deemed as the number 1 Online Gadget Store in Multiply and consistent in the top 3 most visited sites in Multiply.
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