Tech startup Zowedo Pte Ltd has launched an online platform, of the same name, for consumers in Singapore. The company has a mission to democratise the service industry by connecting SMEs to customers. Four months after the soft launch, Zowedo currently offers over 400 service listings and has a fast-growing pool of customers in Singapore.
This startup provides micro-vendors with a suitable retail platform to promote their services and tools to embrace the digital economy.
Zowedo Co-Founder and CEO, Antoine Nicole says, “Finding a good service provider for personal or home services is like finding a needle in a haystack. As a busy working professional and a father of two young children, I wanted convenience. A simple way to find a service provider, knowing what I will get for the said price and determining the quality of the vendor based on other customers’ feedback plus being able to make online appointments. Such an online service did not exist across the range of services an individual or a family might need. The rest they say is history and Zowedo was born.”
The majority of Zowedo’s vendors are small companies or self-employed individuals who lack the resources and skills to bring their business online. The Zowedo platform offers a comprehensive and easy-to-use online on-boarding process that takes these vendors step-by-step from creating profiles to making the very first sale. Post on-boarding, Zowedo also provides vendors with proper training on how to make the optimum use of the ‘Partner’ dashboard on the website where they can manage bookings and appointments.
This platform comes at the right time for SMEs in Singapore, with statistics from Singstat showing that the Recreation, Community and Personal Services sector has been among the fastest growing industries in terms of CAGR of operating receipts between 2007 and 2017 in Singapore. During the same period, the world was witnessing a new-age industrial revolution driven by the internet. The entire social, economic and industrial landscape of Singapore underwent drastic changes to adapt to the digital age.
As Singapore moves towards a Smart Nation, there are considerable resources and grants being made available to businesses. However, most SMEs that are sole proprietors or micro businesses lack access to these resources and do not have the required skills or manpower to build a strong digital presence or marketplace. Zowedo has helped these businesses break into new customer segments through a digital platform and will empower them to grow and sustain. The startup also solves the issue of cash payments for small vendors – non-payment for services or preference for cashless payments – by providing an online payment gateway, which makes it easier and more convenient for consumers to pay for services.
One such business benefiting from the Zowedo platform is Bakerz@Work Academy, which offers bakery courses. Marketing Executive and Course Coordinator, Calynn Ping says, “Zowedo is a great platform for us to market our classes and increase our online presence. As listed vendors on Zowedo, we are happy to see that they are making efforts to run marketing campaigns and special promotions to promote our services. On top of that, Zowedo is responsive to customer related enquiries, which is a top priority for us.”
