These days, you don't have to step out of your home to find some real shopping gems, as a quick search through the Internet is almost guaranteed to churn up even the most esoteric finds. And when it comes to shopping, who knows their stuff better than women?
From baby products to fabulous fashion and accessories, Diva found four ladies who believed in their products and turned to e-businesses to share their passion with other like-minded individuals.
For consumers who want to know buy without the marketing hype, buying from a seller who either handcrafts her wares, or had a hand in the creative process, means they are assured of getting items that are not just special and unique, but also useful. On top of that, e-stores often have the benefit of allowing a buyer to communicate directly and immediately - via email - with the seller and often will get an almost instant response when they feedback to the sellers.
We found these four websites worth a visit, whether for their pretty, useful and affordable products, or their promise of good service:
Pupsik Studio
What is it? An online store set up in 2008 that sells unique baby products which also have a focus on stylish design. Its star product is a fabric pouch for mums to carry their little ones that comes in various original pretty prints as well as colours. It comes in four sizes to fit the adult wearer, not the baby so that your little one can still fit into it, even after growing. The pouches come with the assurance of being professionally tested and certified to make sure they are safe for use.
Who is behind it? Set up by Su Ling Zagorodnova, an architect and urban planner by training and mother of two toddler daughters, three-year-old era and one-year-old Nadya. She says: " I have always liked the idea of owning a small creative business and operating it from home.
"When the kids came along, that fantasy became a reality when I realised that this was probably the best way I could take care of the kids while still doing something that was interesting and relevant to me."
Why the hype? Su Ling: I was living in the US for a couple of years and practically bought everything online while I was there. I personally enjoy the whole experience of shopping online and was quite disappointed to find that online shopping was not very developed in
Singapore when I had my first baby. I was hunting for the basic baby necessities back then and could not find many of the things I was looking for.
"Sensing that this was the same frustrations shared by many busy young parents, I decided to start Pupsik Studio with the aim of offering useful, well designed and unique products that will cater to the needs of busy parents who prefer to shop from the comfort of their homes.
Go to www.pupsikstudio.com for more details.
Our next three finds:
»Janth Avenue
»Starlet Dresses
»Dayglow Vintage