Ever since the ‘Circuit Breaker’ began, local businesses have been struggling to stay afloat.
Between closures for non-essential businesses and not enough orders coming in, making ends meet has been nearly impossible for some.
To help small local businesses survive, popular meme page Memedef has created their own website, #BuyLocalSG.
It sources for local listings on e-commerce websites, and displays them along with encouraging messages on their page.
Through the website, they hope to drive more traffic to Singaporean sellers, and support those who rely on sales for income.
Check it out here, and read on for more details.
They described #BuyLocalSG as a “filter” that sifts out local listings from e-commerce sites like Qoo10, Shopee and Carousell.
It’s the first platform to combine multiple listings from the three online marketplaces, and display them on the same interface.
All you have to do is search for an item, and related listings from all sites will show up, right on the same page.
This saves buyers lots of time, and defeats the need to open multiple tabs to compare prices and products across different websites.
On top of distinguishing local listings, #BuyLocalSG also features an “Items to Give” page.
Listings there are all at $0, as they are mainly items people wish to give away for free.
Users can find whatever they need on the page, with listings ranging from baby clothing to furniture.
#BuyLocalSG isn’t just an online marketplace, but also a positivity wall of sorts.
When you first enter the website and scroll down, you’ll encounter encouraging messages by local figures.
Some names you may recognise are Jon Chua from ‘The Sam Willows’, comic artists Highnunchicken, and rapper and activist Preeti Nair, also known as Preetipls.
Raphael Yee from Memedef – one of the creators of #BuyLocalSG – told us that the team decided to create the website to help local sellers get more visibility, especially since they often lose out to international merchants who can source for and sell goods at cheaper prices.
Now that business is tough, they need more help than ever to get by, and #BuyLocalSG does just that.
The server costs for the website are completely shouldered by the Memedef team. After all, it is meant as a service to the community.
Mr Yee related some of the difficulties his team faced while creating the website to us in an email.
From collating information from multiple sites to churning out search results, the team was challenged creatively and had to come up with original ideas to overcome those issues.
Luckily, it all paid off as they saw hundreds of users on the website as soon as they launched it yesterday (13 May).
Through this website, Memedef hopes to encourage more Singaporeans to support local sellers, especially during this period of economic uncertainty.
Hopefully, this website will be well-utilised by Singaporeans, and we do our part to keep businesses afloat.
Just like neighbourhood hawker uncles and aunties, local e-commerce sellers need our business too. Perhaps we should all consider using #BuyLocalSG instead of an international site next time we need to order something online.
Featured image adapted from #BuyLocalSG.
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