Strategic Issues and Leadership Challeng

ECONSPEAK: A Journal of Advances in Management IT & Social Sciences,
Vol. 7, Issue 1, January 2017Impact Factor 5.132 ISSN: (2231-4571)

www.skirec.org Email Id: skirec.org@gmail.com
STRATEGIC ISSUES & LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES OF FASHIONVALET: AN ONLINE FASHION

ENTERPRISE
NurulAmiraNajwaChePauzi
Li Jisheng
YasminYusof
M.S.B. Siddiq
UniversitiTun Abdul Razak
ABSTRACT:
The main purpose of this study is to analyze the strategic implementation of FashionValet as an
online fashion enterprise. Biographies of the founders, Fadza and Vivy, the background of the
company as well as that of Malaysias fashion industry were overviewed to sketch out the pathways
that FashionValet has gone through from its genesis stage till now as a significant player in the highly
competitive fashion industry of Malaysia. Moreover, the strategic issues and challenges faced by
FashionValet were examined to offer a comprehensive view of the practices and lessons deployed by
the company. Hindrances, such as those of experiencing lack of capital, searching unique identity
and exemplary measures of talent management were scrutinized. As main competitors of
FashionValet, Zalora and Poplook were accessed to evaluate the intensity of competition, the
company is passing through. Thirdly, strategies implemented by FashionValet were exhibited to
demonstrate how the company responded to the challenges of tough competition. The study
concluded by exploring FashionValets next strategic moves and critiquing key factors which have
contributed to the success of the company.
Key Words: Online Fashion Industry, FashionValet, Competitive Environment, Strategic Leadership,
Entrepreneurial Leadership, Strategic Entrepreneurship.
CASE PERSPECTIVE:
This case has been developed as a basis for academic discussion for exemplifying the issues and
perspectives of managing, leading and strategizing rather than to illustrate either effective or
ineffective handling of any business or management situation. It is based on the information publicly
available through company reports, brochures, pamphlets, leaflets, newspapers, magazines,
websites, or other such material. It should not be viewed as a typical business case, but rather an
An International Double-Blind, Peer Reviewed, Refereed Open Access Journal - Included in the International Indexing Directories
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insightful and comprehensive elucidation of what we expect the students of a management program
to understand, appreciate and demonstrate when they review, analyze, and discuss a highly
competitive environment from the standpoints of leaders of a corporate enterprise.
MALAYSIAN FASHION INDUSTRY:
In Malaysia, the revenue in the Fashion segment amounted to US$116 million for the year 2016. The
revenue is expected to show an annual growth rate of 12.3% resulting a market volume of US$208
million in 2021. The markets largest segment is clothing with a market volume of US$84 million.
From a global comparison perspective, most of the revenue is generated in China with US$125,799
million in 2016 (Statista, 2016).
The trend to shop online has definitely risen in the past few years in the Asian countries, especially in
Malaysia. Even though Malaysians are currently active in online shopping, the amount of the total
transactions is lower as compared to the entire retail industry. Online retail sales only accounts for
less than 2.0% of total retail sales in Malaysia (Marketing Magazine, 2016). Today, lots of physical
retailers in Malaysia offer a virtual shopping experience while many online retailers are setting up
brick and mortar stores. However, based on the current situation here in Malaysia, online shopping
still has a long way to go to replace physical stores.
Back to 1980s, Malaysia was strong in the apparel industry as it was established as a contract
manufacturer of some of the high-end global brands like Guess, GAP, Adidas, Nike, Burberry, Polo,
and Ralph Lauren. As the industry developed, the value chain has moved up from a mere Original
Equipment Manufacturer producer to own design and brand supplier. Malaysia is an Islamic
country. So, it is able to cater to the demand of Islamic fashion wear by providing fashionable and
functional Islamic apparels.
Today, Malaysia fashion industry has gained international recognition for quality, reliability and
prompt delivery of a myriad and ever changing range of fashionable apparels. Fashion industry, just
like any other industry, has many challenges nowadays. The sustainability is obviously one of them.
Hence, it is crucial for all the fashion entrepreneurs to create a sustainable fashion to remain relevant
in this competitive market.
OVERVIEW OF FASHIONVALET:
Today, online shopping activity is not something rare. Anyone can sell and buy goods or services via
the Internet. However, that was not the case six years ago. Back in 2010, the consumers still
preferred a brick and mortar store to purchase their needs and wants. FashionValet was the first to
successfully manage an online fashion store serving as a marketplace where several shops and local
designers come together. FashionValet is an online fashion retailer that was launched in November
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2010 with only 10 designer local brands, and a three-man team with an initial capital of RM100K.
Six years later, the company has 120 employees and has more than 500 brands across Southeast
Asia, and offices in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and Jakarta. FashionValet is the idea generated by a
husband and wife tag team, FadzarudinAnuar and VivyYusof. FashionValet proudly positions itself as
Malaysias first and hottest online fashion store that aims at bringing the latest fashion trends to the
customers doorstep. FashionValetfocusses on promoting Malaysias homegrown brands and
designers as well as products from rest of the South East Asia online.
FashionValets Motto is click to your door, which means that with just one click, you will get the
product, the next day, right in front of your door. They also emphasize that they are all about having
fun with fashion. After six years in this e-commerce fashion industry, they have gained enormous
popularity by establishing a niche, targeting the fashion savvy ladies who prefer quality and premium
clothing over purely price conscious pieces. FashionValet is known for providing exclusive and
premium service. The success story of FashionValet has been such a phenomenon, not only in
Malaysia, but also in Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam.
So, how can they be so widely successful in such a short amount of time? Part of it may come from
the support of the legion of groundbreaking and very talented designers behind them. Lots of these
designers have personally gone to Indonesia, Singapore and even Brunei, to show their support for
the brand, as well as the customers. FashionValet has really built a bridge for both designers and
customers. Like any other business, FashionValet did not start off with overwhelming support from
designers, but they held on to their vision and belief in the designers they had. Nonetheless, nothing
comes easy especially in business. To be a FashionValet today, they faced countless issues and
challenges during last six years journey.
FashionValet was initially inspired by the online shopping trend that was the founders routine when
they were in London. When they returned to Malaysia in 2010, they realized that Malaysia still has
not developed the e-commerce industry. They got disheartened during a shopping trip, driving from
shop to shop, in heavy traffic under the rain. It was that kind of aggravation that triggered the idea
of bringing online shopping to Malaysia. Therefore, they started to approach the local designers,
requesting them to create ready-to-wear pieces for FashionValet. FashionValet basically introduced
the idea because ready-to-wear for designers was not that big at that time.
Then, they realized that most of the local fashion designers having difficulties to reach the mass
market and developing a solid customer base. Hence, FashionValet was founded to encourage
Malaysians towards enhancing their consumer purchasing habits, and at the same time promoting
the local fashion designers. In that inspired moment, with whatever little savings they had as a
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capital, and limited knowledge of running an online business, with no background in e-commerce or
fashion, the duo had to do everything from scratch with their strong drive and determination to
produce FashionValet.
FashionValet carries a lot of Asian designer labels. Thus, they are targeting the more premium
customers because their products price on average is quite high compared to others. They decided
to stick with this identity because they wanted to give only the best quality products for their clients.
FashionValet has a specific team that will monitor the quality of their products. Furthermore, to
sustain the standard of their offerings, there are some important elements that they consider which
are consistency, quality, price, and the background of the fashion designers. But, FashionValet still
encourages and fully supports any new talent wanting to establish its name in Malaysias fashion
industry.
COLLABORATION:
FashionValet has collaborated with major Malaysian designers such as Mimpikita, INNAI and
CalaQisya. They even collaborated with celebrity SchaAlyahya and Nora Danish. With this many
successful collaborations under their belt, FashionValet has taken up another challenge this time,
with an Indonesia brand, Noona in 2015. A force to be reckoned with, Noona is incredibly popular
with Indonesians, and it has sold out each time that it has been featured on FashionValet. The latest
exclusive collection, Noona<3 FashionValet marks FashionValets very first international
collaboration.
INVESTMENT:
Up to date, FashionValet has managed to secure three huge investments from various sources:-
2012 MyEG Make The Pitch TV Show
In October 2012, FashionValet won RM1 million funds from reality TV show MyEGMake The Pitch
Season 2. The show gives the opportunities to young entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas regarding
their business to several investors. FashionValets representatives, Fadza and Vivy have successfully
convinced the panel. Hence, MyEG Services Bhd agreed to invest RM1 million for a 30% stake in the
organization. They used most of the money for marketing purposes, and at the same time
strategized to acquire new customers and reach bigger market. They also planned to expand their
team after they received the investment.
2015 ELIXIR CAPITAL:

Just over two years after their first funding, FashionValet has secured Series A funding to help their
growth. The total investment is revealed only as multi-million dollar in size, funded by Elixir
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Capital. Elixir Capital is a global private equity company based in Silicon Valley, California. The
purpose of the fund is to help FashionValet accelerate the expansion of their online reach through
various methods such as big data strategies, mobile e-commerce, and customer-centric content.
Hence, FashionValet will be able to scale its operations to the other parts of Southeast Asia. There
are a few other companies, which have approached FashionValet to give some funds but Elixir
Capital shared the same vision as they had, to grow FashionValet into a multi-million dollar company
that champions local designers in Asia. FashionValet aims to make use of this investment to improve
its services towards the customers and suppliers, and enhancing its product offering and customer
experience.
2016 START TODAY, ZOZO TOWN:
In March 2016, FashionValet has received Series B investment, which brings in another multi-
million-dollar this time from Start Today, which runs the Japanese largest online fashion mall, Zozo
Town. FashionValet believes that the Start Todays capabilities in developing Zozo Town to be the
top fashion e-commerce portal in Japan will prove invaluable as FashionValet charts out its next
stage of growth around the region. Start Todays experience in managing and sending out thousands
of orders a day is priceless. Even though FashionValet orders are not quite at that level yet, they are
definitely getting closer. Start today thinks that FashionValet did great job of establishing a high-
demand for local products and brands in just six years. Thus, they feel that they can share a lot with
them regarding the back-end operations.
THE FOUNDERS: FADZA & VIVY:

Fadzarudin Shah Anuar (Fadza), is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and founder of FashionValetSdn.
Bhd. He was born and raised in Kuala Lumpur, and moved to London in 2004 to pursue his A Levels
in Cambridge Tutors College. In 2006, he was accepted into Imperial College London, and graduated
with a Masters degree in Aeronautical Engineering four years later. Upon returning to Malaysia, he
was exposed to C-suite professionals in both the public and private sectors when he joined Deloitte
Consulting Malaysia. He worked with clients including SEGi University, Tradewinds Bhd. and FELDA
for projects involving strategy development and corporate restructuring.
VivySofinasYusof (Vivy) is the co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of FashionValet. Both the
founders got married in 2012, and they have two kids. Vivy is a blogger, fashion icon, and an
important person in Malaysian online business world. She was born in Selangor. Upon graduating
with a law degree from London School of Economics, Vivy decided that the legal life was not for her,
so she came back to Malaysia and worked with her father at the Proven Group. Even though
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Vivydoes not have a business education background, she has the entrepreneurial spirit, so she
decided to open her own business together with her partner. Thus, FashionValet was created in
2010.
STRATEGIC ISSUES & CHALLENGES:
The startup ecosystem is dynamic, vibrant and sometimes, cutthroat because there are so many
pitfalls along the way to avoid. Most startups face lots of challenges especially in their early days.
Starting a new business without the technological know-how and expertise can be terrifying, but
with the right support and determination, FashionValet managed to take on difficulties that came
along their way.
LACK OF CAPITAL:
FashionValet started with only RM100K capital, amount that the bigger e-commerce stores probably
spend on the marketing budget per month. A big portion of the capital was used for the office as
well as warehouse renovation and rent. FashionValet had to buy inventory whereby a large chunk
was consignment in order to ease the load. The balance that was not a lot, was spent for marketing.
The founders sacrificed their pay in the first few months until the company was stable. FashionValet
then realized the dire need for some investments to grow faster. Therefore, they met with many
financial institutions and Venture Capital (VC) providers.
Some of the conservative firms did not realize the potential of the e-commerce market and unwilling
to take some risk. So, the journey was not smooth for FashionValet. Luckily, they found one VC that
perfectly matched with them. As they grew, they also attained several impressive amount of
investor funding. At the beginning, with the small capital and inexperience founders, it was difficult
to convince the fashion designers to join FashionValet bandwagon. Fadza and Vivy took a risk to
elevate the local fashion scene by introducing FashionValets online customers to the local brands
and products through their website. With growing pains and challenges, good strategy and financial
management, FashionValet had overcome this lack of capital problem quite well.
FINDING A UNIQUE IDENTITY:
In the early days of their startup, FashionValet tried to appeal to enormous markets.
Notwithstanding their limited resources, they had various categories on their first website. However,
they realized that trying too many things out at a time drained their resources and was stretching
them too thin, so they decided to focus on women. FashionValet set their target audience because it
is impossible to capture mass market. Even now that FashionValet is bigger; they still have to be
deliberate in choosing their collaborations. Although they meet many people with exciting ideas,
they have to reject them because of realizing what it is that the team should be focusing on. For an
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e-commerce business to do well, they need to find unique and special characteristics about their
business that makes people come back. Everyone can sell fashionable clothes and scarf, the vital
part is to sustain the business.
FashionValet took time to find its identity as well as its niche. They decided to focus only on the local
brand, and did not want to carry any big or international brands. So, they continuously seek for local
designers and brands that are willing to grow together with them. After one year in the business,
competitors began to emerge, offering cheaper deals on their websites. The traffic started to drop,
and they felt threatened by competition when they figured that their competitor, Zalora had a good
time growing at a fast pace. So, they tried to copy the competitors, but tried be better than them.
This resulted to one of the most memorable mistakes they did as a young company. They thought
that they should not limit the variety, as the customers appreciate variety. Hence, FashionValet
ended up taking in many different brands, even low quality brands, in order to achieve this, but sales
went dipping.
However, customers were not happy with FashionValet because they somewhat lost their identity
by selling some brands that were not representative of FashionValets ideology. The customers no
longer enjoyed browsing their website and did not look forward to what they had to offer since the
changes were initiated. Hence, FashionValet realized that they personally did not take pride in their
own website and the products they carried. Fortunately, FashionValet realizes their wrong move,
and quickly went back to their roots. They want brands, which they themselves like and which are
worth to spend the money on. FashionValet got back their lost identity; their long-time customers
came back, so the sales finally grew. FashionValet realized that they should focus on their product
improvement and build a community of people who love their product.
THE MOST EXPENSIVE LESSON: BE DIFFERENT:
At the beginning, FashionValet wanted to try to be special. They were going to do things their way,
differently. So, they decided to choose the dot net option as the domain name of their website, in a
hope that it would make them stand out in the sea of dot coms out there. They made tremendous
buntings, flyers, and packaging materials with the name FashionValet.net. But, this led to some
confusion caused by most of the magazine and newspaper write-ups about them. Their link back was
wrongly published as FashionValet.com instead of .net. After this happened too many times, they
got tired to keep reminding their .net domain name to basically everyone, and explaining the
reasoning behind choice. Finally, they had to decide to acquire the .com address. They could not
wait any longer because the .com domain value would be double in no time. Moreover, another
company or even the competitors could have bought the domain to reroute the traffic to their
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website. The American seller asked for USD 50,000 for a domain name they had paid a pittance for.
It was only through weeks of intense negotiation that FashionValet managed to lower the price
down to USD 9,000. They decided to fork out the cash, assuring them that this was an investment,
not an expense. It was a good wake-up call and a lesson that they would remember, forever.
TALENT MANAGEMENT:
Working together as a team is very important. FashionValet always involves the team members and
empowers them. Hence, the team members feel appreciated and they know that even their little
contributions will have an impact on FashionValet. In FashionValet, the rapport between the team
members is strong. They know each other on more than a professional level. FashionValet also want
to retain talent. They wanted to be the best company to work for their team. But, the best company
is not necessarily the company that gives highest salary; it is something that goes beyond the
money. Now, it is the Gen-Y era, with most individuals looking for empowerment and happiness.
Since the beginning, FashionValet has practiced a family-oriented culture. The founders ensure that
they occasionally spend some time with the team members outside working hours to be friends with
them and get to know the members better. Fadza shares that the most satisfying part of running this
company is to know that his members look forward to coming to the office the next day. The team
members are the main reason he works harder every day. Fadza is keen to build, and not hire his
own A-team for the startup.It is quite impossible to hire an A-team because the ecosystem here is
just not mature enough yet.
Nowadays, people who have grown a startup leave after some time to help grow another startup.
Unfortunately in Malaysia, that is not happening rapidly enough. Therefore, FashionValet decides to
groom its talent. For FashionValet, English proficiency is crucial when it comes to hiring process.
FashionValet continues to hire experienced people to help. The founders have no strong background
in the retail and fashion industry. So, they believed in hiring people who are smarter than them to
help the company grow. Fadza also admits that talent management is the toughest challenge in
running FashionValet.He really needs everyone on the team to be on the same page because they
are at the stage where it is going to get harder for them to achieve 100% growth annually.
It is important to learn how to manage and deal with people. There is no one to teach you how to
hire and fire people in a startup. As the company develops and continues to expand, roles would
change. When FashionValet was trying to add structure, there would be some people who would be
offended if someone they were working closely with before was suddenly elevated over them. Fadza
also struggled with implementing structure into FashionValets operations. FashionValet thinks that
since they are a startup, they should not have a structure. People should have free rein to go and
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innovate the company whenever they want.
Sometimes, when huge competitors come about, the FashionValet team gets demotivated and
worried. Even though the founders are ready to push themselves to face the big boys, some of the
members are not optimists. So, the founders play an important role in this situation by sharing their
enthusiasm with the rest of the team. Fadza believes that the big competitor is great, because they
encourage people who have never tried to shop online to start doing that. So, the competitors are
helping them by growing the pie of online shoppers while FashionValet will focus on taking a bigger
bite of that pie, by leveraging on their weaknesses. FashionValet knows that they are capable
enough to drive those customers away from competitors by offering a better customer service.
COMPETITORS & COMPETITION:
Fashion industry is very competitive, but the advantage that FashionValet has is that they are not
competing with the fashion brand, but they are the one who carry the fashion brands. Thus,
FashionValet would consider them as the platform that promotes and sells different fashion brands.
So basically, they are not competing with them, in fact FashionValet complements them, thus
enhancing, and creating more selling channels for the brands.
Therefore, Muslima apparels brands like Bella Ammara or CalaQisya are not direct competitors for
FashionValet. The main competitors for FashionValet are the e-commerce fashion brands like Zalora
and Poplook. The biggest advantage of e-commerce is the convenience it offers. Online shopping
offers ease and peace of mind especially to women of today who have to juggle hard between work
and family. Even with new players coming into the lucrative e-commerce space, FashionValet is
confident to embrace the competition.
ZALORA:
Zalorais Asias leading online fashion destination founded in early 2012. Zalora is the largest and
fastest growing fashion focused e-commerce site in Southeast Asia. The Rocket Internets fashion e-
store has been localizing its products to fit the customer demands in 10 Southeast Asian nations.
Apart from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Hong
Kong, Zalora recently ventured further into Taiwan. They have over 500 international and local
brands available on the site. There is a wide selection of products across men and women fashion
apparel, shoes, accessories, and beauty categories while embracing the use of technology.
They provide free delivery with the minimum basket size of RM75, and they have a thirty-day free
returns policy. On Zalora, customers will find big brands such as Nike, American Apparel, New Look,
and River Island, while FashionValet would focus only on local designers and brands. Moreover,
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Zalora has a better variety of local and international designers, wider selection of different styles and
budget to suit your needs and wants.
Zalora use aggressive marketing tactics to promote their website, so they are hard to miss.
FashionValet employees are paid peanuts compared to Zalora but they are a tight team. The positive
leadership and team are translated through how they treat their customers. They have a unique
packaging and also good relationship with customers, making the shopping experience more
intimate. Meanwhile with Zalora, there are complaints on their Facebook page, and several Bloggers
have had bad experiences on delivery and inventory management. However, Zalora is quite
defensive about it.
POPLOOK:
Poplook was launched as thepoplook.com in 2009. Today, Poplook is one of Malaysia's leading
online fashion stores specializing in modest fashion, with impeccable quality at affordable prices.
They have a strong presence in Malaysia and Singapore, and they offer free express shipping within
Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia and Australia. At any one time, Poplook would have over
1500 different designs at their store, providing an abundance of variety and styles to their
customers. Apart from clothing, they also carry other fashion items like headscarves, handbags,
jewellery, maternity-wear, and belts
Poplook also has an in-house brand, called POPPY. Poplook has been chosen as the Premium E-teller
for MyCyberSALE. Furthermore, Poplook items have been very popular among celebrities, bloggers
and Instagrammers throughout the region. Their items have been spotted on the likes of Lisa
Surihani, NurFazura, LiyanaJasmay, and SazzyFalak. Instead of targeting a niche market like
FashionValet, Poplook approaches a wider range of customers with more variety in products
offering. The similarity between the two brands is that Poplook also makes collaborations with
designers like Jovian Mandagie and Melinda Looi.
Every industry will have competition inevitably. However, FashionValet is slightly at a disadvantage
because of the very low barrier to entry. When they first started, they were in quite comfortable
position working in the e-commerce space because there was not much competition. Nowadays,
anyone can do it, from housewives to huge conglomerates. Malaysian government also encourages
the citizen to start an online business. So, it has become a very different landscape. Competition is
usually better for the consumer. However, for the company that does not have a bottomless pit of
marketing funds like FashionValet, it was very difficult to compete against deep pocket competitors
and international players. FashionValet has to gain a strong foothold in a competitive region where
competitors have more marketing funds.
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However, from Fadzas perspective, having huge competitors playing in the same space only further
validates that there is also a huge opportunity available for the entrepreneurs. Therefore,
FashionValet positively considered competitors as a source of motivation for them to be better, and
to show potential investors and clients what they could be. They cannot be scared of competitors to
be ahead of them in the pack. So, FashionValet would take it as a challenge and enjoy the ride.
Despite the pains of competition, FashionValet has been around for five years and growing their
revenue more than double each year. This shows that with competition, they were forced to think,
to innovate, to re-strategize, to survive, and to stay on top. FashionValet is strong with connections,
relationships, customer service, and relevance in the fashion industry. They also have the best team
with fresh ideas and commitment to work hard because they love what they do.
FASHIONVALETS STRATEGIES:
Despite all of the strategic issues and challenges, FashionValet would still stand strong relative to
their young years of operation. FashionValet has several Key Success Factors including their strategy
elements, good customer relationships, products and service attributes and competitive capabilities.
These things are crucial for competitive success of any firm in any industry.
ONLINE TO OFFLINE - PHYSICAL GAME PAYS OFF:

People commonly hear of brick and mortar stores opening their online shops. However,
FashionValet did the opposite as a response to customer glamour. Starting 2015, FashionValet
strategy is to do both online and offline business. After years of online operations, FashionValet
cannot ignore the importance of brick and mortar business. FashionValet now has physical stores in
Kuala Lumpur located at Bangsar Village II and Pavilion, along with Orchard Road in Singapore.
Both online and offline businesses are very different games. For FashionValet, online is a lot easier
because they have a warehouse, and everything is packed nicely. But, when you have a store, it is all
about appearance, and how you display your product. Even most of the people that come in are
different clientele than the people who shop online. Having gone physical, FashionValet finds that
10% of the online customers prefer to collect their items from the physical store. This phenomenon
shows one thing for sure, the customers want their items as soon as possible.
The touch-and-feel element still plays an important role when it comes to premium fashion, so the
physical store complements their online store. The physical store offers a premium touch to
customers, which is important for local and regional designers because people typically assume local
goods lack in quality or that they are overpriced. FashionValet wants to change the perception. They
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want to show people that local and regional brands are just as good as the international brands.
Establishing offline stores in the region would help increase local and regional fashion designers
exposure.
FashionValet opened their first pop-up store in July, and officially converted that outlet to a
permanent flagship store. Customers can choose to pick up their purchased items at the physical
store three hours after they have checked out from the online store. The performance of the
physical store has exceeded FashionValets expectations, and the support from customers has been
overwhelming. Initially, their expectation for the physical store was just to break even on the rental.
It was just supposed to help FashionValets branding, with online store subsidizing the operations
and rental cost.
However, it has been able to sustain itself and is profitable. FashionValet has managed to double last
years revenue, and that 2015 is the fifth year in a row that they have doubled their annual revenue
since they started in 2010. FashionValet is not worried that sales via the e-commerce site will be
taken over by sales via the physical store. As of now, the online store is way ahead of the offline
store in terms of sales. Logically, the space in the physical store is limited, so FashionValet can only
place selected items, whereas on the online store, the space is unlimited.
At the physical store, they have to be very careful with merchandizing because they do not want to
waste the floor space. Hence, they need to make sure the items displayed in the physical store are
able to attract customers to come in to visit, and even try on their products. While FashionValets
store experience confirmed how tough retail life could be in terms of the working hours, conditions,
and sales limitation, online sales saw a tremendous increase. People were coming in to try the
clothes, and then going online to look for the best deals or to find something similar, and then
mostly coming back to FashionValet site to buy what they had tried on.There were also those who
saw something they liked online, came to the store to try it out, and went back to buy them online.
Another reason the store has resonated with customers is because most of the brands in
FashionValet are local and not well known. Therefore, people want to come and try the clothes to
gauge the quality as well as the look. This is why the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) for the physical
store will not be sales, but on how many people try on the products. FashionValet is confident that
the physical store itself will do well. They set a target of RM100 million in revenue in three years.
Both FashionValet high-touch and high-tech stores will need to deliver big time if they are to hit that
number. Local versus international revenue breakdown currently stands at 65:35 compared to last
year at 75:25 with FashionValet putting the higher international business down to the weakening
Malaysian currency.
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MARKETING - THE MILLENNIAL TREND:

Vivy is the face of FashionValet, as she does most of the marketing and public relations for the
company. She does not believe in other people doing it for them or using too much of their budget
on advertisements. Vivy knows that the only person who knows the brand better is herself. The
marketing mostly comes from blogging. She also uses her personal Instagram a lot to market
FashionValet, and that is where the creative side of her comes out. Vivy finds social media to be
extremely potent, something the older generation might find hard to grasp.
FashionValets clientele is mostly women between the ages of 20 to 40 years old, which is right in
the cross-section of internet-savvy generations, so it was the best possible way to reach their target
market. By knowing and having a connection with their customers, they get an insight on what they
want next. FashionValet is prompted to have daily new arrivals because people get bored easily
nowadays. The hype goes very fast as a big launch this week will be forgotten the next week.
Customers are also smart. They read and compare. Besides, Vivy also stars in her own reality TV
shows called Love, Vivy, which follows her daily life. She admits that it helps to increase
FashionValets sales, as it is a soft-selling way of marketing their brand not just in Malaysia, but in
neighbouring countries where it airs as well.
GREAT CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS:
FashionValet has shown support for their customers by always being approachable, in a personal
manner. From the CEO to the salesperson, you can see the humanity behind the brand, not just a
corporate image. All the emails with FashionValets customer service have felt like a conversation
with a friend, where the customers can express their issues and enthusiasm. FashionValet creates a
lifestyle of convenience by simplifying the customers shopping experience with a fresh new look
and a dedicated customer service team that can assist with customers online shopping dilemmas,
whether it is offering styling tips or answering their queries.
FASHIONVALETS NEXT MOVES:
E-commerce industry is constantly expanding and the potential is enormous. That is why
FashionValet is worth so much more than expected during their investment rounds. Therefore, they
believe that they are able to go to even greater heights and they think they are not even close yet to
reaching their full potential. Thus, now is not the time to sit happily and relax. It is a time to work
diligently. There is so much more that they can do. There are still many markets out there that they
have yet to venture into. FashionValet now are focusing on womens fashion, and of course there
are also other types of fashion they can venture into.
Page 28
Even in 100 years from now, people would still be going to buy clothes. Therefore, FashionValet will
remain relevant as long as customers still shop online and fashion designers still trust FashionValet
to do a good job of representing them. In the near future, FashionValet hints on more collaboration
with celebrities and designers coming up, as well as an expansion to the next Asian country,
Thailand. They will use a similar strategy for Indonesia that has been showing good results, especially
in terms of brand acquisition. FashionValet will start sourcing for new brands and get to know the
Thailand market better.
FashionValets technical side is being improved this year. They have hired a big engineering team in
their company to consistently improve shopping experience on the website, building their own
system linking warehouse and operations together, and linking online and offline channels together.
In the next few months, FashionValet aims to localize their website according to each country they
have a presence in. Even more exciting, they will finally launch FashionValets very own mobile
application. Meanwhile, FashionValets next advancement stage will involve expanding their
Indonesia operations and infrastructure.
CONCLUDING REMARKS:
FashionValets advancement and continued success can be attributed to their strong and dedicated
team, supporting fashion designers and their loyal customers, as well as the founders who do
everything within their capabilities, to build and grow FashionValet from an unknown brand to their
current stature. FashionValet have really built a bridge for both the fashion designers and customers,
giving them a fun experience in fashion while staying true to being a premium brand. FashionValet
was admired because of their courage. They are courageous enough to be a pioneer in online
business, or specifically online fashion business, when others were still unfamiliar about this
business back in 2010. They have a clear vision, and are able to see the future market for online
shopping. When they first started, online shopping was not yet trending in Malaysia, or even Asia.
FashionValet has been constantly creative and innovative, which are crucial traits for a fast moving
business. They always come out with new ideas and collaborations, and keep thinking forward and
wider every time.
The founders are very smart and passionate. Even though both of them come from a very wealthy
family, they set out to create their own future and wealth on their own without the help of their
family. Instead of taking a much easier way by inheriting their family business, they choose to prove
themselves by starting something from scratch, waddling through the storm, and handling the
Page 29
hardship of the business. Fadza and Vivy are such an inspiration icons for young entrepreneurs out
there, to always believe in themselves, and have courage to start something new.
REFERENCES:
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i6_1J6awA
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25, 2016, from http://says.com/my/tech/top-10-malaysians-dominating-the-world-wide-web
Ramoran, C. M. (2016, September 28).The Malaysian Businesswoman Using Personal Branding To
Build An Empire. Retrieved October/November, 2016, from
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online-empire-with-personal-branding/#76b6d4e5fef9
Yap, J. (2012, October 12). E-commerce platform Fashion Valet wins US$330K from reality show
MyEG. Retrieved November 25, 2016, from https://e27.co/malaysian-e-commerce-platform-fashion-
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firm. Retrieved November 25, 2016, from http://www.msn.com/en-
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firm/ar-BBickqF
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ECONSPEAK: A Journal of Advances in Management IT & Social Sciences,

Vol. 7, Issue 1, January 2017Impact Factor 5.132 ISSN: (2231-4571)

STRATEGIC ISSUES & LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES OF FASHIONVALET: AN ONLINE FASHION

UniversitiTun Abdul Razak

2015 ELIXIR CAPITAL:

THE FOUNDERS: FADZA & VIVY:

innovate the company whenever they want.

ONLINE TO OFFLINE - PHYSICAL GAME PAYS OFF:

MARKETING - THE MILLENNIAL TREND:

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