Online sales during the Ramadan period was very rewarding for e-commerce business in the Southeast Asia Region. Singapore start-ups by young malay muslims, Akandatang.sg and Halal Dining Club benefited from this surge in online demand during the Hari Raya festive season. Based on analysis by Criteo, a personalised retargeting company that works with internet retailers cite that about 1.5 million of online transactions was made before, during and after the Ramadan period mainly from countries in the region like Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. Business peaked during the second & third week of the Hari Raya translating into 128% of online sales transaction with a steep rise in visitor traffic of about 75% during the second week.  

One stop solution services like Akandatang.sg mainly targeted at new home businesses & entrepreneurs is an online service that helps makers, bakers, crafters, creators, artists and creatives with free consultation to test and market their products. The Halal Dining Club, incubated by SMU Institute of Innovation & Entrepreneurship (IIE) on the other hand is an application that makes booking and reviewing of halal restaurants all under one roof easy & rewarding. The mobile App brings together halal restaurants that aims to ease and discover great dining options for consumers both at home or when they travel.

The Halal Dining Club was founded by a couple of students that graduated from the Master of Science & Innovation programme at SMU. Founder, Siddika Jaffer and Social Media Manager, Maya Sofhiana of Halal Dining Club was from the same Masters programme. According to Maya, research shows that more than 70% of users spend the bulk of the time searching for halal restaurants or food places through internet Google searches or word of mouth and friends. This presented a good opportunity for them to tap into the halal food space as the demand for halal food increases. 

The Hari Raya festive season has also helped these entrepreneurs to identify, explore and develop new business ideas and opportunities that will appeal to younger tech savvy consumers of the future. Akandatang.sg and Halal Dining Club will continue to strive in pathing the way to create better innovations that will stand out in the market.

Click here to watch the FOKUS segment on Berita (News in Malay Language)

Click here to watch the full news feature on Halal Dining Club via Toggle Suria, Berita (News in Malay Language)

For more information on Halal DIning Club visit, http://halaldiningclub.com/