How to start an Online Store in Singapore

This is not meant to be a full tutorial but I aim to give you a general sense of what to expect. Some of you will ask me why bother creating your own Online Store when there are so many Online marketplaces in Singapore such as Lazada, Qoo10, Shopee, Carousell, etc. Well, there are several reasons:

  1. Unfair competition. On a marketplace site, you tend to have to fight with competitors trying to price you out. They could be selling counterfeit stuff or parallel import stuff that is not exactly the same as what you sell and they “won” by simply being cheaper.
  2. Commission and fees. Apart from Carousell and Shopee, most marketplace platforms charge you commission and/or fees ranging from 7% to 13%. Some platforms like Lazada will even penalise you with fines if you did not manage to ship out your goods within 24 hours from the time of order. Don’t get me wrong. I believe in shipping orders out at the earliest opportunity. However, we are adults and we should be able to be responsible for our own customers’ satisfaction.
  3. You should not build your ship at someone else’s port. You are at the mercy of the marketplace platform’s policies when you use their services. Should there be a day where the marketplace decide to shut down your shop due to policy changes or disagreement, the following you have built on that marketplace will be lost forever.

So it should now be clear that building your own online store is the way to go. You must be wondering what kind of effort it takes right? Generally, there are two ways you can “own” an Online Store.

  1. Use an e-commerce provider like Shopify. I used Shopify for almost 2 years. The experience was great because you pay a monthly fee and they take care of everything like site security, provides you with a idiot-proof interface for you to upload your products, choose themes, etc – very much like WordPress. You can register a domain, like my Tupperware Online Store – http://tup.sg, which is my unique online identity. Although you will still be at their mercy when it comes to policies and stuff, at least you can migrate to another service together with your domain and keep your traffic and branding. What you need to do:
    • Sign up for Shopify
    • Register a domain (The cost will depend on the domain type and registrar you use. Typically ranges from $18 per year to $50 per year)
    • Point the domain to Shopify based on their instructions
    • Choose your theme, set up shipping options, set up payment gateway(s), upload your products, start selling!
  2. Subscribe to your own web hosting account and do everything on your own. This is slightly more advanced but most of the difficult steps are one-time setups which you can engage people like me to help. If you want to try it yourself, here’s a glimpse of what you need to do:
    • Sign up for a web hosting account (USD$3.95 per month)
    • Register a domain (The cost will depend on the domain type and registrar you use. Typically ranges from $18 per year to $50 per year)
    • Point the domain to your host
    • Set up SSL using Let’s Encrypt (Free)
    • Install Magento / WordPress with Woocommerce / Prestashop / Opencart / osCommerce / simpleCart, etc (I suggest WordPress with Woocommerce)
    • Choose your theme, set up shipping options, set up payment gateway(s), upload your products, start selling!

As you may have noticed, doing it on your own with just a USD$3.95 web hosting account is just slightly more troublesome at first. Once you get past the setup, you will never need to pay anyone commission fees, be subjected to ridiculous policies and be locked-in to a particular service provider.

If you need help setting up an Online Store, reach out to me at howard@hj.sg

How to do a ECG/EKG test on the new Helo LX

We’ve received our new Helo LX and would like to show everyone how to perform an ECG test. It’s really simple! The most important tip is to remain very still during the measurement because movement causes stray electrical noise on the ECG plate and causes disturbances on the waveform. Good luck!

Helo LX – Measures Blood Pressure, ECG/EKG, Heart Rate, Breathe Rate, Steps and more!

So about a month ago, I wrote about my frustrating time with my Fitbit Charge HR which I have owned for less than a year.  I wasn’t satisfied with the quality of the product as the device couldn’t power on within a few months, started peeling and bloating at the band which cannot be replaced. After the 3rd replacement, I think enough is enough. Time to move on. My colleague moved on from the Charge HR to the Blaze which costs $300++ here in Singapore. I wasn’t inclined to remain loyal to Fitbit as this was already my 2nd Fitbit product and technologies used isn’t exactly groundbreaking either.

After searching for almost a month, skipping mainstream brands such as Apple, Garmin,  Fitbit, Jawbone, etc, I caught sight of the Helo (Pronounced Hee – Lo).

Helo is a healthcare wristband that can be worn 24/7 much like your typical fitness band. The key difference is that it is not just a fitness band. It is a health and wellness wearable that is developed to continuously monitor your vitals such as:

  • Blood Pressure (Yes, without the cuffs!)
  • Heart Rate
  • Breathe Rate
  • ECG/EKG
  • Steps
  • Mood and Fatigue Levels
  • Sleep Quality
  • Blood Glucose Levels (No needles, coming Q4 2017)
  • Blood Alcohol Levels (Q4 2017)
  • And more to come

I was initially skeptical. How the hell can this device measure some of these vital signs without cuffs, needles and such? As a technology savvy person, I had my reservations so I questioned the company and did my research and found that PPG (Photoplethysmography) is used by many products such as Apple Watch, Fitbit and more for their Heart Rate detection. From my investigation, a PPG signal offers much more than just your heart rate. For example, a simple Google search on PPG ‘s role in blood pressure measurement yields plenty of medical articles on them such as this. They key takeaway is that PPG is able to provide reasonably good estimations of the blood pressure measurements in a continuous manner (due to the portability of the Helo) which is impossible to achieve with a standard blood pressure measurement device with a cuff. You can’t really go about your day with a blood pressure machine attached to you all  day with the air pump going off every 30 minutes to inflate the cuffs right?

Vital signs measurements are useless if no one sees them (or only you see them). We tend to procrastinate about going to the doctor or seeking medical treatment when we are not feeling that good. This is usually because of the fear of being diagnosed with something serious. Isn’t it the case that your spouse, parents or children are the ones who will drag you to the clinic or hospital when you let slip that something isn’t right about you? Spend some time thinking about this!

Working together with the Helo, the Android / iOS mobile companion apps work to close the gap between receiving and abnormal vital reading and getting the follow up actions. The Guardian function allows you to pre-set conditions that will automatically trigger an alert to yourself and your loved ones / caregiver. You just need to set upper and lower thresholds for your systolic/diastolic blood pressure, heart rate and breathe rate and the app will do the rest for you. Of course, you’ll first have to set up your guardian(s)’ contact details to use this feature.

Another useful feature is the Panic Button. This is a physical button on the Helo for very easy access (just press twice) but works hand-in-hand with the mobile app to send mobile notifications and SMSes to your guardian(s) containing the last known GPS location as a way to report an emergency. This is extremely useful for anyone especially young children and the elderly. Potential use cases:

  • Child who got lost
  • Child feeling unsafe (e.g. suspect being followed by stranger)
  • Elderly who fell down
  • Elderly who got lost
  • Anyone feeling dizzy, on verge of collapsing, etc (potential medical emergency)

At the end of the day, it is not only the technology of the health and wellness band but also the thought put into developing a product that does more than just display pretty numbers on an app. Even as a tech person, I am more intrigued by the Guardian and Panic Button feature.

Want to find out more? Drop me an email at howard@hj.sg

If you want to order a Helo, please use this link: http://catalog.worldgn.com 

P.S. I have ordered one for my wife too.