#AsiaeCommerceAwards 2021 spills: Nano SG taps on Millennials and Gen Z to ride through pandemic

Nano Singapore is a local online wellness brand. According to the brand, it is known for its effective and affordable beauty and health supplements. It also won bronze for Best in eCommerce (Marketplace / eRetailer) – Beauty & Wellness, and silver for Best in eCommerce (Brands) – Beauty & Wellness at MARKETING-INTERACTIVE's Asia eCommerce Awards 2021. 

In an interview, Dr John Lee (pictured), Naturopathic Nutrition Advisor, Nano Singapore told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE that during the pandemic, it had to work on appealing to Millennials and Gen Z, which accounted for the most purchasing power in the online market. He also shared the highs and lows of riding through the pandemic as a wellness brand.

This interview is done as part of MARKETING-INTERACTIVE’s winners and finalists’ interview series for Asia eCommerce Awards 2021. To find out more about the awards, click here.

What has the past two years been like for you?

Lee: The last two years have been incredibly rewarding as we developed Nano Singapore into an online health supplement market leader. Our mission, to help people live happier through wellness innovation, is always at the forefront of everything we do as we diligently work to position the company as a successful brand digitally.

We recognised from the beginning that offline distribution channels for similar products were extremely saturated and harder for a company to manage, and a strong online presence was paramount for our success.

As we began the process of building an online presence, we learnt to listen to what our customers had to say, and we implemented changes based on those suggestions. For example, we had conducted user interviews for our website and learned that the existing site and the sales funnel process was complicated. So, we redesigned it to provide a more streamlined customer experience. Some of the options we added included a free shipping bar to increase purchases and implemented a social accounts login to allow easier access for customers.

Now, as we are well into 2022, we look back to how far we have come, and we are working harder to improve our overall customer experience.

What was one challenge that took you by surprise and how did you manage it?

Lee: We experienced manufacturing bottlenecks initially, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This presented challenges for us to redesign our supply chain to work with a diversified group of manufacturers closer to our main markets.

With markets opening up, what are some trends do you have your eyes on?

Lee: Automation is a big trend in marketing that we are focusing on and will continue to focus on in the short term. We have already begun marketing integration with the automation software company ActiveCampaign, and we plan to create marketing automation on our website to reduce the number of times a customer abandons their cart. This will help encourage brand awareness and boost repeat purchases.

Subscription trends are also something we are actively pursuing. We are working to implement a feature on our website that will allow customers to automatically subscribe to supplements monthly to make purchasing easier for customers and increase their commitment to our products over the long term.

Another trend on our radar is a mobile app strategy to provide a more seamless experience for our customers.  

What do you think makes for great marketing these days?

Lee: Through the creation and growth of Nano Singapore, we have realised that the Millennials and Gen Z have purchasing power in an online market. We believe the best way to reach those customers in today’s technologically-savvy world is by pushing our brand through the use of online tools, most notably social media platforms.

Since we launched in 2020, we have had a social media campaign that has produced over 100 pieces of content by online influencers, including Michelle Chong, Royce Lee, Jacintha wee and many others. Our strategy includes personal product testimonials from influencers, product reviews on blogs and shoutouts on other platforms.

We were successful in encouraging and promoting influencer involvement with our brand, which we were able to cross-post across all social media platforms as well as our website.

At the same time, we prioritised our focus to have Nano Singapore’s brand presence on the three major eCommerce marketplaces, Lazada, Shopee and Qoo10.

How do you feel about your win?

Lee: Earning awards for Best in eCommerce (Brands) and Best in eCommerce (Marketplace/eRetailer) from the Asia eCommerce Awards 2021 is an extreme honour as the organisation highlights the best of the best through these recognitions. It has also been confirmed to us that all of our hard work over the last two years was worth the dedication.

We are also very thankful for the efforts of the organisers as well as our stakeholders.

We are extremely proud to be recognised for our commitment to success in the eCommerce industry. Of course, developing a successful presence online as a business can be a stressful journey for most, and while the COVID-19 pandemic presented hardships for business owners all over the world, we were able to navigate those challenges in times of adversity to strengthen our brand and continue our mission.

We are extremely excited to see what the future holds for Nano Singapore!