July 11, 2009
WEBSITE PUBLISHER
Rich pickings on the Internet
MR JULIAN PEH, 30, has always wanted to debunk the myth that the rich want personal attention when they shop.
‘One of the things I found out during my research was that luxury brands know that their customers were doing research online. But there was no online website where they could find everything that was in the luxury category. So luxury-insider.com was formed to be a nicely packaged website for the upper crust of society and the wealthy. We bring content on luxury items in one site so that people don’t have to go from site to site.’
As a young lawyer with Shook Lin and Bok looking for ways to spend his bonus in 2004, he found several online discussion forums on luxury goods such aswatches and art.
However, he could not find an online website with all the information and reviews he needed on luxury items like paintings and jewellery for the well-heeled market.
He smelled an opportunity. After all, he was no stranger to entrepreneurship, having set up two previous dot.com businesses.
The first website – an entertainment directory – closed during the dot.com bust in 2000. He sold his share of his second business – a website design firm – to his partner in 2001
Said Mr Peh: ‘I mulled over the idea of a luxury website for a while to think about the business model. I also did more research and found that there were few online magazines that catered to luxury goods.’
After about a year of research, he left law and became an entrepreneur again. Luxury-insider.com was founded on a ‘leap of faith’ in 2005 and $500,000 funding raised from his own savings and angel investors.
‘One of the things I found out during my research was that luxury brands know that their customers were doing research online. But there was no online website where they could find everything that was in the luxury category.
‘So luxury-insider.com was formed to be a nicely packaged website for the upper crust of society and the wealthy. We bring content on luxury items in one site, so that people don’t have to go from site to site.’
Starting with five core product categories like watches and cars, he added new topics like yachts, jets and art.
‘My formula is simple. I always read Robb Report which is a magazine on luxury goods. It’s a good magazine with credible content. Luxury-insider was modelled on this. Then I sell advertising space to get revenue.’
Initially, he found it tough going as he had to educate the luxury brands, which were unsure about how to advertise online.
‘For them, it’s not about advertising per se. It’s about being at the right place, the correct environment. So the content was very important,’ he explained.
His breakthrough came in 2007 when luxury watchmaker Patek Philippe advertised on luxury-insider.com.
‘They considered our website, looked at our audience, found that it fit with what they were looking for and then decided to advertise with us.’
With this high-end brand in hand, he was soon able to draw in other customers.
Unique visitors to the site increased to 300,000 per month at the start of this year, up from the 60,000 at the start of last year.
Business is good this year, he said, as more luxury brands are turning to the Internet to reach a wider audience. He expects to turn a profit this year.
Revenues year-to-date are already 40 per cent to 50 per cent up from last year, he said, adding that he anticipates at least an 80 per cent growth on revenue by year-end.
A Shanghai office has just opened, with a brand new Chinese website. He now has 10 employees, half of whom are content providers.
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