DRIVE along the highways today, and you will see giant billboards advertising a plethora of products targeted at Muslim women, from beauty, personal care and health products to the hijab and fashionable clothes.

The jostle for advertising space in the real world carries over into cyberspace, with fashion and cosmetics entrepreneurs using social media to peddle their wares.

The mushrooming of the retail industry specifically targeted at Muslim women, or Muslimah in Arabic, is reflective of this consumer group’s increasing spending power.

The results of a study by marketing communications company, J. Walter Thompson (JWT), released in September, found that young Muslimah in Southeast Asia were becoming more influential figures in fashion and tourism because of their technological and entrepreneurial know-how.

The study polled women between the ages of 18 and 39 (77%), as well as those over 40 (23%).

In Malaysia, 60% of the population are Muslim, and 24% of young women of the faith shop for clothes and cosmetics every week, and 58% do so every month.

Hoping to tap into this market, Aen Syahera, 24, produced her own line of beauty products and supplements called Syahera Beauty Care while she was still in university.

“For a year, I sold other people’s products – I was a dropship,” she said, referring to the practice of transferring a customer’s orders and shipment details to the manufacturer, another retailer, or a wholesaler, who then ships the goods directly to the customer.

“I saved the profits, to start my own line,” said the Universiti Teknologi Mara hotel management graduate. 

“My crowning achievement was when I was selected to be the young entrepreneurs icon at the young women’s festival that was launched by Prime Minister Najib Razak last year.”

She said she marketed her products online, and most of her orders were from the east coast of the peninsula, and some were from as far as the Thai border.

Aen Syahera, who is from Kelantan, said social media was a vital component in her marketing strategy, and she made sure she was active on these platforms so that she could indirectly market her wares.

“I would upload videos of my thoughts on social media, or share useful tips or talk about current events. From there, people would share my content, and my base of followers would grow.”

Halal products only

Among the Muslimah, the JWT survey found that nine in 10 women said it is “very important” that products sold are certified halal, or permissible in Islam.

Feirouz Azalia Muhamad Noor, 45, the founder of the Naifa line of beauty products, runs a factory in Kuala Terengganu that produces raw materials for cosmetics.

“Each product must be made from halal ingredients that follow the standards set by the Malaysian government. My factory uses only halal materials that are safe,” she said.

Feirouz Azalia said she started her business after seeing her friends develop their own brand of products. She got herself involved in the research for new products.

“I also found that there are a lot of poisonous products on the market, so I felt a calling to provide something that was of better quality. I started with a capital of between RM8,000 and RM10,000,” she said.

Feirouz Azalia not only sells her own line, she also supplies products to other entrepreneurs who market them under their own brands.

For some entrepreneurs, the booming beauty industry for Muslim women is a chance for them to share, package and profit from age-old and traditional beauty secrets passed down from their elders.

Ibu Pati Putih founder Janna Suzanna, said it took her 10 years to grow her business via social media, but hers was a product she was confident of.

“I am interested in cosmetics and beauty secrets that have been handed down by my grandmother. I share these with people, but what is important is that I test them on myself first.”

Among her products are face and body creams which have Good Manufacturing Practice certification and are approved by the Health Ministry.

Price matters no longer

A few years ago, no one would have thought the humble hijab could be sold at thousands of ringgit, but Bawal Exclusive founder Haliza Maysuri is doing just that.

The most expensive hijab, commonly called a “tudung” in Malaysia, she sells costs RM33,000.

Haliza, 40, said the steep price was because of the Swarovski crystals festooned on the head covering.

“The more crystals and decorations on the tudung, the higher the price.”

Bawal Exclusive claims to be the first hijab maker in the country to have an official partnership with the Swarovski brand.

Haliza said she started her business in 1998 with her husband. At the time, they sold their hijab at the arcade in Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman in Kuala Lumpur.

Bawal Exclusive’s main marketing strategy is more conventional, which is through word of mouth.

“But, with the Internet today, social media has made things easier.

“Sometimes, I would make a video or take a photo of me wearing the latest tudung I have made, and upload that on social media. That will attract attention, and people will ask, Where did you buy that?” – December 4, 2017.