THE rapidly expanding halal and Muslim-friendly market is a force to be reckoned with and is transforming the global economic landscape.

The demand for halal products and services has grown over the years, even in non-traditional markets such as South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, China and Australia.

This growth is even more significant with digitalisation, which is helping to expand the halal e-commerce business.

To meet the demand and to bridge a gap in the halal and Muslim-friendly market, home-grown Malaysian company Aladdin Group launched Aladdin1 Malaysia, a halal-focused digital commerce platform, yesterday.

The launch was officiated by Deputy Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Mas Ermieyati Samsudin.

In her speech, Ermieyati said she hoped that Aladdin1 Malaysia could go on to parallel Alibaba, one of the world’s largest e-commerce companies.

“We hope Aladdin1 Malaysia will follow Alibaba and, hopefully, place us among one of the leading digital market solutions in the world.

“Not only halal industry players, but manufacturers also, should grasp the opportunity in using the platform,” she said at the launch, held in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Unlike common e-commerce platforms, Aladdin1 Malaysia terms itself a ‘social commerce’ platform, offering consumers high-quality, authentic and halal-focused lifestyle products.

Social commerce refers to the use of a social network community to drive e-commerce sales.

Instead of being an e-commerce platform, Aladdin Group sees itself as a technology company.

Aladdin group co-founder Desmond To highlighted the struggle of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME), saying they have difficulties expanding beyond their shores.

Understanding this, To said Aladdin1 will start in Malaysia, before expanding to over 45 countries, which will each have its own domestic platform.

He said this would enable SMEs to expand globally, and give them access to almost five billion consumers, of which almost 1.5 billion are Muslims.

“Our focus is on our consumers. While our products and services are of great importance, our core products remain trust and integrity.

“With a capable and dynamic management team, directors, board of advisors, shareholders and valued partners jointly honouring this promise… all stakeholders shall grow globally together”, he said, adding that consumers in Malaysia have the choicest products, as produce from over 45 countries can be found via the platform.

The word halal is often associated with products that are safe, clean, healthy and in accordance with the principles of halalan toyyiban.

Muslim consumers often face problems ensuring that the products they buy, including cosmetics, are genuinely halal, as they can only rely on the certificates provided by the authorities.

Realising that the issue of trust is one of the prime concerns of consumers, Raymond Woo, vice-president of Aladdin Group, said Aladdin1 meticulously selects merchants on a by-invitation-only basis, in order to ensure the authenticity of the products on the platform.

“Unlike other e-commerce platforms, with Aladdin1’s by-invitation-only policy, we ensure that consumers find only genuine products directly from brand owners, maintaining the authenticity of the range of products that our platform has to offer,” he said.

He also said that the company has a dedicated team to ensure halal governance, led by Prof. Dr. Irwandi Jaswir.

Irwandi said the company works with international certification bodies and has appropriate mechanisms and criteria to ensure that the products sold on the platform complies with halal guidelines.

He also said besides halal products, the company also accepts Muslim-friendly products.

“We have two sets of products on our platform. One is halal and the other is Muslim-friendly.

“Islam is not very complicated. If a product does not have a halal certificate, we categorise these products as Muslim-friendly. We have set our standards,” he said, before adding that it would also help merchants to get halal certification if needed.

The halal and Muslim-friendly markets represent two of the largest growing consumer segments in the world, with global consumption estimated at US$3 trillion (RM12.4 trillion) annually. – May 6, 2021.