SEOUL— It was bound to happen and now it has. You can now get married on the Internet. Well, not quite, but you can obtain all the information you need to launch a new life with your better half.
This is not to say that Nanawedding.com is the first or the only website providing information about weddings, but happyall.com, which launched the site yesterday, promises something different.
“We provide subscribers with information about not only weddings but childcare, art and interior decoration,” said Nanawedding.com CEO Youk Sang-hee.
There are many aspects of Nanawedding.com which promises to set it apart from other wedding sites, one of which is the wealth of its contents compiled through the publication of wedding monthly “My Wedding.”
“We have direct access to seven years of contents published in My Wedding and all details are updated on a daily basis to provide subscribers with only the latest information,” she said.
Naturally, the website contains a wide range of information about wedding gowns, furniture, jewelry and honeymooning as well as skin care and make-up.
Such information is being provided by now less than 800 wedding-related companies, a number that is expected to increase rapidly now that the site is officially open.
But what makes Nanawedding.com really special is the fact that it is expected to serve as a window for wedding dress makers to export their products.
“We participated in an exhibition in Kyoto, Japan in February and completed negotiations to ship 250 wedding gowns worth 380 million won. We are projecting online exports of l.2 billion won before the end of this year,” said the journalist-turned-CEO.
This is in essence what should set Nanawedding.com apart from similar sites: the strong emphasis on the off-line aspect of the business in creating an effective profit model.
“We have a solid network of off-line companies to support our online activities. We see it as two wheels of a cart-- one can not exist without the other,” Youk said.
By putting together all types of information about weddings on a single site, and supporting it with an off-line network, Nanawedding.com is confident that it will be the industry leader in B2C (business-to-business) transactions.
Commenting on the profit model, Youk pointed out that Nanawedding.com is now in the process of actively recruiting subscribers, who will pay 30,000 won per year.
“ Our members will have access to specialized services that promise to meet their every need and this is possible because of the vast diversity of our contents,” she explained.
In addition to the membership fee, Nanawedding.com is hoping to generate considerable profits thought electronic commerce involving wedding-related items, Youk said.
As part of the official launching of the site, Nanawedding.com is presenting a wide array of events in which prospective brides and grooms can hope to win everything from l-carat diamond rings to Prada handbags.
Also available are opportunities to be dressed in magnificent creations by Andre Kim, a world-renown fashion designer who also has a Q & A section on the Nanawedding.com homepage.
“What we have is a 20-trillion-won-a-year industry in which consumers have had to search hard and long to obtain the information they want,” Youk said.
She said the main problem with the industry has been that related companies are often small in size and customers.
“This is a win-win strategy for both companies and consumers and will continue to do what is necessary to improve the efficiency of our website,” said the 4l-year-old Youk.
In an effort to make happyall.com a more integrated Internet sevice provider, Youk is planning to lasunch e-enfant.co.kr for child care on Sept. 20 and itzart.co.kr which will link 33 museums in Europe on Oct. l0.
“The sites will provide our members and visitors a wealth of information about all aspects of living in order to help them improve the quality of their lives,” Youk said.