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‘Everything comes out from our pocket’: Small brands suffer when retailers like Naiise miss payments



When Suzianna Mohd Sofiee โปรโมชั่น slotxo tied up with homegrown multi-label retailer Naiise at the start of last year, sales went up more than when she partnered with other smaller retailers.

The platform’s strong presence gave her brand, Fen Perfumes, good exposure. It also provided a physical space for customers to smell the perfumes – something her online store could not do.

Seeing how brisk sales were, she then ordered thousands of dollars worth of new stock.

This became a problem when Naiise started missing the payments owed to her, which eventually added up to about S$2,000, Ms Suzianna said.

Although some may see it as a “small sum”, the 36-year-old said any amount is a blow to independent brand owners because "everything comes out from our own pocket".

“(Any plans to) churn out new products or restock - it’s all put on hold because all the amounts have gone haywire,” she added.

Her experience is consistent with other complaints against Naiise over late payments, which surfaced as far back as 2016.

Last Thursday (Apr 15), its founder Dennis Tay announced that the retail platform has shuttered due to financial difficulties, acknowledging that brand partners and trade creditors are still owed payment.