As brands transition online, halal brands and practitioners are seeing the need to meet the needs of their consumers online as well as such creating the concept of a halal e-marketplace. It exists to provide reassurance for those who practise the consumption of halal products as a lifestyle and to educate those who are not aware of the full concept of such a lifestyle.
As said by AladdinStreet’s Co-Founder, Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor Al Masrie, “Halal is not just about slaughtering animals, it’s more about global food safety, hygiene, security and a way of life”.
A halal e-marketplace is essentially a marketplace that facilitates and provides sellers and buyers with a trading platform consisting of halal goods and services that are compliant with Shariah Law. It is a form of Quality Control as it ensures that the safety and quality of the products consumed contribute to the wellbeing and health of the consumer, especially in regards to products purchased online which tend to have less transparency.
What makes halal e-marketplaces is that aside from health certifications and fair trade documentation required by consumer products, these marketplaces provide halal certification by various valid certification bodies based on various compliances in different countries that can be verified by the system. These systems and databases all work to certify the authenticity of halal certification thanks to halal validating tools and services such as Halal Verified Engine (HVE) and GlbalHalal Data Pool.
Some examples of such marketplaces include online shopping malls like Myhalmart and Halalmall.online including a premium marketplace called AladdinStreet, which operates on an invitation-only basis complete with background checks on its vendors. Some of these marketplaces cater to a more B2B model such as DagangHalal and Zilzar.
The products that can be found on these platforms are all in compliance with Shariah Law and provide certification for products that require them such as agriculture and biochemistry, F&B, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. Even products and services that are necessary but do not require certification can also be found such as jewellery, electronics, education, fashion, books and stationery and even automobiles, just to name a few. Having these products on a halal-certified platform, regardless of certification tends to bring more assurance to consumers that heavily practise the halal lifestyle.
Ultimately, it is branding and halal assurance that come hand in hand in this marketplace’s long term success as gaining consumer confidence and trust is vital for the supply and demand of this business. While it is still very much a niche industry and has only been picking up speed in the last few years despite its long-held place in many individual’s lives, entrepreneurs now have the option to explore into this market further as it becomes more popular among the non-Muslims as well. Keeping up to date with secular trends will help with understanding and catching the attention of mainstream consumers towards this market and helps expose them to halal products beyond their traditional consumer group.