ASIA?S first on-line multibrand fashion and lifestyle retail outlet begins business this month, and it?s based in the Philippines.

A venture of 27-year-old Bianca Cristina Zobel, www.im-hm.com carries internationally known and under-the-radar labels ? including some Filipino designers ? for apparel, accessories and other lifestyle products.

IM-HM.com (or ?I Am High Maintenance?) aims to sell to countries like Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines.

?The potential of an online shopping business in Asia is huge,? Zobel says in an e-mail interview. She is president of Intelligent Movement, the company behind the project.

?Reports show there is a slight deceleration in the growth rate of yearly Internet sales in the US and Europe. Growth, however, is poised to accelerate in the Asia Pacific region. E-commerce sales in countries like Japan, China and Korea are booming and other countries in the region are following suit. Where fashion and retail are concerned, Asian countries account for around 10 percent of worldwide online sales, and these three countries are consistently in the top five countries that shop for fashion online.?

Awful timing?

Despite this bright picture, some may say it?s an awful time to launch a business ? a new platform at that ? when global economy is wobbly. But Zobel ? whose father is businessman Iñigo Zobel, son of the late industrialist Enrique Zobel, who?s credited for turning Makati into what it is today ? just may be on the right track.

Late last year, various media began reporting about affluent shoppers either cutting down on their spending or turning to covert buying, so as not to appear insensitive to the plight of the majority who have been hit hard by the financial crisis.

One form of covert spending happens on the Internet.

Challenge

?Women are not about to give up on being fashionable and stylish just yet,? Zobel notes. ?While before, some women would go for the most expensive items, they now show a marked tendency toward thinking twice, or will check other retailers for better prices...Women have always used fashion as a feel-good way of expressing themselves, and no credit crunch is going to change that.?

What she foresees to be a challenge is establishing a secure and efficient online structure that would earn Asian consumers? trust. In Asia, she says, ?immature online payment systems, poor delivery networks and distrust between buyers and sellers? have been hampering the growth of e-commerce.

?Consumers continue to have issues with the security of online retailers, and the convenience of the payment methods,? she adds.

?The lack of a nationwide credit information system or an efficient delivery network also limits the ability of many Asia-Pacific markets to expand rapidly in this sector. So the important question is, even if online shoppers in the region are at an increasing rate, would they rather purchase from an online store based in the US and Europe than in Asia?

?This makes it extremely important for us to do this right. We not only have to think about getting the right merchandise online, but we should also prioritize building the right system that will make potential buyers trust that our site is secure, and deliveries with go smoothly.?

Zobel, who trained in London and credits the successful Net-a-porter.com as her business model, says IM-HM.com will be patterned after the UK-based website?s ?simplicity? and ?great selection... of the best labels.?

She adds, ?It is also one of the... sites not driven by opportunistic purchases [big discounts, special offers]. This means that they make the sale simply because their products are extremely sought after.?

Australian brands

Targeting the age 21-and-up market, IM-HM.com?s initial list of brands is dominated by Australian names, some of which Zobel discovered at last year?s Australian Fashion Week: Sass & Bide, Ksubi [formerly known as Tsubi], Azzollini, Kirrily Johnston, Madame Marie, Skin and Threads, Nevenka, Mor Cosmetics.

The Sydney-based Filipino-Australian designer Leonardo Salinas also headlines the offerings, alongside brands such as Junk Food, Joe?s Jeans, Melissa Odabash and the high-end Ego Laptops. Price points average $250-$500, with delivery charges from $5-$20. IM-HM.com has exclusive Asian distribution rights to some of these brands.

Zobel also attended the recent London Fashion Week to scout for additional brands to add to her site?s catalog. A few local designers have also agreed to make special collections for international distribution through the website.

She says, ?We believe in the talent of the Filipino designer and think this will be a great opportunity to give them international acclaim.?