TIMES are changing, and Dax Kissoon wants to help you keep up with the pace. That same brilliant young Guyanese entrepreneur who founded DKG Inc. (a sister company of the well-established A.H.& L. Kissoon Ltd furniture and home furnishings store) and brought to Guyana the Elite Crete Systems and Parex USA brands is also offering you www. ShopCaricom.com – the “Caribbean’s ultimate e-marketplace”.

With hundreds of local products, including household furniture and antiques, books, jewellery, paintings, sculpture and sporting goods, ShopCaricom.com provides an outlet for sellers throughout the Caribbean community (CARICOM) to reach the rest of the world.
Shop Caricom.com is the brainchild of Dax Kissoon, who was born in Bridgetown, Barbados, was raised in Kingston, in Georgetown, Guyana; and was further educated at Temple University in Philadelphia, USA, where he majored in Risk Management Insurance and International Marketing, and minored in Management Information Systems.
The particular vision for this project was started in his University years. He did something similar as a class project and won his professors’ approval; this further cemented the project in his mind. Being similar to other large online e-merchants, like Amazon.com, ShopCaricom.com can handle all monetary transactions from anywhere in the world with the use of Pay Pal, credit and debit cards such as Visa, Mastercard etc; bank wire transfers, and pay on pick up. The entity also has links to the First Global Money, a bank which handles all its money transfer needs safely and securely.
Consumers, retailers, and wholesalers benefit from marketing under the shop Caricom.com model. All products for export on shop Caricom.com are from a list of trusted business vendors, and they are all based in the Caribbean Community. The site assures customers that they are the winners in the end, as they would get bargains from a wide selection of retailers who are all trying to get the customer to ‘bite’ with the best deal.
At ShopCaricom.com, much of the overhead expenses that are associated with traditional businesses are not there, so savings are passed on to the consumer, and it’s the most affordable outlet for sellers to introduce their products to the world.
By providing an online marketplace for local businesses in Guyana and the Caribbean Community, ShopCaricom.com takes the stress of website management, design, marketing, e-market campaigns, consumer relationship management, e-mail marketing and other capital intensive expenses out of the hands of the retailer, and provides sellers with the “ultimate showroom window to the world”, where all products would have a chance to be seen in beautiful imagery and descriptive writings.
As Kissoon says, the real vision was to provide an outlet for sellers in Guyana, even DKG Inc’s own products. “We had to work out a few kinks, but we knew it was an extremely feasible idea to have an e-marketplace, as opposed to each individual business opening an e-commerce site”, he said.
“Picture a business where have to rent an entire lot, pay for upkeep, insurance, staff, promotional activities etc. Now picture leasing an extremely affordable spot in an e-mall with the world walking by your storefront every day; this is inherently what we offer. It costs a lot more to go and create your own website, market your site and maintain it. We give you real numbers; I can tell you how much people checked out your storefront (and) what products they looked at the most. They can share your products with friends. If they buy a bed, for example, I can email them 4 months later and say, ‘Hey, how are you liking that bed? We have a special 25% coupon for a bedside table just for you’. This creates consumer loyalty and quick turnover of your stock. It’s called CRM — Consumer Relationship Management”.
Pointing out that the site targets everyone, he said: “Shop Caricom is an outlet for the average man to sell (his) products; basically, we are Guyanese for Guyanese, and that’s our mission”.
So now those hard working artists who have mastered their craft – sculpturing, painting, hand weaving (hammocks etc.) will now all have an opportunity to benefit from economies of scale. “We do email marketing and reach out to all our customers who subscribe. We handle social media marketing on Facebook and Twitter. We have different payment systems for the average consumer. You name it we have it! We even have mobile commerce (by which) you can shop from your phone”.
The process to get registered, like the rules, is simple: “You can register as a vendor and have a store front on our page. You can’t sell anything illegal: no pornographic material, no illegal substances, no arms and ammunition. We check and make sure you’re not selling this stuff on the website before you are approved”.
Kissoon describes Shop Caricom. com as comparable to the standard of e-commerce powerhouse’s eBay and Amazon, saying: “Nothing is different. In fact, we had to make it more user-friendly, because we know the demographics we are dealing with. We are now introducing our people to the way the rest of the world works. This thrills us, because we are giving back.
“Our operations will be providing a needed service for Caribbean people and Caribbean-linked people worldwide. We will be providing an opportunity for thousands of people around the globe to be able to not only purchase things for themselves, but also purchase items for loved ones based at home, in countries throughout the Caribbean region.
“Giving the consumer the opportunity to shop online and have that product delivered to their loved ones living in the Caribbean within mere days is not only our service, but our passion.
“Although some may perceive it differently, this company came from very humble roots under the stewardship and guidance of my grandmother Lyla Kissoon. Even as she gets older, her advice always proves to be unmatched. She sits on my company’s board, along with my mother and sister. I’ve surrounded myself with strong, educated women — another model of our business I strongly believe in.
“One thing my grandmother has always instilled in my family –  my industrious father Alston “Kim” Kissoon, two sisters and I- is that the Guyanese consumers are the people who deserve the best. The working class, the average man, he deserves to have a quality product or service too, and that is the foundation this company is built on.
“ShopCaricom.com is for everyone, every tier, every class. We have a price base, from the lowest level price all the way to the highest level price, for those who can afford it.”
Dax Kissoon invites all sellers to contact info@shopcaricom.com or sales@dkginc.net, or on 592-225-3377. The site has been nominated for a prize at the 2013 World Summit awards to be hosted in Sri Lanka. Kissoon is asking all to show their country pride and become a fan of their Facebook Group. Register on the Website and comment on their You Tube Ad for ShopCaricom.com