Tag: E-commerce

Manila, Philippines – ZAP, the loyalty and e-commerce platform in the Philippines forF&B businesses, has secured Series A funding from True Digital Group (TDG), the digital arm of True Corporation, Thailand’s integrated telecommunications and digital services provider.

Launched in 2012 as a mobile number-based loyalty and rewards program, ZAP launched its E-Store service in June 2020 in partnership with the world’s largest e-commerce SaaS Platform, Shopify. The E-Store streamlines the order fulfilment process by digitising restaurant operations – such as order taking and inventory, payment, customer management, and delivery, as well as centralising them within a merchant’s own e-commerce website, which ZAP helps build. 

ZAP said that it envisions itself as growing into a one-stop-shop, an end-to-end platform that captures every interaction from the moment a customer steps into a business’ doors – both in the physical and digital sense. 

Dustin Cheng, ZAP Group’s CEO and co-founder, shared that the working relationship with True Digital Group presents new synergies for ZAP in terms of smart retail and analytics.

“Everything we do is for the benefit of our partner merchants, and this fund-raise is no different. Our partner merchants can look forward to an even easier-to-use platform with more robust capabilities in the coming months. These include richer analytics and remarketing and targeting features that will help partners foster better customer relationships and ultimately increase sales,” said Cheng.

Meanwhile, Michael Gryseels, True Digital Group’s executive vice chairman, commented, “We are excited about the synergies between our digital media platform and ZAP’s CRM and e-commerce capabilities, and see great potential in scaling our joint offering across Southeast Asia.”

Dindo Marzan, True Digital Group’s country head of Philippines, said, “To help close the gap in consumer’s digital journey, we see a very hopeful opportunity with ZAP as the local market expert and believe that together, we will be able to deliver an exciting experience for consumers in the Philippines.”

Islamabad, Pakistan – Daraz, the South Asia-centric e-commerce platform, has announced a new brand look for their company, following on the company’s significant progress from 2021.

Daraz, which was formed in 2015, allows SMEs in South Asia to grow their business online, whilst creating an immersive and personalised shopping experience for customers. One of the main drivers to refresh the brand is Daraz’s ambition to make e-commerce a key part of people’s daily lives across its five markets in South Asia – Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Myanmar.

A key change in the new brand revamp is the new icon, which represents a package that is symbolic of how the e-commerce platform physically connects SME sellers to customers. At the center of the icon is an arrow that highlights the focus on progress and fast deliveries, but also resembles a ‘play button’ symbolising how Daraz is continually innovating to create a more dynamic content experience for users.

For Bjarke Mikkelsen, founder and CEO at Daraz Group, the launch marks an exciting step forward for the business, adding that the new brand look still represents the elements that have always been part of their DNA – progress, innovation, exploration, and discovery. 

“At the same time, it signifies a shift to a more personal experience that will allow us to create greater connectivity between buyers and sellers on our platform,” Mikkelsen said.

He added, “We recognise that to achieve this ambition we need to create more personal experiences, ensure that we deliver quality products and services at each step of the customer journey, and create new avenues of entertainment and engagement for our customers. This brand refresh will play a key role in helping us elevate and evolve our offering across these crucial areas.”

As part of the new brand look, Daraz is also consolidating all of its brands under the overall Daraz umbrella-brand to simplify the experience for customers. Daraz has also launched a new website, Daraz.com, that showcases the new brand and gives people a better understanding of who Daraz is and what it stands for.

Manila, Philippines – Zyllem, a global logistics technology company offering enterprise SaaS solutions, has announced its further expansion in the Philippines amidst a growing e-commerce market in the country.

Zyllem is a cloud-based software that allows companies to manage and operate their entire logistics distribution network in a more efficient, simplified, and transparent way. It counts pharmaceutical giant Zuellig Pharma, Metro Drug Inc, logistics firm Airspeed, and wholesale grocery distribution company Suy Sing as key clients in the Philippines and is actively looking to acquire more players in the market.

For Lisa Nguyen, chief operations officer and co-founder at Zyllem, the Philippines presents an exciting opportunity for them to help companies digitize and optimize their logistics network, eliminating legacy systems, despite the numerous unique logistical challenges that the country presents.

“Southeast Asia’s digital economy has been spurred on by the rapid pace of digitalisation from consumers and businesses and has witnessed unprecedented acceleration by the pandemic. Zyllem is poised to capitalize on this growth as more businesses are seeing the necessity to provide better and faster services, and look to optimize their logistics network to meet their customer’s orders. As the fastest growing digital economy in the region, the Philippines is an important market for us to achieve that,” Nguyen explained.

Meanwhile, Joanna Pawluczuk, head of sales at Zyllem, commented, “Logistics networks are often fragmented with companies having to manage multiple third party logistics partners and middlemen. Zyllem solves operational pain points with data gathered and fed into a unified dashboard, where customers will be able to take control of their logistic network and streamline their operations.”

She added, “We are able to optimize routes and reduce time spent on planning by 85%, allowing drivers to complete up to 30% more deliveries per day. With more predictable deliveries and real-time tracking, we also enhanced the experience for the end customer and eliminated the need for any customer calls

Since its go-to market in 2017, Zyllem has been working closely with pharmaceutical, logistics, retail and F&B brands to solve their supply chain problems across Asia. Headquartered in Singapore, Zyllem has presence in eight countries in Asia and manages two million monthly delivery orders, with 20% coming from the Philippines. Zyllem is funded by Philippines conglomerate JG Summit Holdings and leading early-stage venture capital firm Wavemaker Partners.

Singapore – Singapore arm of e-commerce giant Amazon has unveiled its new end-to-end shipping service, Amazon Easy Ship, aimed at helping local sellers scale their businesses online.

For a fee, Amazon Easy Ship allows sellers to ensure faster and more predictable delivery experiences for customers along with the up-to-date shipment tracking information, which is optimized for cost and speed with shipping services through Amazon’s enrolled carriers. The sellers will not need to configure fulfillment time manually, freeing up their time to focus on better sourcing, creating, and promoting their products and brands to grow their customer base.

The new shipping service is currently available in Singapore as a pilot and invite-only program, with the full roll-out to all sellers planned for February 2022.

Eric Broussard, Amazon’s vice president of international seller services, believes that they are helping small and local businesses sell online through shipping solutions such as Amazon Easy Ship, where we offer shipping labels from Amazon-negotiated contracts with carriers to Merchant Fulfilled Network (MFN) sellers. 

“To date, Amazon has invested over US$18b globally in logistics, fulfillment capabilities, new product launches, services, programs, and tools in support of seller success,” said Broussard.

Amazon said that the launch of the new service comes at a time when the number of Singapore sellers in Amazon’s local and international stores has increased by more than 45% between 2019 and 2021. This is in addition to the 25% increase in sellers exporting their products with Amazon.

More will be shared at the Seller Summit 2022, which will be held virtually today, 14 January, from 9 am to 6:30 pm SGT. The free event will educate sellers in Singapore on key e-commerce topics such as shipping and fulfillment, advertising, brand building, and global expansion. Attendees can also look forward to networking with experts, successful Amazon sellers, and third-party service providers.

Singapore – Shopee has once again unveiled in its inaugural Shopee Brands Summit the list of new initiatives it has in store for brands this 2022. Last year, the platform launched the ‘Regional Champion Brands Program’, a by-invite program that will comprise 16 brands that will receive priority support from Shopee. This year, Shopee announced exciting new features and programs including enhancing its partnership with premium brands where four new regional campaigns are slated to boost the presence of premium brands on the platform.

According to Shopee, it experienced a strong growth momentum on its Shopee Mall in 2021, where the majority of Shopee’s brand partners more than doubled their Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) year on year as they adapted to major shifts in the retail landscape.

Shopee also said that Shopee Mall saw an eightfold increase in the number of users shopping online at least once a month during the last two years of the pandemic. With the new initiatives, the e-commerce platform wanted to help more businesses capture this growing base of new and existing digital consumers.

First off, Shopee revealed that it will be introducing a new kind of mega shopping event in March to deliver greater excitement and deals for shoppers in the first half of the year. On the four new Shopee Premium regional campaigns, meanwhile, the campaigns were put in place to help premium brands cater to the increasing demand for premium and luxury products online.

Moreover, Shopee will be driving higher business performance with innovative solutions, including Facebook Ads on Seller Center, which enables sellers to create and manage campaigns easily and quickly, and a new Shopee Display ads, which allows brands to purchase new homepage banner display ads to showcase their campaigns. There will also be a new Customer Intelligence dashboard where brands can now access more insights on shopper demographics and segmentation. 

And lastly, the platform will also be elevating brand experiences with upgraded engagement tools and features like a new sampling channel and the Shopee BeautyCam. The new sampling channel will allow consumers to try products before purchasing online, while Shopee BeautyCam is an AR-enabled makeup try-on tool with new functions such as more color shades and filters. 

Shopee will also be launching Shopee Mall Brand Memberships, a tool that enables integration of the online and offline CRM program for brands, and an enhanced Shopee Live, which now uses AI to recommend more personalized live stream content and deals based on shopping behavior and user interests.

Terence Pang, Shopee’s chief operating officer, shared that as retail becomes hyper-digital and shopping online becomes integral to people’s lives, they believe that there is huge room for growth in SEA. 

“By working together with our brand partners, we will continue to expand and enhance Shopee Mall to serve more customers and scale to greater heights. I would like to congratulate our partners for their achievements last year, and look forward to creating better brand experiences for our users in the year ahead,” said Pang.

In the event, Shopee has also unveiled the five brand partners who made it to the 2021-launched ‘Shopee 100 Million Dollar Club’ which are L’Oreal Group, Oppo, and realme, as well as Samsung and Xiaomi.

The exclusive program awards US$100m-valued brands with bonus perks, including a dedicated regional brand campaign. Following the success, Shopee said it will continue to support the 20 brand partners onboarded this year with priority access to new initiatives and campaigns that will deliver high business impact.

Singapore – Intrepid Group Asia, e-commerce services platform with SEA presence, has announced two new appointments in its marketing team – Steven Ghoos, the new regional digital marketing director, and Anna March, the new regional director of e-commerce and performance marketing.

Ghoos is most recently a managing director at digital agency Lion & Lion, where he led business profitability and managed teams and campaign strategy in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Indonesia. Prior to Lion & Lion, Ghoos was also the managing director at the Indonesian marketplace Lamudi, the head of sales and customer experience at Lazada, and the managing director at Rocket Internet. As he now joins Intrepid, Ghoos will be bringing over 16 years of experience in driving business profitability and strategy at market-leading companies.

Meanwhile, March has previously held performance director roles, where she led key digital accounts and strategy at Omnicom Agency Hearts and Science, Wavemaker London, and OMD Australia, as well as Aegis Australia. Prior to joining Intrepid Group late last year, she has also ran performance marketing for audiobook provider Audible in Australia and Japan. March brings almost two decades of experience in leading performance marketing strategy and teams.

Through their new roles, Ghoos and March will be driving Intrepid’s digital marketing business. March will be based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where she will help drive the performance marketing strategy for brand partners in the e-commerce market, while Singapore-based Ghoos will be focusing on full-funnel, content, and creative propositions and clients in non-B2C e-commerce verticals.

Both will be reporting directly to Jasper Knoben, Intrepid Group Asia’s CEO.

Knoben commented, “Their complementary experience, valuable insights, and track records for impactful, performance-driven marketing will further strengthen our position and capabilities as a full-funnel partner that can help our clients gain a competitive edge in today’s digital world.”

When I look back to the time someone in my family had to do grocery runs to the neighborhood store and then at the present, where what we need is available at the click of a button, it often seems surreal. In the world of today, there is so much more convenience – convenience that we did not even know could exist all those years ago.

As we approach the end of the year, holiday shopping and many mega-sales are beckoning. Although festivities are expected to be carried out in a measured way due to mobility restrictions and social distancing, consumers continue to shop online. Within Southeast Asia alone, 70% of the population is now online. According to the latest report by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company, the region gained 40 million new users in 2020 alone, as compared to the 100 million that cumulatively came online in the past 5 years.

Mobile has embedded itself in our lifestyles

The COVID-19 pandemic has spurred the adoption of digital ways to stay connected with family and friends. Mobile has been playing an instrumental role in helping people stay connected as they navigate this new normal. It has also been like a shot in the arm for mobile commerce.

Shopping over the mobile has already become a part of our lifestyle and will soon become so, in many other households. According to a recent study, purchases made over the mobile phone rose 30% from January to May 2021, with the Asia-Pacific region driving a majority of the global growth.

In Singapore, a study by InMobi found that 63% of all online retail sales are being conducted on mobile, while 34% of shoppers are expecting to spend more than SGD 500 this holiday season. This is despite a majority of respondents having not finalized their holiday shopping plans this year due to the uncertainty of how COVID measures will change.

New digital habits and why there is no going back

The new digital habits learned during the pandemic have been fully integrated into people’s daily routine, where the latest e-Conomy report by Google found that more than 9 in 10 still are still using at least one digital service adopted in 2020. A whopping 94% of these new users have expressed that they will be continuing with these digital habits post pandemic.

The improvements in productivity and efficiency brought about by the increased adoption of mobile services is benefitting both consumers and brands. Mobile technologies and services generated over $750b of economic value added in Asia Pacific over the past year. This figure has been forecasted to increase by another $110b by 2025 to $860b.

Asia being slower on relaxing COVID control measures have caused consumers in the region to still be wary while following social distancing and lockdowns measures. Shoppers continue to be resilient this holiday season as they leverage on online channels to skip the crowds and hunt for bargains. Many consumers in the region are purchasing through mobiles across a wide category of items with clothing and accessories being high on the list of many in the SEA countries. The region has experienced a 240% increase in spending according to an AppsFlyer report on the State of eCommerce App Marketing in 2021.

A personalized experience versus a kitchen sink approach

The evolved shopper has new expectations and is seeking richer experiences from existing brands. Brands that are able to adapt to this change and create bespoke experiences for their customers will thrive. For example, Lazada targeting customers who are moms with diaper and baby merchandise deals makes them feel that the brand understands their needs and wants.

With personalization in the forefront of the current retail experience, and smartphones accounting for 70% of total digital media time, mobile is an ideal way to reach audiences at scale and directly at this point in time. Brands must look to adopt a mobile centric advertising strategy, and avenues such as in-app advertising within apps with engaged users. In-app ads are scaled to fit the app, and therefore look much more appealing to the user than mobile web.

Moreover, by improving user experience, retail brands in SEA have a huge opportunity to turn newly acquired users from the pandemic into long-term customers.

For mobile commerce to continue to grow, it takes an understanding of data, design, and how people behave. Not all retailers understand that, and if they do they are presenting personalized screens or personalized shopping journeys that are keeping consumers engaged.

This article is written by Karam Malhotra, partner and global VP at global internet technology company, SHAREit Group

The article is published as part of MARKETECH APAC’s thought leadership series What’s NEXT. This features marketing leaders sharing their marketing insights and predictions for the upcoming year. The series aims to equip marketers with actionable insights to future-ready their marketing strategies.

If you are a marketing leader and have insights that you’d like to share with regards to the upcoming trends and practices in marketing, please reach out to [email protected] for an opportunity to have your thought-leadership published on the platform.

Manila, Philippines – Lazada has officially announced the dates of its 12.12 Grand Christmas Sale which will run from 12 to 14 December 2021.

This year’s holiday shopping festival showcases various deals with Lazada Bonus vouchers offering ₱60 off for every ₱600 spend. Brands will also be offering cashback to get a 10% purchase amount added automatically to a consumer’s Lazada Wallet upon item delivery.

In addition, Lazada is also offering installments on users’ purchases through Lazada Loans. Lazada’s trusted loan providers such as TendoPay will be offering 0% interest on purchases from 5 to 15 December 2021, while Plentina will be offering the same from 10 to 14 December 2021, and Billease and Cashalo offering 0% interest on purchases until the end of the year. 

Ahead of 12.12, customers can also apply for monthly installment plans from these financing partners, allowing holiday shoppers to bag the shopping deals and pay later, with no interest.

Neil Trinidad, Lazada’s chief marketing officer for the Philippines, said, “As the go-to platform of Filipinos, Lazada upholds the heart of gift-giving by empowering our shoppers to interact and connect more with their loved ones, helping bring everyone together and spreading love in the most generous way.”

Lazada Gift Cards will also be available again starting 3 December 2021, giving recipients the liberty to choose an item they want. To avail, users will have to tap on the ‘Lazada Gift Card’ icon on the app or search for ‘Lazada Gift Card’ on the search bar of the Lazada app and choose an amount ranging from ₱100 up to ₱5000. 

Users will only need to enter the mobile number, email address, and the name of the recipient, as well as customize and input the message, and click on the ‘Buy Now’ button to proceed to checkout. The recipients will then be notified of the gift card sent via SMS or email. Upon activation of Lazada Wallet, gift card recipients can redeem the amount with the voucher codes they have received.

Moreover, Lazada is also encouraging its users to donate to Lazada donors and its partner organizations, such as UNICEF, Save the Children Foundation, and World Vision, as well as ABS-CBN Foundation, and GMA Foundation. 

To access direct donations to ‘LazadaForGood’, users will have to head on the official ‘LazadaForGood’ site. Users can also access the page via desktop by simply opening the Lazada website, clicking ‘Load & eStore’, followed by clicking the ‘LazadaForGood’ icon, and then selecting an advocacy partner of choice and ‘Add to cart’ to donate. While on mobile, users will have to click on ‘Load, Bills, and Coupon’, tap on the ‘LazadaForGood’ icon, and select an advocacy partner of choice, then ‘Add to cart’ to donate. 

At the core of the e-commerce’s holiday campaign, popular celebrities in the Philippines and local brand ambassadors Bea Alonzo, Alden Richards, Mimiyuuuh, and Maine Mendoza will be gracing the newest Lazada TV commercial, highlighting “the reasons for the season.”

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – It should be noted by now that Southeast Asia’s e-commerce landscape has been on a steady growth, indicating how the pandemic has vastly contributed to the accelerated digital adoption and the expansion of the industry in the region.

The latest data from e-commerce aggregator iprice analyzed the performance of the top e-commerce companies in Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam to determine which e-commerce sites are holding the most of the market share in the said markets, and which of them have been successful in drawing social engagement.

According to their data for Q3, Singapore-based e-commerce platform Shopee takes the lead across these three markets. In Malaysia, the site gets around 57.5 million monthly visits, while 61.2 million monthly visits for Thailand, with 77.8 million monthly visits in Vietnam.

Meanwhile, Lazada takes second in the Malaysia and Thailand market, each having 14.2 million and 37.9 million monthly visits respectively. Vietnam, on the other hand, has its own e-commerce platform Thegioididong.com taking second, with 50.9 million monthly visits.

“These top sites have been [leveraging people] who are actively purchasing items online during the pandemic. They have significantly focused on diversifying their features and marketing campaigns to engage tech-savvy consumers, which consequently increased both their sales and traffic,” noted iPrice.

Meanwhile, the data also noted that local sites rank in the top three. PGMall (Malaysia), Central Online (Thailand), and Tiki (Vietnam) have done quite well in establishing themselves in their respective markets.

According to the report, the cross-country collaboration between PGMall and JD Worldwide, for instance, has encouraged local sellers to offer unique local brands to the Chinese market. With access to China’s extensive market, PGMall’s platform has become one of the most prominent domestic online businesses in Malaysia. 

Meanwhile, Tiki, which holds 13% of Vietnam’s e-commerce market share. They signed an exclusive partnership with insurance company AIA Vietnam for 10 years. Due to this, policyholders may manage their insurance accounts and seek health insurance solutions and claims through the Tiki website.

In terms of engagement with e-commerce brands on social media, Malaysians engage the most with e-commerce-related posts accounting for 44% of the total social engagements, followed byVietnamese users with 36% of the engagements while Thai users accounted for 20%.

“As these e-commerce platforms continue to pursue strategic partnerships, promotions, and social engagements, the future of Southeast Asia’s e-commerce industry is looking bright,” the company concluded.

Manila, Philippines – With a fast-growing base of digital consumers and merchants, acceleration in e-commerce, and food delivery, the Philippines’ current internet economy has been recorded as the nation with the highest internet economy growth, with a rate of 93%, according to the latest collaborative research from Google, Temasek, Bain & Company. This has previously been predicted to grow from US$9b in 2020 to US$17b this year. 

Currently, the SEA region is estimated to reach US$174b in gross merchandise value (GMV) by the end of 2021. Furthermore, the region’s digital economy is further expected to reach US$360b by 2025, outgrowing the earlier projection of US$300b.

“Much like the rest of the region, the Philippines is entering its digital decade as the internet increasingly becomes an integral part of the consumers’ daily lives. The growth of the digital market in the country was driven by the explosive 132% growth in e-commerce and double-digit growth across all sectors including food delivery services,” noted the study.

The country has seen 12 million new digital consumers since the start of the pandemic, up to the first half of 2021. About 63% of those new digital consumers are from non-metro areas and 99% say that they intend to continue using these services going forward. Pre-pandemic users have consumed an average of 4.3 more services since the pandemic began and 95% of those pre-pandemic consumers are still found to be digitally-inclined consumers today.

“The pandemic has led to enduring digital adoption in Southeast Asia, which has propelled its internet economy to new heights. Temasek looks forward to increasing our investments in Southeast Asia’s digital champions, using our capital to catalyse digital solutions and accelerate economic growth and job opportunities for our local communities,” said Rohit Sipahimalani, chief investment strategist and head of Southeast Asia at Temasek.

It is estimated that the Philippines’ overall internet economy will likely reach US$40b in value, growing at 24% CAGR, which can be amplified due to strict lockdowns as well as heightened adoption of certain digital services.

Willy Chang, associate partner at Bain & Company, commented, “The Philippines’ internet economy is the fastest growing in SEA as a result of strict COVID-19 restrictions and a large number of new digital consumers. There remains ample headroom for growth as long as digital enablers continue to develop. For example, we saw a strong adoption of digital payment methods such as e-wallets and national real-time payment rails which facilitated the growth of the internet economy.” 

The report also noted that 39% of local digital merchants believe they would not have survived the pandemic if not for digital platforms. Digital merchants now use an average of two digital platforms, but profitability remains a top concern. Digital financial services saw very rapid growth this year, not only from e-wallets but also from the national payment rail. 

Of the digital merchants surveyed, 97% now accept digital payments, while 67% have adopted digital lending solutions. Many are also embracing digital tools to engage with their customers, with 68% expecting to increase usage of digital marketing tools in the next five years.

Bernadette Nacario, country director at Google Philippines said, “The digital adoption we’ve seen in the Philippines since last year has contributed to the accelerated growth of the country’s internet economy, magnifying its vast potential. Google is committed to helping Filipinos maximize the opportunities of going digital and helping the country shape an internet economy that is equitable, safe, and inclusive through programs and products that improve lives.”