Tag: E-commerce

Shanghai, China – Automotive manufacturer BMW in China has launched ‘The Convenience Store’ on its flagship store in e-commerce TMall, in order to deliver a completely new brand and product experience for a younger generation of car enthusiasts. 

The concept, which was created in collaboration with creative agency TBWA’s Juice Beijing, has been designed to remove traditional barriers associated with purchasing a car, making the experience as seamless as buying the latest pair of sneakers. 

Moreover, ‘The Convenience Store’ integrates popular culture, technology, and service with a brand-led approach, which includes door-to-door delivery, online bidding, car customization, and lifestyle collectibles.

Through door-to-door delivery, customers can now view a model and reserve a test drive with door-to-door delivery without ever stepping into any physical store, while the online bidding is for limited edition cars, where customers can bid to get hyper limited-edition models immediately, avoiding a long waiting list. 

Furthermore, the car customization will enable customers to customize exterior color, wheels, and interior materials for key models enabled by BMW Visualizer tech. And lastly, the lifestyle collectibles will allow customers to purchase a full set of limited edition designed collectibles.

In addition, the initiative includes the BMW pop-up ‘The Convenience Store’ in Huaihai TX, which is the latest street culture landmark in Shanghai. The real-world pop-up provided a complementary sensory experience including Yee’s crafted miniature art cars and collectibles on display, and different art installations to represent the different service experiences in an avant-garde style, mirroring the virtual store.

BMW China has appointed Chinese singer Jackson Yee as its new-generation ambassador to introduce ‘The Convenience Store’ across phygital channels Yee’s creative process in crafting unique miniature BMW art cars, T-shirts, and paintings became the highlight of the lifestyle collectibles.

For customers to gain access to the pop-up, they will simply register at BMW TMall Store to become members.

Jakarta, Indonesia – Erigo, the Indonesian fashion retail that has been a staple in Shopee Mall, is set to grace the renowned New York Fashion Week (NYFW) 2022, and it has partnered with e-commerce to launch a campaign that will see both celebrating the said milestone with Indonesian consumers.

According to Shopee, Erigo has been a partner since 2017 and has seen significant growth in sales and brand innovation. The streetwear brand has won the hearts of users, making them one of the top favorite brands at major annual Shopee campaigns. In 2020, Erigo participated in the Shopee Export Program, Kreasi Nusantara: From Local To Global, where the well-loved Indonesian brand entered other markets like Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines.

Called, ‘Erigo x Shopee NYFW’, the campaign will include different engagements and launches. For a start, Erigo’s appearance at the NYFW will be livestreamed on Shopee Live, which is exclusively available in Indonesia on 9 September at 8:00 pm. 

In addition to this, the Erigo NYFW runway collection will be available at the Erigo official store on Shopee Mall. Users will be able to purchase exclusive collections brought straight from the Erigo pop-up store in New York, and also enjoy up to 90% discount for various Erigo products. Lastly, shoppers will be able to purchase a ‘Mystery Box’ of Erigo products for only under Rp100,000. The campaign will run from 9 until 11 September 2021,

Handhika Jahja, Shopee’s director for Indonesia, commented that they are proud to witness the extraordinary progress of Erigo so far and to finally be able to deliver ‘Made in Indonesia’ products to an international stage. Jahja shared that Erigo is one of the 180,000 local MSMEs fostered by Shopee that have successfully penetrated the global market through the Shopee Export Program. 

“We hope that this collaboration can create pride and love for local products among Indonesians. It can also spark enthusiasm and create a good track record for more local MSMEs to follow,” said Jahja.

Meanwhile, Muhammad Sadad, the CEO of Erigo, said that the brand’s ability to penetrate into the global market certainly cannot be separated from the support and assistance they got from Shopee and the various programs held by Shopee have greatly helped the development of the business and realized their dream of bringing Erigo products to consumers in other countries. 

“We are very encouraged by the love and enthusiasm from Shopee users in Indonesia and around the region, empowering us to continue innovating the brand until we finally had an opportunity to represent Indonesia at the biggest fashion show in New York. To commemorate 10 years of work, Erigo will be debuting the new Erigo X collection exclusively at New York Fashion Week 2022, where users can watch through Shopee Live,” said Sadad.

Shopee said that it would like to reaffirm its commitment and passion in supporting the development and potential of local businesses that are an important part of the Shopee ecosystem through the Erigo X Shopee NYFW 2022. The recent collaboration is part of Shopee’s effort to strengthen the reach of homegrown brands in their own country and showcase the good quality of locally-made products.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Live streaming platform Bigo Live in Malaysia has announced the official launch of ‘Bigo Marketplace’, a new e-commerce initiative by the platform to aid local micro-enterprises and small and midsize businesses (SMBs) leverage the platform’s growing user base to increase brand exposure and facilitate sales conversions.

With Bigo Marketplace, Bigo Live has launched a new feature called ‘Shop’ on the Bigo Live app which users and broadcasters alike can access for an easier and convenient shopping experience. Said feature is currently available to vendors who have already signed on to the Bigo Marketplace program and enables them to direct Bigo Live users to their brand or product’s website during their live streaming sessions. 

As the feature is currently in its Beta stage, it is currently available to registered users, broadcasters, and vendors.

“Here at Bigo Live, we are committed to providing our users with engaging and meaningful content that not only entertains but also gives back to the community through curated content that helps Malaysian businesses through this difficult period. With Bigo Marketplace, we not only want to look after our growing ecosystem of content creators but also provide business owners with an additional platform to generate income and exposure for their businesses,” a Bigo Live spokesperson said.

The ‘Bigo Marketplace’ launch follows the success of Bigo Live’s first e-commerce online marketplace event, ‘Bigo Pasar Malam’, where Bigo Live users were able to participate in live stream sales sessions simulating the Malaysian night market experience. Held last 30 July and 6 August 2021, the event saw over 100 Bigo Live broadcasters offering products for sale from their own businesses. These products ranged from clothing, snacks, gadgets, accessories, homeware, as well as cosmetic and skincare products.

“Malaysia is among the top e-commerce markets in Southeast Asia. Following the success of ‘Bigo Pasar Malam’, where the event drew in between around 150,000 to 200,000 views for our vendors during each session, and observing certain vendors who managed to sell more than 100 items within 2 hours, we decided to launch Bigo Marketplace as we recognized the potential of live streaming as a key contributor to Malaysia’s e-commerce industry,” the spokesperson added.

Singapore – Singapore-headquartered e-commerce for Southeast Asia, Lazada, is taking its marketing to new heights as it announces its very first regional ambassador for in-app mall, LazMall; and it’s none other than top K-drama leading man, Hyun Bin. 

Last October 2020, Lazada has also unveiled a massive first for the brand that similarly involved the K-pop craze – signing on top K-pop actor Lee Min Ho as the first regional-wide ambassador of the brand. Prior to launching regional ambassadors, Lazada’s marketing strategy has always relied heavily on local endorsers, partnering market-specific stars to bring in the engagement with consumers.

Hyun Bin has been a prominent actor among Hallyu, or the term coined for the ‘Korean wave’. He is one of South Korea’s top celebrities and known for K-dramas and movies Secret Garden, Memories of the Alhambra, and The Negotiation. Most recently, his popularity surged even more when he starred as the leading man of the Netflix-produced romantic comedy K-drama, Crash Landing on You. The series gained global craze and afforded both Hyun Bin and the show’s leading lady Son Ye-Jin numerous brand partnerships following the success of the series. 

Hyun Bin_Lazada_LazMall
The first LazMall ad featuring Hyun Bin with an action-filled narrative

On the new ambassador, Lazada Group’s CMO Mary Zhou, commented, “Lazada was the first to bring the virtual ‘mall’ concept to Southeast Asia and we are delighted to welcome renowned superstar Hyun Bin as LazMall’s first regional brand ambassador. With his expansive portfolio of critically-acclaimed films and television dramas, Hyun Bin is a familiar personality respected for his genuine personality and extraordinary dedication to his craft by fans all over the globe. This highly resonates with LazMall’s brand promise of authenticity, quality, and a trusted online destination for consumers to enjoy a convenient shopping experience.”

The announcement comes as Lazada celebrates the third anniversary of LazMall as well as 9.9, the first of the year-end mega campaigns. For starters, Hyun Bin headlines an action-inspired ad. Also known as a great action celebrity, the short ad aims to capture the imagination of fans that is reminiscent of Hyun Bin’s popular action sequences. 

In the TVC, Hyun Bin stars as an agent on a covert mission commanding a crew of operatives. In a fun and celebratory twist, his character targets the mission of releasing thousands of LazMall care packages to the public.

On his LazMall ambassadorship, Hyun Bin said, “I’m very happy to be joining the Lazada family and connecting with fans in Southeast Asia as LazMall’s first regional brand ambassador. I look forward to creating lots of fun times together, starting with the 9.9 shopping festival. I wish everyone good health and hope you stay safe until we can meet again in person.”

He added, “Shooting the short film for the campaign was incredibly fun, especially when we got creative in demonstrating the efficiency, reliability, and variety of products that LazMall offers to shoppers through a secret agent mission storyline.”

LazMall is Lazada’s in-app mall that features flagship stores from both established and starting merchants. This differs from independent sellers in the app. Earlier in August, LazMall introduced a new personalized portal, LazMall Prestige, featuring an extensive portfolio of eight categories with over 50 premium brands such as Bacha Coffee, Bang & Olufsen, Elemis, and Longines, as well as Polo Ralph Lauren, and Salvatore Ferragamo. 

In addition to popular features like Brand Mega offers and an improved returns policy across the region, consumers will gain access to brands through an intimate, visual storytelling experience. This includes an enhanced discovery spotlight via ‘The Prestige Edit’, which features content-rich thematic editorial sections.

In line with the special online launches, Lazada’s mascot Lazzie will also make his idol trainee debut via Lazada’s newest addition on LazGames – Lazzie Star. 

Mumbai, India – The B2B wholesale e-commerce platform in India, Apnaklub, has partnered with Social Beat, the independent digital marketing agency, to further drive the app with the help of a performance marketing approach.

Apnaklub provides local wholesalers and retailers with products from various brands better than local wholesale rates. It also empowers people to start their own wholesale business without any investment or stock risks. In addition, Apnaklub, through its partner program, guarantees that people will get the industry’s best margins on more than 200 brands.

As part of the mandate, Social Beat will be assisting Apnaklub in scaling its shopping app for wholesalers and retailers in the country through performance marketing campaigns that focus on new user acquisition and overall brand awareness.

“We are excited to partner with Social Beat to drive Apnaklub’s mission to improve outcomes for the smaller MSME retailers. With smart digital interventions, we aim to understand the local needs so that we can build a winning micro-business,” said Shruti, CEO of Apnaklub. 

Meanwhile, Vikas Chawla, Social Beat’s co-founder, commented that they are delighted to partner with Apnaklub to increase the visibility of their app. 

“With our experience in finding the product-market fit and merchant acquisition, we are excited to be part of the journey with this experienced and nimble team,” said Chawla.

Just recently, Social Beat has also announced that it has entered a new partnership with global CRM platform Salesforce, with the aim to drive marketing automation and digital transformation for brands in India.

Singapore – Despite the uncertainties of the global pandemic, more consumers continue to resort to e-commerce platforms, and with this, online sellers must cater to the surge in demand for online shopping.

To determine how confident online sellers and companies are about their businesses’ future growth, e-commerce platform Lazada has released its first-of-its-kind business confidence index for digital commerce called ‘Digital Commerce Confidence Index’.

The ‘Digital Commerce Confidence Index’ is a business sentiment survey that seeks to map out the perspectives of online sellers in Southeast Asia about the digital commerce industry while shedding light on the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. It has surveyed 750 sellers across six markets in Southeast Asia, namely Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, as well as Malaysia, and Singapore in the first half of 2021.

The survey found that 52% of sellers experienced a high level of growth during the first half of 2021, with 70% expecting additional growth of more than 10% in the third quarter of 2021. Out of the 70%, about 33% of sellers surveyed were extremely confident that their sales volume would increase by more than 30% in the same time period. As a result, the overall index achieved an ‘optimistic’ score of 64, with 0 being ‘very pessimistic’ and 100 being ‘very optimistic’ on the spectrum.

Moreover, the same survey shows that a key driver of sellers’ positive sentiment could be attributed to significant shifts in SEA consumers’ consumption habits with greater diversification between online and offline purchases. With 47% of consumers reducing their offline purchases and 30% increasing their online spending in 2020, the pandemic has accelerated the expansion of digital commerce and made it a pivotal battleground for sellers looking to scale up their businesses. 

Meanwhile, the strong growth momentum was generally recorded across all retail categories, sellers from the electronics and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) categories appeared to be the biggest beneficiaries of a stay-at-home economy, with 53% reporting that their business recorded strong growth in the first half of 2021.

Magnus Ekbom, Lazada Group’s chief strategy officer, commented that they are excited to launch the Digital Commerce Confidence Index, aiming to shed more light on forward-looking indicators and sentiment among SMEs in the region.

“Many SMEs have embraced new technology and acquired digital capabilities to transform and future-proof their businesses. Despite the challenging health situation and ongoing challenges, our Index shows that sellers remain both resilient and optimistic about the future,” said Ekbom.

The survey also uncovered interesting variations in how sellers felt about the future. For example, sellers from the fashion segment made the biggest leap of faith. Even though 48% say their businesses improved in the first half of the year, 75% say that they expect business to improve in Q3 2021, and almost 40% of them anticipated that their growth would exceed 30% in the same quarter.

In addition, the survey identified sellers as key enablers of online business growth. About 52% of sellers are developing a unique and differentiated offering, while 50% are driving more user traffic, and 23% have the ability to harness data insights. 

With this, Lazada said that in a highly saturated environment, competition among online sellers no longer occurs under a simplistic framework of price wars but has evolved to take on an additional dimension where technology-driven customer engagement serves as a differentiating factor for many sellers.

Manila, Philippines – In line with the upcoming 8.8 Mega Flash Sale, Shopee has launched the new ‘Livestream Flash Sale’ and ‘In-app Business Insights’, features that aim to help sellers gain more viewers and boost their sales during streaming sessions on Shopee Live, the e-commerce’s dedicated in-app live streaming feature where merchants promote their shops and products directly to shoppers.

For the consumers, the new ‘Livestream Flash Sale’ in-app feature enables bargain hunters to land more deals and real-time discounts offered by shoppers online. On the seller side, they can now easily view their live stream data to acquire useful insights to help them strategize and further enhance their live streams. 

In addition, the new ‘In-app Business Insights’ feature allows live streamers to view their live stream data to acquire useful insights to help them strategize and further enhance their live streams. It also lets streamers gauge what their viewers like and what the best-selling products are, so sellers can cater their product selection to viewers’ preferences and achieve better sales.

Shopee Philippines’ Director, Martin Yu, was quoted “We will continue to support them by providing the necessary tools to help them engage with their customers more. Shopee will continue to offer Filipinos a fun and interactive experience.” 

Shopee said that the newly launched features are just two of the many things users can look forward to the nearing 8.8 Mega Flash Sale. Until 8 August, users can also get free shipping vouchers, enjoy daily flash promos, and exclusive deals when checking out using in-app e-wallet ShopeePay.

Singapore – Word-of-mouth and genuine love for a brand continue to be one of the most powerful sources of brand promotion and marketing, and this is on top of micro-marketers or online influencers, who, even though arguably relatable, still patronize brands under a sponsorship or a deal. We go much deeper into the user-generated brand love phenomenon – and that is through our close network on social media. With less outside influence, and trust that laden with more truthful opinion, word-of-mouth is now digitized online buzz. 

Asia-Pacific is a region with strong collective values and beliefs and when it comes to well-loved brands on social media, consumers bound by this region seem to gravitate the same towards conversations on the same types of brands.

According to a quarterly study by Digimind, a social listening and market intelligence platform, the top most discussed brands for the second quarter of the year have taken up quite a lot of changes since the previous quarter. 

The study notes why consumers, more than experiencing brands, love to ‘talk’ about them on social media – it’s because the simple act of it has become some kind of self-actualization.

“There is a gratifying feeling to express how they feel about a product or service, or simply have an opinion,” notes the study. 

The top 10 in Digimind’s Top 50 most discussed brands in APAC

For starters, the title of the most-discussed brand in APAC has been retained from the first quarter of the year, and it is none other than Singapore-born e-commerce platform Shopee. A lot of brands have fluctuated among consumers’ radar, but not Shopee, which isn’t surprising. 

E-commerce has been the go-to shopping ‘destination’ for most since a brunt of physical establishments has been, for the meantime, closed down. With almost everyone accomplishing their purchases on e-commerce platforms such as Shopee, similarly Singaporean platform Lazada, and Indonesia’s Tokopedia, the next impulsive step is to share them on social media and boast of them, as doing so enables consumers to feel an even greater sense of elation and self-worth. 

This has been evident with the latter, with Lazada pushed two places up from Q1, and then Tokopedia an inch closer from the previous period, for both to enter in the top 10 most discussed brands. 

Meanwhile, the holy grail brands and platforms that are at consumers’ immediate disposal, continue to dominate conversations on social media. These are Spotify, Google, Netflix, Apple, and Zoom, with all falling under the top 10 most discussed.

Massive celebrity collaborations have also made way for consumers’ interest to be supercharged towards certain brands, and we’re speaking specifically of the global stardom of K-pop group BTS, which has amplified brand love for McDonald’s and even luxury brand Louis Vuitton. 

The study notes that while much of the commotion is directly from its passionate fan base, a part of the social buzz is also affected by those whose curiosity has been stirred, and therefore, channeling their recent ‘discoveries’ on social media as well. 

A social media post from a BTS fan in the Philippines

With McDonald’s releasing the ‘BTS meal’ across its global markets, the fast-food label jumped to the top 10 of the APAC rankings in Q2 by 34 places. 

Meanwhile, global fashion brand Louis Vuitton which has recently ridden the BTS bandwagon, allowed for it to amass significant social buzz within a relatively short frame of time, putting them within the top 20 rankings by an upturn of 32 spots. 

Another more surprising movement in social buzz based on the study is one with TikTok, which from being part of the top 10, is now nowhere in sight of the top 50. Maybe, the short-video platform, despite its popularity, enjoys much more viewership and usage of the app itself, more than being talked about as it is from afar. 

The top 20 in Digimind’s Top 50 most discussed brands in APAC

Meanwhile, popular super apps and delivery platforms in the region – Grab, foodpanda, and Gojek – which have been looked to with much more dependence from users, have all landed in the top 20. 

“For brands, resonating with the right community is as good as leaving them to handle your marketing with every individual promotion helping to populate your brand’s campaign further,” noted the report.

Data presented were collected by Digimind Historical Search and based on social mentions in APAC between April to June 2021 on platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and even from Pinterest, Reddit, and Tumblr, and YouTube, among others. 

Singapore – Keepital, the one-stop provider of design, IT, and marketing & advertising services for all industries, has partnered with Alibaba as a global service partner to enhance Keepital’s support for local businesses beyond Singapore. Keepital said its aim is to connect businesses and suppliers in Singapore to the rest of the world.

Alibaba.com is the flagship e-commerce of the Alibaba Group. It owns one of the biggest global marketplaces in the world with its vision ‘Global Buy, Global Sell’, empowering goods to travel globally and for merchants to trade freely. Keepital now as an authorized channel partner will share in the goal of helping small businesses sell their goods around the world. Keepital is one of the only two authorized channel partners of the e-commerce in Singapore, together with e-commerce consultant, Innovative Hub. 

Keepital believes that the partnership will support the next stage for businesses as digitalization becomes a crucial strategy in times of the pandemic. Traditional methods will no longer be enough to sustain and grow the business, most especially for cross-border enterprises. 

Online platforms such as Alibaba.com have become the leading way to easily achieve global reach as well as local and regional. Alibaba.com earlier launched in June an initiative to bring more B2B SMEs in Singapore on board, which is its first such initiative in the Asia-Pacific region outside Greater China.

Aside from Singapore, Keepital also operates in Malaysia and Thailand.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – As the canceled Tokyo Olympics finally materializes on 23 July, brands and sponsors are now unleashing their special campaign to engage more sports fans. 

Two official partners to the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 – Procter & Gamble (P&G) and Lazada – has launched a new regional campaign called ‘#GoForGold’, which seeks to encourage people to keep their spirits up, to go for gold, and reach for their dreams, even when the going gets tough.

‘#GoForGold’ is inspired by the many Olympic and Paralympic athletes who are not only achieving athletic greatness but are also stepping up to take action for good, making a positive difference in their communities. The campaign will feature a short film that unites P&G’s long-standing citizenship efforts of Community Impact, Equality & Inclusion, and Environmental Sustainability. 

Titled, ‘Your Goodness is Your Greatness’, the short film, which will appear in full digital form, celebrates athletes who show their best on and off the field of play. Narrated from the perspective of proud parents, the film features real-life Olympic and Paralympic athletes who are leading with love and showing the world that the true measure of greatness is goodness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2rAXgR-qlw

“In a time when the world needs to come together and hope once again, these athletes set the gold standard in terms of perseverance, courage, and selflessness, which we hope will be an inspiration for many others to pursue their dreams and #GoForGold,” shared Alexandra Vogler, P&G’s e-commerce senior director for Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa.

Meanwhile, Lazada Group’s Head of Strategic Accounts and Retail James Chang commented that Lazada is proud to partner with P&G to extend the celebration of “goodness, hope, and resilience” in a sporting spirit to consumers in SEA. 

“This partnership embodies the spirit of positiveness, keeping dreams alive, and fostering connections,” said Chang.

Beyond the film, the campaign will also come to life on Lazada, through a shopping extravaganza on LazMall, which features a wide range of exclusive offers on P&G products such as Pampers, Olay, and Pantene, as well as Oral-B. It will be running across six SEA markets including Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia, as well as Vietnam on 23 July 2021, and in Singapore on 28 July 2021.