Tag: E-commerce

Jakarta, Indonesia – Local e-commerce giant Bukalapak has announced that it is acquiring a majority stake in Malaysian price comparison platform iPrice, giving the latter the opportunity to accelerate its growth by leveraging the synergies between the two groups.

iPrice will continue to operate as an independent entity, maintaining its neutral position towards users, and working with a broad set of merchants and sellers.

Amidst a cooling fundraising market of last year, iPrice’s investors–including Itochu and Naver–have welcomed the deal. It should be recalled that iPrice was forced to scale back on several aspects of its business and downsize the team substantially as it transformed to explore new ways to grow the businesses cost-effectively.

The new investment by Bukalapak is part of the company’s objective to shift its focus from competing head-to-head with other marketplaces, to building or acquiring niche marketplaces and accelerating their growth.

Heinrich Wendel, co-founder of iPrice, said, “We are excited to join forces with Bukalapak and benefit from the group’s synergies. This partnership will allow us to expand our services to help even more users save money across new verticals, like Gaming, and geographies, like Australia.”

Meanwhile, Willix Halim, CEO of Bukalapak, commented, “I’ve known David and the team for years and have always been excited about their work, then recently the opportunity emerged to work together more closely. With Bukalapak’s extensive expertise in e-commerce and iPrice’s loyal user base and proprietary technology, we are confident that we can unlock the platform’s full potential.”

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Google Cloud has announced new artificial intelligence (AI) innovations dedicated to retailers to aid in their in-store shelf checking processes and enhance their e-commerce sites with natural online shopping experiences for consumers. It has also integrated its technologies with Accenture’s ai.RETAIL platform as part of its expanded strategic partnership.

The first on the list is Google Cloud’s new AI-powered shelf checking solution that can help retailers improve on-shelf product availability, provide better visibility into what their shelves actually look like, and help them understand where restocks are needed. 

Built on Google Cloud’s Vertex AI Vision and powered by two machine learning (ML) models—a product recognizer and tag recognizer—the shelf checking AI enables retailers to identify products of all types, at scale, based solely on the visual and text features of a product, and then translate that data into actionable insights.

The company has also announced a new AI-powered browse feature in its Discovery AI solutions for retailers. This capability uses ML to optimise the order of products (i.e., which products the shopper sees first) on a retailer’s e-commerce site once shoppers choose a category, such as ‘women’s jackets’ or ‘kitchenware’.

Other Google Cloud announcements include more personalised search and browsing results with machine learning (ML), and the ‘Recommendations AI’ solution uses ML to help retailers bring product recommendations to their shoppers.

Meanwhile, Accenture’s ai.RETAIL is an integrated solution that helps retailers better utilise data and AI to optimise common systems and programs, such as customer acquisition, pricing and promotions, assortment, and supply chains. Retailers can now deploy the ai.RETAIL platform on Google Cloud, meaning it is extended to Google Cloud’s trusted infrastructure and is integrated with multiple Google Cloud products and capabilities.

For Megawaty Khie, country director for Indonesia and Malaysia at Google Cloud, the upheavals in the past few years have reshaped the retail landscape and retailers are now seeking new ways to be more efficient, more compelling to shoppers, and less exposed to future shocks.

“The leaders of tomorrow will be those who address today’s most pressing in-store and online challenges with the newest AI tools. Our work with Accenture will also help local retailers quickly adopt integrated solutions that amplify the true benefits of AI, so that they can holistically understand their business across functional boundaries and continuously optimise their offerings and operations to thrive in a complex retail environment,” Khie said.

Sridhar Subramanian, managing director of Accenture’s Google Business Group in Asia Pacific, commented that with shifting consumer buying habits, now more than ever, retailers need to invest in building a digital core – which includes a solid data foundation, ML, and AI. 

“With the best of Accenture’s integrated ai.RETAIL platform and Google Cloud technology, companies can now access products and capabilities to help improve consumer engagement and conversions, and make their supply chains more sustainable,” Subramanian said.

Google Cloud and Accenture are also collaborating on a broad, new initiative to address complex challenges facing retailers today, including applying intelligence from ai.RETAIL to help businesses optimise their customer, workforce, and storefront experiences, and utilising other technologies and offerings from both companies.

Australia – Around 65% of consumers think ease of navigation is the most important factor in website user experience, but only 28% of businesses cite improving website design as a priority. This is according to the latest research conducted by content management system (CMS) company Storyblok.

According to the research, amidst a difference in percentage, consumers and businesses still both agree that fast loading speeds are critical. 42% of consumers said they decide whether to stay on or leave a website within 10 seconds – with 20% within half that time, or 5 seconds. In terms of loading time, 47% of businesses stated it a top priority within improving the website. 

On the business side, 43% said they would add more features to their site, whilst 52% said they would add more payment options, but this was less of an issue for consumers with only 37% citing limited payment options as a reason to abandon a purchase.

Dominik Angerer, CEO and Co-Founder of Storyblok, said, “There’s a lot of enthusiasm from businesses for more website features, but this is not shared by consumers – at least not yet. It’s important for businesses to continually ask themselves if the features they add to their websites really do enhance the customer experience. More is not always better, and what our research clearly shows is that businesses cannot lose sight of the fundamentals of good design, clear navigation, and fast loading speeds.” 

Previous research by Storyblok underlines the importance of businesses understanding the priorities of their customers. Said study revealed that 60% of consumers regularly abandon purchases due to poor website user experience, with businesses estimating it costs, on average, USD$72,000 in lost sales per year.

Looking ahead, 28% of business leaders said they believe AR/VR experiences are the most important trend in marketing, followed by AI-generated content (22%), personalisation (20%), and automation (11%). Consumers are slightly more sceptical about the impact of AR/VR with 42% stating it would encourage them to make a purchase and 21% saying they simply don’t know. 

Singapore – Top e-commerce platform in Indonesia, iStyle.id, which offers a wide range of products in Korean beauty, fashion, and lifestyle, has partnered with Singapore-based live commerce and shoppable short video solutions provider BeLive Technology. 

BeLive Technology’s platform for iStyle.id will enable the latter to activate the continuously growing channel of live commerce, allowing its users to buy products through said means which includes shoppable video content and interactive features. Meanwhile, the latest collaboration marks BeLive Technology’s further expansion across Asia as well as the opportunity to advance Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) channels.

The new capabilities by iStyle.id aim to maximise the interaction with customers and deliver an engaging shopping experience. According to BeLive, since the platform launched, iStyle.id has seen an average 250 per cent increase in the company’s month-on-month live sales.

Steven Calvin Victory, CEO of iStyle.id, commented, “iStyle.id’s journey with BeLive Technology in the past year has had a good impact on the company’s growth as [an] e-commerce in Korean beauty, fashion, and lifestyle. In the future, iStyle.id will add more than 500 various products and we hope that with [BeLive Technology,] we can improve our strategic campaign to provide the best live shopping for our consumers.”

Meanwhile, Kenneth Tan, CEO and Co-founder of BeLive Technology, believes that the partnership with iStyle.id will trailblaze live shopping adoption in Indonesia, which is one of Southeast Asia’s leading Direct-to-Consumers economies. 

“iStyle.id has been very innovative and transformed itself to be a market leader in the field of live commerce and shoppable short videos. We are happy to be able to support them in their digital transformation journey,” Tan said.

iStyle.id’s live commerce and short-video features are available on both its web and mobile apps. 

Hong Kong – Almost all of marketers in Southeast Asia have said that they will be increasing retail media spending within the next 12 months, a new report released by Carousell Media Group and IAB SEA+India reveals.

In the report, around 87% of the respondents intend including retail media as part of their media plans within the next 12 months. Moreover, it is also worth noting that retail media advertising accounts for 1 in 5 advertising dollars spent.

It also noted that around 78% of the marketer respondents will use retail media data for off-platform targeting on new formats such as Connected TV (CTV), while 44% will advertise on a brand-suitable retail media network that does not carry their products.

Miranda Dimopoulos, regional CEO at IAB SEA+India, explained that around 44% of respondents say they will advertise on a retail media network even if they do not have any products listed on that marketplace. 

“For marketers, investing ad spend in a retail media network compatible with their own brand values, and those of their customers, is a major consideration,” she said.

Meanwhile, JJ Eastwood, managing director at Carousell Media Group, commented, “Retail Media allows brands to showcase their products to consumers who have specifically searched for that item, or something similar, providing a seamless consumer experience and, of course, a solid return on ad spend.”

He added, “The fact that 78% of respondents want to use retail media data for off-platform targeting, specifically on exciting new formats like CTV, indicates that Retail Media is moving up the funnel and can provide marketers with both direct response and branding opportunities.”

Eastwood will further be discussing the future of retail media at the upcoming What’s NEXT 2023: Marketing in Asia-Pacific conference. The panel, titled Digital Advertising’s Third Big Wave – The Rise Of Retail Media, will further explore how brands can tap retail media and leverage it to their advantage.

Carousell and IAB SEA+India had previously worked together in a report, where they tackled trends in the region regarding consumer purchasing attitudes.

Singapore – Global e-commerce giant Amazon has announced a new wave of layoffs: this time affecting 18,000 employees globally. Majority of the roles impacted will be under the company’s physical store Amazon Store, as well as from their people, experience, and technology (PXT) organisation.

In a public letter posted by Andy Jassy, CEO at Amazon, the new set of layoffs comes after they have worked in the past year to work with their teams and looking at their workforce levels, investments they want to make in the future, and prioritising what matters most to customers and the long-term health of their businesses.

“[We] are deeply aware that these role eliminations are difficult for people, and we don’t take these decisions lightly or underestimate how much they might affect the lives of those who are impacted,” Jassy said.

It should be recalled that Amazon laid off around 10,000 employees in November 2022, impacting corporate and technology roles. Moreover, it also announced that it will be freezing hiring for corporate roles in its retail business.

“We typically wait to communicate about these outcomes until we can speak with the people who are directly impacted. However, because one of our teammates leaked this information externally, we decided it was better to share this news earlier so you can hear the details directly from me,” Jassy added.

Amazon’s newest update are part of a worrying trend of tech layoffs that started in 2022. Large-profile companies like Meta, Oracle, Netflix, Snap, Twitter, as well as regional companies like Carsome, Shopee, and Tencent have announced ‘sizable’ layoffs.

Vietnam – Greenoly, a Vietnam-based health supplement e-retailer invested in by Blueseed Group, has recently signed a strategic partnership with beauty product distributor Beautizon. 

With the partnership, Greenoly will be acting as a key online retail platform for Beautizon’s brands and products. Blueseed Group, on the other hand, will be supporting its marketing efforts to boost Beautizon’s brand awareness and adoption in Vietnam.

Beautizon’s Founder and Director Steven Stoddart shared his excitement over the partnership, stating, “As a distributor of leading Australian and New Zealand brands we see Greenoly as a great online retail platform to connect our products to customers throughout Vietnam.”

He also added that the Blueseed Group’s market-leading marketing experience will help Beautizon take its brands to new levels in the marketplace. 

Greenoly’s CCO Thao Tran also said, “We’re so happy to be partnering more closely with Beautizon and their brands like Sukin. Already in the lead up to this formal agreement we’ve been seeing great growth in the customer demand for high quality, natural and more gentle beauty products compared to what has traditionally been available within Vietnam.”

Meanwhile, Bill Crang, head of partnerships at Blueseed Group, also shared his excitement over the said partnership. “I’m even more excited that via this partnership we will be able to reach out to support other top Aussie (and Kiwi!) brands enter the fast growing Vietnam market.”

It was January this year when Blueseed Group made an investment in Greenoly in an effort to build the latter as Vietnam’s next retail champion.

Singapore – While Singaporean consumers are likely to be more pragmatic and price-conscious this holiday season in light of current global conditions, online spend on essential and personal care items like groceries and apparel this holiday season will still increase. This was according to the latest survey from Amazon Singapore, in collaboration with YouGov.

According to the survey, three in four Singaporeans make at least one online purchase a month, with pricing and sales discounts (50%) emerging as the top consideration factor among online shoppers looking to purchase items this holiday season, followed by product quality (15%) and trustworthiness of a website (11%).

The survey also found that more than half of online shoppers are likely to be more conservative with their spending this holiday season in light of current global economic conditions, with 57% of shoppers saying they will spend less or wait until there is more stability before making large purchases. This highlights the need for retailers to look at helping to mitigate consumers’ fear of inflation and offer budget-friendly options for customers.

On the other hand, almost three in 10 (27%) are optimistic that there will be no impact on their spending this holiday season. Online shoppers also say that the top categories they plan to spend more on during this period are apparel and accessories (38%), groceries (35%), and health and personal care (31%).

Around 53% also said they are keen to see more items from local brands on e-commerce stores, however 78% said that they will only shop from local brands if there are good deals and promotions. Meanwhile, 66% of online shoppers surveyed said that they will buy from brands that offer the lowest prices.

Lastly, while 68% of shoppers say they plan to purchase items online for themselves during the holiday, the survey found that around 37% of shoppers aged 25-34 years also plan to purchase items for their parents or partner’s parents, while around 48% of shoppers aged 35-54 years plan to purchase items for their children. This indicates that there is an opportunity for retailers with a target audience aged 25 and above to appeal to online shoppers looking to purchase items or gifts for their family and children.

Singapore – In celebration of its 10th anniversary, leading multi-category platform for secondhand in Greater Southeast Asia Carousell Group released the Carousell Recommerce Index (10th Anniversary Edition) revealing the sustainability impact its collective community has made by buying and selling secondhand items. 

Over the past decade, the Group’s users have extended the life cycle of millions of items, including: 76.8 million fashion items; 33.9 million electronics; 26.6 million hobby items and toys; 11.1 million home items and furniture; and 10.6 million babies & kids items. 

To further illustrate the impact, if we take the total number of used fashion listings on Carousell, we can provide every single person in Singapore with 13 outfits. Additionally, assuming all used electronics listed are iPhone Xs, the height when stacked together is the equivalent of over 23,500 times the height of Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.

The Recommerce Index also showed a study conducted by IAB and Carousell Media Group that Singaporeans topped the chart with 44% choosing “saving money” as their key motivations for buying secondhand.

The report also highlighted key trends in each market, specifically for Singapore:

  • Top 3 most popular categories to sell secondhand items are Fashion, Hobbies & Toys, Home & Furniture
  • Top 3 most popular secondhand category to browse are Fashion, Hobbies & Toys, Home & Furniture
  • All-time top 3 most searched keywords for secondhand items: Rolex, AG06 (Yahama Channel Mixer) and Road Bike

Recommerce refers to the selling and buying of previously-owned products, including both new and used in condition. The report covers data from 9 of Carousell Group’s family of brands across Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan markets — Carousell, Cho Tot, Laku6, Mudah.my, OneKyat, One Shift, Ox Luxe, Ox Street, and Refash.

Since its inception in 2012 as a mobile-first app to make selling and buying underutilised items easier, Carousell has grown from a C2C classifieds marketplace into a multi-category platform for secondhand goods in Greater Southeast Asia. To accelerate the next decade of recommerce, the Group has been working on additional capabilities to offer more features and services to users that make buying secondhand items as trusted and convenient as buying brand new items.

Ng Chee Soon, managing director at Carousell Singapore, said, “Carousell was founded a decade ago with the mission of making secondhand the first choice. The Recommerce Index serves as a crucial guide to help us better understand the motivations behind our consumers’ behaviour, especially amidst the post-Covid economic uncertainty. With 1 in 3 Singaporeans using Carousell monthly, secondhand is even more accessible to everyone and we are excited to fuel the shift and for Carousell to drive recommerce growth in the Greater Southeast Asia region.” 

The Carousell Recommerce Index (10th anniversary edition) is available for download here.

Bangkok, Thailand – E-commerce enabler aCommerce announced the release of its new connector that will help data streams from Shopify to the former’s proprietary omnichannel order management platform EcommerceIQ.

The connector is aimed at helping e-commerce managers keep track of their multiple sales channels switching between marketplaces, social commerce, and direct-to-consumer dashboards to monitor their online business. 

It is also expected to enable a smooth flow of products, inventory, sales orders, returns, delivery updates, and all related data between EcommerceIQ and Shopify.

The connector is secured by EcommerceIQ’s proprietary tokenized module and will automatically consume and synchronise order information, inventory, and pricing control through a unified panel.

Upon its release, aCommerce’s existing partners will have the opportunity to be among the first to opt in and sample its capabilities with full EIQ integration. The connector will then be brought to the broader market in the next few months following the pilot.

“We are thrilled about the upcoming release of what this new connector can bring to our clients and the wider market,” said Roberto Kauffmann, aCommerce’s group chief product officer.

He added, “For our brand clients, this Shopify and EcommerceIQ turnkey integration-as-a-service allows us to simply add and operate Shopify stores as an additional channel. Likewise, brands wishing to launch a store or existing Shopify merchants, can now easily scale up their business by tapping into our fulfillment and other EcommerceIQ services almost instantly. It also provides clients with centralized multichannel monitoring and insights that are vital for professional ecommerce.”

Paul Srivorakul, aCommerce group chief executive officer, also commented, “Direct-to-consumer is a crucial piece of the puzzle. With the new public integration, our clients will have a 360 view of their operations, where they can manage and optimize their ecommerce business. This is an opportunity for brands and merchants to leverage their existing marketplace presence and create an efficient multi-channel strategy.”

aCommerce was previously tapped by Shopify Plus to be its first partner in Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines.