Tag: E-commerce

Singapore – Regional e-commerce platform Shopee and multinational consumer goods company Procter and Gamble (P&G) have recently launched an exclusive virtual home shopping experience, as part of P&G’s ‘Regional Super Brand Day’ on Shopee.

Said virtual home shopping experience aims to include campaign-exclusive deals, on-site visibility, and traffic drivers such as influencer engagement and media. It will also include multi-format touch points including videos, gamification, and localised content in a bid to make online home shopping convenient and engaging for all.

The new virtual home shopping experience is a one-stop shop for household essentials produced by P&G brands such as Olay, Downey, Gillette, where users can browse through items categorised according to rooms. The immersive shopping experience aims to provide consumers with an interactive and elevated online shopping journey that changes the way they discover and browse products, beyond traditional product pages. 

This feature is being rolled out progressively across six countries in the Southeast Asia region. Starting with Malaysia and Vietnam on 10 July, it is being progressively rolled out in July and August across Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia. Elements of the microsite will be localised to each country with the aim of better resonating with consumers through familiar imagery.

Pavan Challa, director of regional brand partnerships at Shopee said, “We are happy to deepen our long-running partnership with P&G to elevate the digital home shopping experience. This new feature will help consumers immerse themselves into the journey of browsing and discovering new brands and items very much like visiting a showroom.” 

He added, “Deeper engagement with brands will also help to facilitate greater customer loyalty, which is a win-win for our users. As we continue to grow the household and personal care categories on Shopee Mall, we look forward to working closely with brands such as P&G to innovate experiences.”

Meanwhile, Shankar Viswanathan, head of e-commerce for Asia Pacific Middle East & Africa at Procter & Gamble, commented, “With the COVID-19 pandemic causing a surge in e-commerce over the past few years, staying ahead with digital innovation is more important than ever. In partnership with Shopee, the virtual home experience has been carefully curated with consumers in mind.” 

He added, “By leveraging the power of technology and gamification, we aim to provide consumers with the best possible virtual home shopping experience in the new normal. In line with P&G’s belief in constructive disruption, we are certain that this will drive growth and value, shaping the future of e-commerce.”

Singapore – Japan-based end-to-end commerce enablement company AnyMind has raised ¥4b in funding, around US$91.7m, to strengthen the company’s advancement in the e-commerce enablement space and fund future acquisitions.

The Series D funds were raised from new investors including JIC Venture Growth Investments, Japan Post Investment Corporation, Nomura SPARX Investment, and PROTO Ventures Inc., along with existing investor Mitsubishi UFJ Capital.

In addition, the funds raised will be used for future acquisitions both in Japan and internationally. To date, AnyMind Group has acquired seven companies from various parts of the region including Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand and India. The reasons to make these acquisitions were either to acqui-hire a company’s leadership, expand into new businesses or regions, acquire additional sales channels, or all three. 

Kosuke Sogo, CEO and co-founder of AnyMind Group, said, “Despite COVID-19 and geopolitical situations impacting the world, we have still been able to achieve solid growth as a business. On the other hand, we are seeing economies across Asia, including our operating markets of ASEAN and India, rapidly regaining growth momentum.” 

He added, “We will continue to grow our business at a pace that matches our ambitions, look towards expanding our capabilities through M&A, and strengthen our investment and profit structure for growth, as we continue to become the next-generation infrastructure for commerce in Asia.”

In March this year, the company launched AnyChat, a conversational commerce platform, and in April, the company launched e-commerce management platform AnyX, which optimises e-commerce operations through central management of multiple e-commerce channels. Funds from this round will be used to further enhance existing platforms and strengthen market share across the company’s operating regions. 

On the company’s various business and product movements, Sogo said, “We will continue to make it exciting for everyone to do business by enhancing and expanding our innovations that form the infrastructure for the next generation of commerce. Over the years we have developed platforms across the end-to-end spectrum of commerce that can be used individually, and can now also be used as part of an integrated suite of tools to deliver more effective and efficient commerce for businesses.” 

He added, “We are just at the start of our journey, as we power some of the most exciting enterprises and forward-thinking publishers and influencers in this part of the world.”

Singapore – South Korea’s cosmetics and personal care company, LG H&H, and regional e-commerce platform, Shopee, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to deepen their partnership in the SEA region, with the aim to scale up LG H&H’s e-commerce business and capture new online buyers.

The MOU is expected to accelerate LG H&H’s growth not only in the premium beauty category but also in the premium personal care category in five key markets, namely Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam, as well as Thailand, and Taiwan. It also aims to help LG H&H to be in the Top 10 Brand Principal in the Health & Beauty Category on Shopee. LG H&H brands that already have official stores on Shopee include The Face Shop, belif, and su:m37.

Moreover, under this partnership, both companies will be working together closely to accelerate new user growth by bringing more brands under LG H&H onto Shopee, and identifying new collaboration opportunities in areas such as marketing and exclusive product launches. 

In June 2022, LG H&H officially launched the luxury brand, The History of Whoo, on Shopee Mall and Shopee Premium with their first regional campaign across five markets, which are Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, and Vietnam, as well as Malaysia. Designed to introduce customers to the secret of Korean Royal Beauty, the campaign featured the brand’s signature skincare range, the ‘Bichup’ product series. A campaign launch video was also created by LG H&H and Shopee Premium to build awareness and educate about the brand heritage through richer storytelling.

Sean Lee, the head of the overseas business division at LG H&H, commented that they are glad to start this new partnership with Shopee as their key priority e-commerce partner in SEA, and they believe that LG H&H and Shopee together, will be able to accelerate the company’s growth with the help of Shopee’s deep insights on the local market landscape, and especially their expertise on using data-driven approaches to understand consumer behaviours on e-commerce. 

“We are proud to have launched our representative luxury brand, The History of Whoo, on Shopee Premium with our first regional campaign. We are glad to receive a warm response from Shopee users, and hope to further our reach to more customers on e-commerce,” said Lee.

Meanwhile, Terence Pang, chief operating officer at Shopee, shared that as the demand for premium health, beauty and personal care products continue to grow on Shopee, they are delighted to deepen their partnership with LG H&H to bring greater variety and value to their shoppers. 

“We aim to support them in expanding their omnichannel presence in Southeast Asia, especially in reaching the emerging generation of digital luxury shoppers through Shopee Premium. Together with LG H&H and many of our brand partners, we look forward to co-creating more exciting, unique and rewarding experiences for our customers in future,” said Pang.

Jakarta, Indonesia – Amidst the observance of Ramadan, Indonesians have downloaded e-commerce apps more than any other category during the said time period, according to the latest data from data.ai.

According to the data, Indonesia’s e-commerce app downloads took a 27% increase from the overall app downloads in Indonesia from April to May this year. This is followed by buy-now, pay later (BNPL) apps (9%), coupons and rewards (8%), and overall shopping (4%).

Shopee ranked first for breakout time spent in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. In Indonesia, home-grown Tokopedia ranked second by breakout time spent. Tokopedia also saw strong growth in Malaysia during Ramadan, ranking fourth by breakout time spent.

In terms of overall shopping, Shopee still ranks first in breakout downloads, followed by Bilibili and Alibaba. Other apps that ranked include Lazada in fourth, UNIQLO Indonesia in fifth, and Zalora in sixth.

“Shopee’s increased share of advertiser impressions and share of creative impressions indicates this video ad was likely resonating with viewers and driving downloads. The ad was seen in 49 apps, with a high volume of games. The video ad also emphasised vouchers — appealing to the sale period,” data.ai explained regarding the top ranking of Shopee.

Globally, consumers turned to mobile to engage during Ramadan, particularly for prayer. Downloads of the top 10 Quran apps grew 120% during Ramadan versus the 30 days prior. Time spent grew even faster at 135% — fueled by both a larger audience of mobile users and deeper per-user engagement. Average daily time spent per user in top Quran apps grew 55% to approach 20 minutes during the 30 day period.

Bengaluru, India – India’s homegrown e-commerce marketplace, Flipkart, has unveiled its new brand promise – ‘Super products at super prices with super speed’. To communicate this fresh approach, the brand has launched a new campaign, bringing Alia Bhatt in the avatar of a ‘FlipGirl’, the ‘superhero’ protagonist for the Indian shoppers seeking a saviour to affirm their ‘wishlist’.

Dressed in a cape with Flipkart’s signature blue and yellow colours, ‘FlipGirl’ has a sharp eye to avert any danger and help people in need. While saving them from dangers, she also saves the day by offering them advice to shop on Flipkart.

The campaign aims to communicate Flipkart’s commitment to democratising e-commerce and premium brands, making them accessible through faster delivery across the country, establishing itself as the go-to destination for consumer needs. It also brings forward the fact that products across categories, including mobiles and electronics, fashion and lifestyle, home accessories, and beauty, are made available conveniently and delivered to customers’ doorsteps across the country. 

Dushyanth Jayanty, vice president of marketing at Flipkart, noted that since its inception, Flipkart has promised and delivered a great selection at fantastic value delivered at speed, and this has only gotten stronger. 

“This is what we wanted to remind shoppers of – they can count on Flipkart to save their day. ‘FlipGirl’ embodies this for us, and Alia Bhatt’s fantastic skills have brought that to life. So next time, users do not have to compromise on selection or speed to get fantastic value – they can listen to FlipGirl and just shop on Flipkart,” said Jayanty. 

Meanwhile, Hemant Badri, SVP and head of supply chain at Flipkart, said, “ As the festive season kicks in, customers across the country are looking for a companion who can help them answer their need for fast delivery without compromising on product quality and selection. Our robust tech-enabled supply chain will ensure 1-hour delivery to same-day delivery across pin codes, and the FlipGirl concept communicates that to millions of customers across the country.”

Moreover, Flipkart has devised a 360-degree campaign, which was conceptualised by McCann World Group, with a judicious mix of channels to reach its dynamic set of consumers in multiple languages across demographics.

Singapore – E-commerce enabler in SEA, Synagie, has unveiled its regional TikTok Shop Incubation Programme, which has been established with the aim of helping brands to accelerate their digitalisation and to jump-start their social commerce journey by onboarding onto TikTok’s latest commerce solution.

The programme will be immediately available to the 600 brands Synagie manages and to incoming brands looking to expand onto TikTok’s dynamic content channel. As part of the programme, the company will be waiving platform management fees for brands and sellers for up to six months or until a predetermined level of sales is achieved, whichever comes first. Other initiatives such as training sessions and workshops organised in collaboration with TikTok will also be part of the programme and Synagie’s offerings to brands.

Since 2021, TikTok Shop, which enables merchants to integrate their e-commerce infrastructure with Open API and sell their products across the TikTok ecosystem, has been progressively rolled out across SEA and is now available in six countries, namely Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam, as well as Thailand.

Pei Gy Wong, Synagie’s vice president for channel development and store management, shared that they have worked closely with TikTok Shop teams across the region since the pilot to integrate their backend systems, and they now offer brands and sellers a seamless and secure way to onboard and manage this channel with their existing digital commerce touchpoints. 

“With the extended platform management fee waiver, we aim to nurture the spirit of partnership as we explore this new digital frontier together. Further, with the rise of social commerce in the region, we felt it would be important to help our brand partners explore this avenue to enhance their digital commerce strategies,” said Wong.

As a TikTok Shop Partner (TSP) and content agency partner within its multi-channel network, Synagie offerings are able to address TikTok commerce’s challenges of fulfilment and logistics. The integration of Synagie backend with TikTok Shop will provide end-to-end ecosystem support for brands and sellers, similar to its services across other digital commerce platforms.

Moreover, with video content being a requisite for TikTok Shop, Synagie’s curated content packages are available to brands looking for additional support. Synagie maintains a database of close to 6,000 nano and micro-content creators across SEA who will be able to help brands curate content. It is currently retained by brands such as Nike, Kiehl’s, Shiseido Group, KOSE and Philosophy to create video content and produce live stream shows regularly.

Singapore – Global business-to-business media company Ascential has acquired regional e-commerce and digital solutions provider Intrepid. This drives Ascential’s expansion, further establishing the company as a truly global leader in e-commerce optimization by providing a strategic entry point into the high-growth South-East Asian market.

For Intrepid, the acquisition will provide access to a wider network of resources and knowledge, which will allow it to cement its position as a technology leader in South-East Asia, further accelerating its growth.

In addition, Intrepid will become part of Ascential’s Digital Commerce division, which enables consumer product companies to maximise their sales, share, and profitability across the world’s leading consumer marketplaces.

Duncan Painter, CEO of Ascential, said, “We are delighted to welcome Intrepid to the Ascential team. Intrepid’s strong presence in South East Asia and proven expertise operating across the major marketplaces in this important region further enhances the capabilities and global reach of our Digital Commerce business.”

Meanwhile, Jasper Knoben, CEO of Intrepid, said that the acquisition is a natural strategic fit for the continued success of both Intrepid and Ascential. 

“Our vision, strategy and cultures are very well aligned and we look forward to working closely with the Ascential team. Joining Ascential offers Intrepid a strong platform for future growth, full of exciting opportunities to accelerate our business and leverage global best practices for our analytics and marketing technology to deliver truly cutting-edge service and tools for our clients across our e-commerce, marketing and insights business units,” Knoben commented.

Jakarta, Indonesia – Southeast Asia’s e-commerce merchant services technology platform, Ginee, has partnered with fashion e-retailer ZALORA to help merchants drive traffic and maximise revenue on their product-level pages on Ginee. This collaboration is part of Ginee’s mission to integrate with multiple marketplaces and e-commerce platforms to help businesses grow sales and manage their stores efficiently.

Ginee provides a SaaS Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platform to help online sellers easily manage day-to-day operations and customer relationship management via multiple marketplaces, as well as offering warehouse management services (WMS).

Meanwhile, ZALORA is an e-commerce platform focused on fashion, beauty and lifestyle, carrying products from over 3,000 international and local brands. It has established a presence throughout the region, particularly in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

Sely Adelina, brand acquisition associate manager at ZALORA, noted that their easy API integration with Ginee will accelerate digitalisation and e-commerce growth in Indonesia and across SEA, especially post-pandemic. 

“As a leading fashion and lifestyle e-commerce pioneer in the region, we’re excited to help online sellers on Ginee tap into this growing pool of digital, mobile-first shoppers who are looking to buy not just daily necessities but also online fashion, beauty and lifestyle products,” she said.

Meanwhile, Evelyin Wu, Ginee’s head of SEA, commented they are very excited about this partnership with ZALORA, the leading fashion e-commerce pioneer in this region. 

“Through our integration with ZALORA, we enable thousands of online sellers on our Ginee ERP (Enterprise Resource Platform) platform to run and manage their business easily and efficiently through a single platform, from CRM and order/inventory management to sales reports and accounting and even to warehouse management and last-mile delivery,” said Wu.

Just recently, Ginee has also partnered with TikTok Shop to provide a new online shopping experience for brands and merchants to reach their consumers through TikTok Shop, an exclusive and innovative marketplace where entertainment meets commerce that is fully integrated into TikTok, bringing together online sellers, buyers, and creators.

Singapore – Regional e-commerce platforms Lazada and Shopee are among the top shopping apps used on a monthly basis in the Asia-Pacific region, according to data from data.ai.

According to the ranking based on monthly usage average, apps Shopee and Lazada are going head to head in several Southeast Asian markets. Shopee ranked first in Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Taiwan; while Lazada ranked first in Thailand and Philippines.

Several APAC markets have their local e-commerce platform ranked first, including Flipkart for India, Coupang for South Korea, and Taobao for Hong Kong. Meanwhile, e-commerce giant Amazon ranked first in the APAC markets of Japan and Australia.

On the other hand, SHEIN ranked first in the APAC markets of Japan, the Philippines, and Malaysia in terms of breakout downloads. Meanwhile, Atome ranked first in Hong Kong and Singapore.

In the video streaming category, YouTube still dominates the APAC market in terms of downloads, ranking first in Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Meanwhile, Bilibili dominated the Philippine market, and iQYI dominated Malaysia and Thailand. Lastly, Tencent Video ranked first in China and Indonesia. Top streaming apps in other APAC markets include Netflix (South Korea), Hotstar (India), and Disney+ (Australia).

In terms of consumer spend, YouTube still ranks first in APAC, as well as first in South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Meanwhile, Tencent Video ranked first in China and Indonesia; and Disney+ on Australia and Singapore. Other ranking apps per market include HBO GO (Philippines), Hotstar (India), and FPT Play (Vietnam).

Lastly, in the food category, foodpanda dominates APAC in the downloads category, specifically in the markets of Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, and Taiwan. McDonald’s ranked first in Hong Kong and Australia, while Grab ranked first in Indonesia and Vietnam.

On the monthly average users, Grab ranked first in the markets of Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, and Malaysia. 

Singapore – One of the challenges for online sellers looking to provide service and sustainability is that 23% of everything that global shoppers order online is returned and almost 39% admitted to over-ordering with the intention of returning unwanted items, presenting another dilemma for retailers’ digital supply chain, according to global e-commerce consultancy Wunderman Thompson Commerce. 

The same research found that the worst offenders for returns in the APAC region were consumers in India, sitting at the top of the global chart at 44%. Yet, the least likely to return in the region was Japan at 13%. It also revealed that the increasing influence of retail marketplaces continues to drive consumer spending online, which can be predominately seen in the APAC markets, as China leads the way in online spending sitting at 66%, followed by Indonesia and India at 64%, Thailand at 60%, Australia at 55%, and Japan at 48%.

But winning online means getting the service right – one of the biggest changes post-pandemic is the expectation and demands that consumers have of retailers. About 24% of global consumers now expect delivery in two hours, and the APAC region leads the charge in these demands with 46% of consumers in India expecting delivery in under 2 hours, Indonesia at 27%, and China and Thailand at 25%. These delivery expectations present a conundrum to retailers with 48% of global consumers demanding faster delivery, while 68% said that they wished that brands and retailers offered better environmental practices. 

Meanwhile, when consumers were asked if they ‘actively choose brands that are more environmentally responsible’, the region sits well beyond the global average. Thailand consumers sit at number one globally at 83%, followed by Indonesia at number two with 82%, India at number three with 81%, and China at number five with 71%. Australia and Japan had further to go in making active in sustainable choices, sitting at 46% and 38% respectively.

Aadit Bimbhet, regional commerce director at Wunderman Thompson APAC, shared that the COVID-19 has accelerated digital adoption globally and in Southeast Asia nearly 70 million new shoppers are estimated to have come online for the first time, while marketplaces remain the dominant force online, consumer loyalty and preferences in APAC are evolving in the face of fragmented online journeys. 

“Consumers expect to engage with brands across multiple touch-points and brands have to start enabling connected commerce experiences to efficiently acquire and retain shoppers. Furthermore, as competition for shoppers in APAC increases, delivering brand experiences that are consistent, cohesive and engaging will be crucial to capturing a share of heart, mind and wallet in the long run,” said Bimbhet.

Meanwhile, Hugh Fletcher, global head of consultancy and innovation at Wunderman Thompson Commerce, noted that TikTok, Twitter and Instagram, marketplaces and e-commerce more generally offer shoppers an instant way to engage with, and purchase from, their favourite products and services.

“However, this means demands are higher, expectations are loftier, and consumers have reduced patience; they want products and services at the click of a button and won’t settle for second-best. Couple this with the rising cost of living and retailers face a fight to get consumers’ cash as they choose where they shop, which brands to invest in and what digital services to use,” said Fletcher.

In addition, the research shows that consumers have a healthy appetite for retailers to invest in emerging tech trends, including cashless payments with 58% and checkout-less supermarket services such as Amazon Go with 64%. The online world is also creating enormous value for retailers, with 60% of consumers planning to increase their usage of digital shopping channels. This has been driven by working from home (WFH), with 69% of consumers saying they have shopped more online, and 62% saying they have discovered new brands as a consequence of WFH.

The results have been even better this year for online marketplaces, such as Amazon, eBay, Mercado Libre, and Rakuten, amongst others. About 64% of global consumers go as far as to say they are excited by the prospect of buying everything through one retailer and 36% have already started their search on top marketplaces. While Amazon sits at number one across Europe, UK, USA, and UAE, APAC sees more diversity, with more marketplaces vying for consumers and social media platforms featuring heavily.