Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Grab has unveiled its latest collaboration with Jaya Grocer, Malaysia’s leading mass-premium supermarket chain. Now, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) brands retailing under Jaya Grocer can leverage GrabAds, Grab’s advertising arm, for a unified omnichannel advertising solution. 

This marks the seamless integration of GrabMart’s online retail presence with Jaya Grocer’s offline presence comprising 50 physical stores across Malaysia. Whether it is about helping brands increase visibility, boost sales or simply build brand, Grab and Jaya Grocer are elevating their commitment through this online-to-offline (O2O) integration to deliver unparalleled value to FMCG players retailing under the supermarket chain.

Amongst the notable brands under Jaya Grocer who have leveraged this omnichannel advertising solution via a GrabAds campaign is leading healthy cheese brand, The Laughing Cow. The brand successfully attributed majority of its offline sales at Jaya Grocer to its online awareness campaign on GrabAds during the campaign period.

Grab and Jaya Grocer in 2021, have been working together to bring the convenience of on-demand grocery delivery to more consumers in Malaysia. In 2022, Grab and Jaya Grocer announced the rollout of GrabPay and GrabRewards across all Jaya Grocer physical retail stores, and the subsequent folding of Jaya Grocer’s loyalty programme with any Grab user in 2023. This integration, which now includes GrabAds, will allow FMCG brands to reap even more benefits from the Grab ecosystem.

Dave Yang, regional head of sales and GTM at GrabAds, said, “As consumers make purchases in stores while maintaining online shopping habits, it is imperative for brands to consider the entire omnichannel consumer journey when closing the loop from awareness to purchase.”

He added, “Retail media networks like GrabAds enable brands to build such O2O advertising campaigns seamlessly, thanks to our comprehensive ad ecosystem – from online search ads to offline fleet wraps. We are only strengthening our O2O capabilities with the integration of Jaya Grocer. GrabAds looks forward to working with more FMCG brands on innovative O2O campaigns.”

Meanwhile, Daniel Teng, deputy chief executive officer at Jaya Grocer, commented, “We are thrilled to see the continued impact of our integration with Grab, particularly for the FMCG brands retailing under Jaya Grocer. The promising landscape of on-demand grocery services in Malaysia, where many consumers prefer a seamless blend of online and offline shopping, makes this partnership more significant than ever. Our collaboration with Grab will allow Jaya Grocer to tap into an active consumer base shopping online and offline, contributing to the growth trajectory of our (Jaya Grocer’s) business in Malaysia.”

Mumbai, India – Global consumer electronics company Samsung has recently announced the inauguration of its first online-to-offline (O2O) store in India at Mumbai’s Jio World Plaza mall. This new store inauguration aims to strengthen the company’s grip in the Indian electronic market.

The store, called Samsung BKC, will showcase Samsung’s top-of-the-line premium products through unique curated experiences and real-life scenarios. Moreover, the new store will feature Samsung’s premium portfolio ranging from smartphones to televisions, refrigerators, washing machines and other products, leveraging the power of Samsung’s AI ecosystem.

According to Samsung, Samsung BKC aims to re-imagine the retail shopping experience and unlock new possibilities for their customers by bringing the best of both online and offline worlds. 

Moreover, it also noted that Samsung BKC store extends the convenience of online by offering the widest selection of products with over 1,200 choices from an online digital catalogue while also enjoying assistance by in-store staff. These products can be also delivered not just in Mumbai but anywhere in the country.

Samsung BKC is divided into eight unique lifestyle zones that showcase to customers how Samsung products, individually and as part of Samsung’s connected multi-device ecosystem (SmartThings), can offer convenience to them. These zones cater to different passion points, ranging from gaming and entertainment to art and yoga to cooking and laundry management.

JB Park, president and CEO at Samsung Southwest Asia, said, “Today’s customers, especially Gen Z and millennials, are seeking premium products and unique experiences. They want to interact with the brand and its products, touch, feel and create. This is what Samsung BKC is all about.”

He added, “We have curated never seen before experiences in eight unique zones that include all our AI experiences to excite people across segments. Here, customers will get a feel of our expansive connected devices ecosystem and our cutting edge technology. Samsung BKC will also organize ‘Learn @ Samsung’ workshops, bringing together Samsung’s innovations with people’s passions.”

Hong Kong To promote the growth of quick commerce in Hong Kong, delivery platform foodpanda has launched a 24/7 pandamart O2O concept store in the country, which is also its first O2O concept store in the Asia-Pacific region.

The said concept store specifically located at Sai Ying Pun district adopts an omnichannel retail strategy blended with online and offline channel integration.

The store contains a wide range of fresh and seasonal produced frozen foods and drinks. Moreover, customers can enjoy the “HOT PICKS” section which features the best-selling products every month to enhance their O2O shopping journey and brand experience.

In addition, customers can instantly place an order for desired products in the store using the foodpanda app and can pick up their order within 5-10 minutes.

Aside from Hong Kong, the concept store was also introduced in Singapore.

Ryan Lai, chief executive officer at foodpanda Hong Kong, said that they are looking forward for the positive impact of the concept store to support the growth of their wider ecosystem whilst enhancing the customer journey as it creates more immersive experiences for the customers.

“foodpanda has always been committed to supporting local brands, including the local agriculture community. We hope to leverage our influence to act as a bridge between consumers and local farms, thus promoting the importance and fostering the growth of local agriculture and aquaculture through the expansion of their retail channels,” Darren Luk, director of quick commerce at foodpanda, added.

This month, foodpanda has also launched ‘bekal by foodpanda’ in Malaysia with which users can now avail of halal food item deliveries.

Thailand – Two leading organizations in the retail and entertainment industry in Thailand have partnered to enhance the emerging O2O customer experience in today’s business ecosystem. Siam Piwat, the owner and operator of prestigious retail destinations Siam Paragon, Siam Center, and Siam Discovery has announced a strategic partnership with Thailand’s leading entertainment company Kantana Group, to create an even better O2O experience for each of their target consumers. 

The partnership will present both offline and online collaborations and will leverage the OneSiam SuperApp platform; but one of its biggest collaborations to date will be the upcoming ‘Up Rank’ project by Kantana, involving the new titular movie. 

OneSiam’s shopping centres have spent over 10 million baht on offering special privileges to Kantana’s The Up Rank participants that span to online shopping at OneSiam SuperApp. Participants will also receive discount coupons from leading stores located in the shopping centres such as LOFT, ALAND, Absolute Siam Store, Ecotopia and ICONCRAFT. 

“This is digital lifestyle marketing merged with customer experience program to capture new generation customers and other potential communities,” said Siam Piwat. 

On the partnership, Piyarat Kaljaruek, VP of Kantana Group, said that producing lifestyle and fashion content for the Thai market is, in fact, a very challenging task and that synchronized marketing communication with other key players is crucial. 

“Siam Piwat is the leader in luxury fashion and the key to success for all Kantana’s contents. Our strategy efficiently combines online and offline communications that attract new target groups and audiences, especially those digital-native Gen Y and Gen Z [consumers],” said the entertainment group.

Katana airs a number of fashion- and lifestyle-centred shows. Face2Face Thailand, a TV program that has become an online buzz, features luxury fashion and lifestyle in which the filming location has been supported by Siam Piwat’s ICONSIAM. 

Siam Piwat also cites the partnership as a pivotal element of its plan to create ‘The Universe of Co-Creation’, that aligns with the company’s business strategies to cultivate a value-sharing ecosystem for “thriving and sustainable success for all entities.”

Mayuree Chaipromprasith, the president of corporate affairs and communications at Siam Piwat, said, “Fundamentally, Siam Piwat’s key foresight is to create a premium world-class business ecosystem. We have transcended domestic competition and geared towards new business opportunities that can expand beyond all boundaries. Our establishments are positioned as global destinations and we have cultivated strong communities of both local and international customers.

The company further reiterated, “our business goes beyond retail offering that relies simply on products and services, instead, we strategically position our business as the place to discover new and multi-dimensional customer experiences, both in [the] physical and digital realm.” 

Philippines – Aimazing, the retail data platform for mall management, has partnered Philippines’ IT consulting and O2O marketing company, M2Cash, aimed at enabling malls and retailers in the Philippines to digitalize shopper campaigns and create seamless engaging shopping experiences in physical retail stores.

The partnership will provide malls and large retail chains an enhanced user experience for consumer campaigns, as well as streamline their back-end operations and provide clear visibility of campaign performance and ROI. It will also allow them to leverage automation technologies and run a multitude of promotional campaigns concurrently, delivering a new user experience while significantly lowering costs and raising efficiency.

According to Aimazing, retailers are looking for ways to future-proof their systems with the rapidly changing retail landscape as they used to face fragmented POS and manual systems for vouchers, draws, and validation combined with high vulnerability to human error and fraud. 

With Aimazing, the retail automation will simplify the manual processes and allow physical retail to operate with real-time intelligence, as well as run campaigns such as live shopping events. It also creates seamless customer experiences, such as instant earn-and-burn for mall loyalty points and instant carpark redemption. In addition, the simple plug-and-play solution allows Philippines malls and retailers to easily track their offline transaction data and run their own promotional campaigns.

Jun Ting, Aimazing’s CEO, shared that as the retail experience continues to evolve, automation at scale has been proven in powering sales with a high gross merchandise value and bringing about proven cost savings.

“Our partnership with M2Cash marks another major milestone for Aimazing as we continue to push the arc in providing solutions for retailers, brands and shoppers through a highly personalised shopping experience in the Philippines,” said Ting.

Meanwhile, Chris Fong, M2Cash’s CEO Chris Fong, said, “We want to offer a compelling omnichannel experience – this joint partnership with Aimazing will take shopper engagement to the next level and build a strong digital ecosystem where both retailers and consumers can maximize their engagement.”

In December 2021, Aimazing has also partnered with local upper-scale mall destination in Manila, Power Plant Mall, to launch a digital raffle campaign that offers customers opportunities to earn rewards in real-time for their purchases at stores across the entire mall.

Singapore CapitaLand Investment, the leading global real estate investment manager with a strong Asia foothold, and Shopee, the leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, today announced the launch of the second edition of the ‘CapitaLand x Shopee’ 11.11 campaign. The inaugural edition of the campaign was launched in 2020 similarly for the 11.11 sale event of Shopee, and the two aim to replicate the project which had driving the omnichannel model at its heart. 

In 2020, CapitaLand and Shopee launched an integration of online and offline shopper engagement for the campaign to drive sales, traffic, and engagement for six CapitaLand malls through gamification. Following this, in early 2021, Capitaland also launched the virtual shopping mall of its outlet giant IMM on Shopee, making it the first virtual shopping mall from Singapore on the platform. 

For this year’s 11.11 sale event, both partners will be recreating the omnichannel experience for 29 retailers in eight CapitaLand malls over a period of three weeks, from 22 October to 11 November 2021. CapitaLand and Shopee are also bringing back the popular co-branded games from last year’s 11.11 campaign, where shoppers can participate and win attractive vouchers that can be used in-app and at participating physical stores including Toast Box, LiHO, Etude House, and Giordano.

On the continuation of the partnership, Chris Chong, CEO of retail & workspace for Singapore and Malaysia at CapitaLand Investment, said, “This will allow us to enhance retailers’ consumer outreach and further engage with their customers digitally while driving footfall to their physical stores through online marketing efforts.”

From 22 October to 11 November 2021, S$125,000 worth of ShopeePay Scan and Pay vouchers, Shopee vouchers, and eCapitaVoucher will be given in the CapitaLand Lucky Prize game on the Shopee Singapore app. The ShopeePay Scan & Pay vouchers can be redeemed at eight CapitaLand malls, namely Bedok Mall, Bugis+, Bugis Junction, IMM, Funan, Plaza Singapura, Westgate, and JCube. 

Shoppers visiting any of the eight malls can simply scan the QR code at participating merchants and malls to play the ‘CapitaLand x Shopee’ Lucky Prize game and win ShopeePay Scan & Pay voucher to pay for their purchases using ShopeePay at 29 participating CapitaLand merchants’ offline stores. 

Shoppers can also try their luck in the ‘Guess the Weight’ campaign every weekend over the campaign period to win up to S$22,000 worth of eCapitaVoucher and Shopee vouchers. To participate, shoppers can proceed to the atrium of three shopping malls on selected weekends – Bugis+ on 23 and 24 October, Westgate on 30 and 31 October, and Plaza Singapura on 6 and 7 November – to guess the weight of five unexpected combinations of products, where one of them is the combined weight of a Dyson vacuum and a feather. Contestants must get the closest answer to qualify for the prizes.

Zhou Junjie, Shopee’s chief commercial officer, commented, “Following the success of last year’s CapitaLand x Shopee 11.11 campaign, we are excited to join hands with CapitaLand once again to support even more retailers under CapitaLand’s network by digitalizing the shopping experience.”

Zhou Junjie adds, “Shopee has always been passionate about empowering our sellers and brand partners to unlock the full potential of e-commerce to succeed in today’s digital economy. Through this omnichannel integration, we hope to help retailers deepen engagement with new customers, through an exciting and rewarding experience.” 

To find out more about the campaign, shoppers can head to the campaign’s microsite which will go live on 22 October. 

Hong Kong – Hong Kong-based beauty and personal care chain SaSa has announced in its latest financial results for the year 2020/2021 that it is expecting to close 15 to 20 stores throughout the year. 

SaSa is only one of the many businesses that have shut down operations as a strategic move over pandemic-induced economic downturn. According to the company, the markets of the Hong Kong and Macau SARs dealt a severe blow to the group’s sales performance with the pandemic bringing tourism to a standstill. 

Since the beginning of February 2020, the cumulative number of Mainland Chinese visitors in the Hong Kong SAR up to now has plunged to almost zero year on year, and due to social distancing initiatives imposed by the Hong Kong SAR government, local consumer sentiment has also been dampened. 

SaSa’s brick-and-mortar stores are established in Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, and Malaysia. 

SaSa
Inside a SaSa store

Overall, the group’s retail sales in the markets of the Hong Kong and Macau SARs dropped by 58.1% year on year, while its same-store sales decreased by 54.4% during the financial year. Meanwhile, in Malaysia, turnover decreased by 34.9% in the financial year. 

Due to the movement control orders in Malaysia, the group’s stores were temporarily closed for nearly 100 days in total. As of 31 March 2021, the total number of SaSa’s retail stores in Hong Kong and Macau SARs was reduced from the peak of 118 two years ago to 100. Among closed stores in Hong Kong SAR, 80% were located in tourist districts. 

With this, the company has expressed plans to leverage its online sales and deliver an enhanced customer experience by combining online with offline. 

Sasa
SaSa’s current website

Compared to offline sales, the beauty retail chain’s online business had been looking up, rising by 45.4% to HK$501.3m accounting for 16.5% of the total turnover from the group’s continuing operations, up from 6% in the previous financial year. 

The company shared that the group’s long-term vision is to grow businesses beyond brick-and-mortar operations. By growing the share of sales from online platforms, it trusts that it can help reduce its reliance on physical stores. 

“Through persistently adjusting and rationalizing the store network, the group could improve its overall cost structure and lower the breakeven point for the traditional retail business, thus reinforcing its competitiveness and profitability in the long term,” the group said.

The group will work to further realize the complementary effects of combining the advantages of online business and physical stores to improve both customer experience and the group’s profitability. 

It plans to execute the integration of online and offline operations. The group said that it will be improving inventory and logistic arrangements to provide a seamless O2O customer experience. For SaSa, the O2O business offers a more favorable gross margin and basket size owing to the element of personal service when compared to pure online sales channels. All these mean a more attractive profit margin for the O2O business, an area that the group wishes to develop to its fullest potential.

Dr Simon Kwok, SBS, JP, the chairman and CEO of the Group, said that online business has become the new focus of the retail industry, and that they are dedicated to expediting development in the new retail landscape by investing more resources in their online business, unceasingly strengthening the brand and adjusting their product portfolio. 

“The Group will also proactively propel businesses beyond our core markets in Hong Kong and Macau SARs and promote the online business, thus diversifying and expanding our revenue portfolio and customer base and creating value for our stakeholders in the long term.”

Singapore – As the pandemic forced businesses to shift to online, retail company FJ Benjamin (FJB) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with e-commerce platform Lazada Singapore to boost its brands’ online-offline (O2O) retail experience e. The partnership aims to optimize regional online sales, as well as to expand and develop new FJB brands, to eventually integrate brick-and-mortar and virtual stores.

The signed MOU will see Lazada managing the full online ecosystem of FJB brands, developing new tailor-made solutions to deliver an excellent omnichannel customer experience for FJB brands in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The parties will also discuss with brand principals the opportunities for e-commerce in markets where Lazada has a presence, such as Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines. 

Besides operating principal branded sites, it is also intended to host certain brands on LazMall as well as other regional sites, subject to principal approvals.

Group CEO of FJ Benjamin, Nash Benjamin, commented that the retail company has been strategizing and planning its omnichannel business model for some time now.

“This partnership with Lazada is intended to get us to where we want to be much faster and in a more cost-efficient manner. This will combine our respective capabilities to strengthen customer experience across brick and mortar and virtual channels,” said Benjamin.

Meanwhile, the CEO of Lazada Singapore, James Chang said that they are thrilled to be part of a new chapter with FJ Benjamin, valuing their trust in Lazada. Chang further shared that lifestyle, fashion and beauty are important pillars in their e-commerce plans and shoppers can now look forward to seeing more well-known brands and labels on their platform, for an integrated shopping experience.

“In the last year, Lazada has supported many businesses that adopted a multichannel approach to set up stores online and we know that our expertise in the e-commerce space will benefit and contribute to the success of a renowned brand like FJ Benjamin, and look forward to seeing positive results with them,” added Chang.

Last year’s lockdown forced FJB stores in Southeast Asia to close down, which led the company to turn to e-commerce. It has ramped up its online presence from one brand, the cult British fashion label Superdry, to almost all its brands including Guess, La Senza, Casio, Rebecca Minkoff, Pretty Ballerinas, Airfree, and Dr. Barbara Sturm. Some of the brands managed by FJB are already available on Lazada’s premiere shopping platform, Lazmall, such as La Senza, Pretty Ballerinas, and Petunia Pickle Bottom.

The press release shared that under the terms of the MOU, both FJB and Lazada will, within 90 days, work on a detailed action plan and a definitive agreement to move the partnership forward.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – eCommerce platform Youbeli has collaborated with IT mall PJ Digital Mall to adopt an online-to-offline (O2O) commerce.

The new partnership comes as Youbeli gears up for its 10.10 sale event. It has brought together 10 participating tenants from the mall onboard the Youbeli platform.

In conjunction with the 10.10 campaign, the parties have prepared surprise freebies for customers who prefer to self-pickup items from the mall. In the future, Youbeli said that it will be offering same-day delivery to any addresses within a 10km radius from the PJ Digital Mall.

Meanwhile, up until 10 October 2020, shopping vouchers and promotions will be continually announced on Youbeli’s and PJ Digital Mall’s Facebook pages. The promotions will be applicable for computers, laptops, and accessories.

This will be the second time that the platform has collaborated with a physical shopping mall, and according to Youbeli CEO Chua Khai Suan, the new partnership is part of their ongoing O2O initiative to help brick-and-mortar retailers to attract sales.

“[Instead] of competing as two different entities, we complement each other’s business model to bring the best deals for our customers,” Chua said.

Meanwhile, Jeffrey Fang, leasing manager of Digital Mall shared, “Since we started the collaborative campaign on 1 October, we saw a long queue of customers outside the mall especially last weekend.”

“At times like this, we need to ensure businesses continue to run to support the country’s economy however much we can so we can reduce the number of unemployment due to the pandemic,” Fang added.

Just recently, Youbeli has also partnered with a co-eCommerce player, Taiwan’s PChomeSEA, to integrate its products to the platform.