Retail Chain Archives - MARKETECH APAC

Mumbai, India – Value retail chain 1-India Family Mart has successfully raised INR500m in its series B funding, which will be used in setting up an indigenous e-commerce business, thereby becoming omni-channel players in the sector. In addition, they will be also fueling inorganic growth as the group plans to double the number of stores in the next 2 years.

Said funding round was led by Dubai-based Gulf Islamic Investments (GII). The retail group had raised its first institutional round of funding from Carpediem Capital in 2018.

The retail chain is aiming to tap into India’s forecasted retail value of INR51t in 2019, growing at a CAGR of 9% to 11%. An increase in the market share of value e-retailers has demonstrated better profitability and value creation within the Indian retail landscape. Value retail constitutes 60% of the overall apparel retail market.

Jay Prakash Shukla, co-founder and CEO at 1-India Family Mart, said, “We are excited to raise a fresh funding round from GII which will significantly boost our expansion plans, strengthen our retail presence and drive growth trajectory of the group. This fund raise is quite sizable for the retail sector in recent times. As we build a scalable business, we needed like-minded investors that could guide us on nurturing an IPO-able group for the near future.”

Meanwhile, Ravinder Singh, co-founder and COO at 1-India Family Mart, commented, “We are increasing our geographical footprint and developing our own private label in the fast-growing women’s apparel category. We are setting up our owned online omni-channel to further penetrate the market and reach our discerning customers. Moreover, having a strong online presence will further consolidate our position in the industry.”

Jakarta, Indonesia – Kopi Kenangan, a local-based retail F&B chain known for its coffee products, has recently concluded its series C funding amounting to US$96m, officially making it unicorn. Said funding will help the company accelerate the expansion of its new brands, Cerita Roti, Chigo and Kenangan Manis across Indonesia, and will continue to build the network and broaden its footprint internationally.

The funding round was led by Tybourne Capital Management, with participation from existing investors including Horizons Ventures, Kunlun, and B Capital, and new investor Falcon Edge Capital. The funding round comes as Kopi Kenangan is seeing strong domestic demand for its expanded product offerings such as its bread brand Cerita Roti, its ‘chicken on the go’ brand Chigo, and soft-cookies brand Kenangan Manis, as well as the continued rapid growth of its home-grown coffee brand including the latest topping addition, Sultan Boba.

The company, founded in 2017, targets the gap in the market in Indonesia between the high-priced coffee served at international coffee chains and the instant coffee sold in the country’s many street stalls. Customers are offered the convenience of ordering through an app and either having coffee delivered to their doorstep or picking it up at one of Kopi Kenangan’s many stores across the country.

Edward Tirtanata, co-founder and CEO at Kopi Kenangan, said, “The continuing support of our investors, as well as the new backers in this funding round, is a testament to our continued focus on increasing store productivity and using technology to create the best user experience for our customers.”

He added, “Our mission is to be the most-loved consumer brand in Southeast Asia and, as part of our five-year vision, we remain committed to rapidly expanding our footprint to thousands of stores across Southeast Asia and broadening our offerings.”

Manila, Philippines – Fast-leading retail company, Metro Retail Stores Group Inc. (MRSGI) in the Philippines, has unveiled its roster of initiatives to boost its e-commerce presence.

The company targets to launch its official store in e-commerce apps Lazada and Shopee in the fourth quarter to take advantage of the expected holiday shopping surge.

“All these developments we are doing are in line with our commitment to grow our e-commerce business and ultimately enable us to continue meeting the changing customer demands in today’s digital environment,” said Manuel C. Alberto, president and chief operating officer at MRSGI.

For its supermarket vertical, MRSGI is looking to expand its reach by adding multi-service superapp GrabMart to the list of their on-demand goods delivery service partners. Metro Supermarket customers in select areas of Metro Manila and Cebu can purchase from an assortment of more than 3,500 goods and have these delivered to their homes through the Grab app.

At present, Metro Supermarket in Ayala Center Cebu and Market! Market! in Taguig have this convenient arrangement, and plans are underway to include six more stores to join GrabMart before the year ends.

MRSGI is also working to integrate its Metro Rewards Card with customers’ Metro online accounts, allowing loyalty cardholders to earn points for all purchases made from shop.themetrostores.ph and even use accumulated points to pay for their online purchases.

In addition, the company is on track to introducing a Progressive Web App (PWA), which is considered more efficient and convenient as they have reduced memory requirements and battery usage, and are expected to load faster and provide better navigating experience for users.

“Our customers can look forward to a more exciting and pleasant online shopping experience. We have lined up a number of strategic initiatives that are geared towards making e-commerce an important component of MRSGI’s overall value proposition,” said JJ Moreno, chief strategy officer and head of e-commerce at MRSGI.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Used car buying and selling platform myTukar has officially launched in its first phase new retail chain openings to expand its physical purchasing experience with customers.

The first phase launches were made across major shopping centers in Klang Valley, namely in Paradigm Mall, Petaling Jaya; One Utama, Petaling Jaya; and MyTOWN Shopping Centre, Kuala Lumpur.

Together with the ‘myTukar Retail Experience Centres’, the platform has also revamped its retail website which now carries integrated e-commerce features with the aim to provide a completely transparent customer purchasing experience. The new centres will be complete with the brand new retail website.

The myTukar Retail Experience Centres is one of the many initiatives in the platform’s business pipeline to bring a complete car ownership experience to all car buyers.

“This innovative concept is a breakthrough in the used car industry and will be expanded nationwide in the future, thereby supporting the expansion of the used car industry. The brand new purchasing experience launched today is complementing our key collaborations with partners such as Sime Darby Auto Selection, DRB-HICOM, and authorized dealer partners,” said Fong Hon Sum, CEO of myTukar.

At the kiosks, customers can enjoy a 360-degree view of the cars available for sale via touchscreen monitors. They can also trade in and have their used cars inspected while having the opportunity to take the potential new cars for a test drive, where ll can be done with the conveniences and facilities of a shopping mall.

In line with enhancing customer experience, myTukar has also recently announced in December 2020 a new technology that aims to automate and standardize the car inspection process within its platform. It will also utilize features including analyzing images and videos of cars to spot defects such as dents, scratches, and paint deterioration.