Commerce.Asia partners with Thailand fulfilment players to benefit SMEs

By Digital News Asia May 2, 2018

In a joint venture with Thailand’s Shippop to operate leading delivery platform in Malaysia
Invests with Siam Outlet in Malaysian-based Letmestore to provide warehousing solutions

Commerce.Asia partners with Thailand fulfilment players to benefit SMEs

COMMERCE.ASIA Ventures (Commerce.Asia), a Malaysian commerce technology venture builder, announced its partnership with two Thailand-based technology enablers to accelerate cross-border e-commerce between Thailand and Malaysia.

Commerce.Asia entered into joint venture agreements with the two technology enablers at Menara Miti, at an event which saw the participation of more than 400 SMEs to hear presentations by Pawoot Pongvitayapanu the CEO of Tarad.com, Ganesh Kumar Bangah the founder and executive chairman of Commerce.Asia, Song Hock Koon, director of eCommerce, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDeC) and Patcha Wupitan, Minister Counsellor (Commercial), Thailand Ministry of Commerce.

Commerce.Asia entered into a collaboration with MDEC under the Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ) B2C Export programme, that aims to promote and drive exports by Malaysian SMEs outside of Malaysia.

Under the programme, Thailand has been identified as the first cross-border country that Commerce.Asia will be targeting. Through this partnership, Commerce.Asia will onboard Malaysian merchants to sell products to Thai consumers.

Ganesh Kumar says, “We are honoured to partner with MDEC in their drive to push Malaysia SMEs across international borders. Thailand is a significant market for us to target. The e-commerce market in Thailand was valued at US$2.9 billion in 2017. On average a user spent US$243 per person last year (there are 12.1 million registered e-commerce users in Thailand). By 2021, average user spending is expected to increase to US$382 as revenue is targeted to increase to US$5.3 billion.”

Opening doors to Thailand

Logistics and warehousing are the two most important aspects that hinders e-commerce, especially cross border e-commerce. E-commerce customers want things fast, undamaged and in a cost-effective manner.

Commerce.Asia has identified and partnered with Shippop to provide delivery support for companies both Malaysian and global who wish to expand their market reach to Malaysia and Thailand.

Commerce.Asia will license and operate Shippop in Malaysia and sign up local delivery providers to provide pickup and delivery services to local and international merchants in Malaysia while Shippop already does the same using their technology in Thailand.

“With this partnership, online merchants based in Malaysia and Thailand can easily ship off their parcels to consumers to both countries in an efficient, integrated and seamless manner,” said Ganesh.

Bangkok-based Shippop Co, is Thailand’s e-commerce logistics expert which offers a single system to connect online merchants with logistics providers to manage their parcel deliveries across Thailand. In 2017, Shippop Thailand fulfilled 1.65 million orders while Shippop Malaysia’s orders amounted to 12,245 orders.

The partnership between Siam Outlet and Malaysian based Letmestore will help merchants better pack and manage the storing of their products in a cost-effective way. Siam Outlet and Letmestore will both use the same proprietary Intelligent Fulfilment Platform developed by Siam Outlet.

This platform covers importing, packaging and delivery with the real-time ability to allocate stock availability in Malaysia and Thailand. To solidify the relationship, both Commerce.Asia and Siam Outlet will be investing in Letmestore.

Accelerating market entry

“Both these significant tech enablers will be integrated into our Commerce.Asia Enterprise platform, enabling vendors who have subscribed to our platform to easily tap into these valuable resources to enter the Thai market,” added Ganesh.

The fully integrated one-stop platform Commerce.Asia Enterprise was launched last month to enable Malaysian SMEs to quickly move their business online - right from building their online store, payment gateway, inventory & warehousing, shipping and delivery, social media marketing and order management, to marketing and managing their products via up to six local and four regional and global marketplaces; automatically managing all aspects of the online business for them.

Various packages targeting both SMEs and micro SMEs have been created to enable them to take the next step in expanding their business.

“Why limit yourself to only Malaysia. It’s time Malaysian SMEs think beyond the borders of Malaysia and reach out to new markets via these e-commerce market enablers. Malaysians have much to offer and it’s time we equip ourselves to reach out to a wider audience. Commerce.Asia is ever ready to be the bridge in your export dreams,” ends Ganesh.