Kuala Lumpur, 27 April 2018 – Commerce.Asia Ventures (“Commerce.Asia”), Malaysian commerce technology venture builder, today announces its partnership with two Thailand Technology Enablers to accelerate cross-border e-commerce between Thailand and Malaysia.
Commerce.Asia entered into joint venture agreements with two Thailand Technology enablers at Menara MITI today, 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, Mr. Song Hock Koon, Director of eCommerce, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDeC) and Ms Patcha Wupitan, Minister Counsellor (Commercial), Thailand Ministry of Commerce.
Trading with Thailand
In 2017 Malaysia’s export to Thailand amounted to RM50.53 billion*, making them one of the top ten export nations for Malaysia. However, the exports mainly came from the electrical and electronics (E&E) products, crude petroleum, chemical and machinery sectors. On the other hand, our imports from Thailand totalled RM48.16 billion* in 2017 with imports mainly from E&E products, transportation equipment, chemical products, machinery, equipment and parts and natural rubber.
*statistics from MATRADE.
Today Commerce.Asia entered into a collaboration with MDEC under the Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ) B2C Export program, that aims to promote and drive export by Malaysian SMEs outside of Malaysia. Under the program, 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 Thailand consumers.
Ganesh Kumar Bangah, the Executive Chairman and founder of Commerce.Asia 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 USD2.9 billion* in 2017. On average a user spent USD243 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 USD382 as revenue is targeted to increase to USD5.3 billion.”
*statistics from Eshopworld.com
The Thai e-commerce spending pattern points to electronics as the top product category accounting for USD1.3billion market share followed by fashion, which accounts for USD525 million in sales. By 2021, while electronics will continue to lead the market share, Fashion is expected to double in market share.
Opening doors to Thailand
Logistics and warehousing are the two most important aspects that hinders e-commerce, especially cross
border e-commerce. It’s not so easy to handle the logistics of delivering orders to another country in a short time. Timing is a crucial success indicator as customers will be hesitant to use your services again if it takes too long to arrive. eCommerce customers want things fast, undamaged and cost effective.
Which is why we have 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.
On the other hand, 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 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.
Who they are
- Bangkok Based Shippop Co, is Thailand’s e-commerce logistic 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.
- Siam Outlet assists vendors in Thailand to cost effectively store and manage the packing, importing of cargo, custom clearance, stock availability in real time. The company was established in 2015 and is expected to reach a revenue of 200 million bhat in 2018.
- Malaysian based Letmestore is the warehousing partner that helps e-commerce merchants pick, pack, store, deliver and manage their inventory in a cost effective manner.
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 6 local and 4 regional and global Marketplaces; automatically managing all aspects of the online business for them.
Various packages based 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, its 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 its 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.