THAILAND-BASED iTrueMart launched its e-commerce web site targeting the Philippine market as the Asean Economic Community (AEC) concept nears fruition.
Ascend Group Co. Ltd. CEO Punnamas Vichitkulwongsa said the growing number of mobile users attracted the biggest Thai online retailer to establish a presence in the country.
According to Ystats Southeast Asia eCommerce, the volume of mobile users in the Asean-bloc increased to 56 percent this year. Furthermore, up to 56 percent of the Thai and Vietnamese populations are using their smartphones to access the Internet as compared to the Philippines’s 50 percent.
“Recognizing the growing number of mobile Internet users, we are confident that online shopping in the region will also grow,” Vichitkulwongsa said in a news briefing on November 23.
“Moreover, we see the AEC as an emerging and interesting market for e-commerce and which can also be a venue for entrepreneurs belonging to the small and medium enterprises to grow their businesses.” Stressing iTrueMart wants to be a major player in the region, Vichitkulwongsa said the company is investing over $150 million in 2016. He explained the fund will be used in developing e-commerce fulfillment centers, logistic hubs, fleet expansion, marketing, and raising assortment and inventory.
After opening in the Philippines, Vichitkulwongsa said iTrueMart will entrench its presence in the Asean by opening in Vietnam, Indonesia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Malaysia and Singapore later in 2016. “We are committed for long-term success in the Philippines and everywhere else that we go.”
Seubsakol Sakolsatayadorn, general manager of Ascend iTrueMart division, said the company has proven it can be a player in Asean based on its track record in Thailand. In 2014 he said the number of visits to iTrueMart.com reached as much as 424 percent. Since October 2014, Sakolsatayadorn said the average number of visits was 4.6 million per month.
“iTrueMart.com receives 7,000 orders per day on average, with the highest volume of daily orders at 10,000,” he said.
Ascend COO Dean Krstevski said the company decided to take a crack at the Philippine market because of the presence of few players in the sector. “With the market still in its infancy, there are still plenty of opportunities for new players,” he said.
“Now that the e-commerce market is being developed, brands are increasingly looking for partners to sell their products online,which we see as a great advantage that will help us speed our market entry,” he said. The Ascend group is a spin off from True Corp., Thailand’s leading mobile network provider, and a newly established subsidiary of the C.P. group, a multinational agribusiness firm.
Image credits: Nonie Reyes