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Tag: digital commerce

  • Shopee and Magalu Form Marketplace Partnership in Brazil

    Shopee and Magalu Form Marketplace Partnership in Brazil

    Singapore-based e-commerce platform Shopee agreed this week to a commercial partnership with Brazilian retailer Magazine Luiza to cross-list inventory on two online marketplaces.

    The agreement allows Magazine Luiza, known as Magalu, to sell its first-party catalog directly through Shopee while integrating Shopee products into its own digital ecosystem.

    Integrating Distribution Networks

    Shopee operates one of the largest marketplace channels in Southeast Asia and has built a substantial local seller network in Brazil. Magalu brings established national warehousing, electronics retail relationships, and durable goods fulfillment across South America.

    By listing core retail lines on Shopee, Magalu gains immediate exposure to Shopee’s high-frequency mobile user base. Shopee secures direct access to Magalu’s consumer appliance inventory and established local distribution channels without taking on independent inventory risk.

    Shifting Marketplace Alliances

    Marketplace tie-ups between major regional operators reflect a broader change in international e-commerce strategy. Rather than competing head-to-head across every category, platforms are pooling traffic and distribution strengths to protect margin profiles.

    For regional operators in Asia and Latin America, cross-platform merchant access lowers customer acquisition costs while defending market share against global rivals. The operational risk rests on technical integration, fulfillment speed, and commission splits between the two platforms.

    Commercial Trajectory

    Shopee entered Brazil as part of Sea Group’s international expansion outside Southeast Asia, shifting over time from cross-border deliveries toward local merchant networks. Magalu has steadily broadened its digital platform to defend its home market position.

    Platform teams are currently integrating merchant catalogs and seller tools ahead of the combined marketplace rollout.

  • Bukalapak Will Not Rely on Gaming Revenue for Long-Term Growth

    Bukalapak Will Not Rely on Gaming Revenue for Long-Term Growth

    Bukalapak confirmed in Jakarta this week that digital gaming transactions will not define the group’s corporate future despite generating the largest share of current revenue.

    The stance signals a structural boundary for the Indonesian commerce platform as it balances high-volume digital entertainment sales against broader merchant ecosystems ahead of upcoming quarterly filings.

    Where the Revenue Concentrates

    Gaming services and digital top-ups have become the platform’s primary sales engine following shifts across its core marketplace operations. User demand for in-game currencies and virtual goods created immediate transaction volume across urban and tier-two Indonesian markets.

    Management maintains that relying on digital entertainment leaves the wider enterprise exposed to developer fee changes and regulatory pressure on microtransactions. The platform is keeping its core retail infrastructure focused on physical merchants and supply chain integration.

    The Merchant Ecosystem Balance

    Mitra Bukalapak, the group’s offline-to-online network serving neighbourhood kiosks, remains central to its merchant distribution network across Indonesian provinces. Diverting investment entirely into virtual gaming goods would detach the company from the physical supply chains that separate regional commerce platforms from purely digital app stores.

    Rival platforms across Southeast Asia have confronted the same dilemma. Gaming transactions deliver swift cash flow, yet physical retail distribution builds defensive customer loyalty across small business networks.

    Shifting Away From Pure Marketplace Competition

    Bukalapak retreated from head-to-head capital burn against regional marketplace giants several years ago to concentrate on specialized commerce categories and offline kiosks. That pivot helped stem operating losses and created room for digital gaming services to expand quickly inside the platform.

    The resulting revenue concentration now presents its own operational hazard. Rebalancing the revenue mix requires expanding higher-margin merchant financial services and wholesale supplies to traditional store owners.

    What to Watch Next

    Investors tracking the company on the Indonesia Stock Exchange will monitor segment contribution figures in upcoming quarterly filings. The immediate test is whether physical retail distribution and small merchant services can expand fast enough to match gaming transaction growth.

  • Digital commerce spend expected to jump high by 2022

    Digital commerce spend expected to jump high by 2022

    Consumer spend on digital commerce will reach US$14.7 trillion by 2022, up by 60 per cent on last year, according to Juniper Research.

    Its new report Digital Commerce: Key Trends, Sectors & Forecasts 2018-2022, found that the largest global contributor to payments was currently QR code-based offline purchases for physical goods, which now account for one-third of all Chinese instore payments by value. However, says the research, although QR codes will have further growth in the Indian subcontinent and Africa, their value will be eclipsed worldwide by online purchases by 2022.

    With retailers increasingly offering localised payment mechanisms and friction at checkout being reduced by stored credentials, migration from offline to online is likely to accelerate, says the report.

    Furthermore, it highlights moves by traditional retailers to develop omnichannel strategies as they seek to shore up revenues by using mobile apps both for online purchases and to drive instore footfall.

    Meanwhile, Juniper’s study found that money transfer would be a key growth area, bolstered by rapid expansion and adoption of social payments. It highlighted the activities of companies such as PayPal (via its Venmo and Xoom subsidiaries) and Facebook in the space, arguing that these players were in pole position to capitalise on the increasing transition to digital of P2P payments.

    Additionally, the report claimed that players across the ecosystem were poised to benefit from implementing blockchain technology for financial settlement. This would enable increased standardisation for payment processing; substantially reduce the risk of error (including double spend) and indeed the time taken for error checking, resulting in faster, more secure and less costly processes. This in turn would allow money transfer companies to become more competitive, reduce fees to end users and boost use.

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  • 2C2P helps Myanmar revolution

    2C2P helps Myanmar revolution

    Southeast Asia payments company 2C2P of Singapore, with its Burmese founder and CEO Aung Kyaw Moe, has taken a step to modernise Myanmar’s economy with the country’s first co-branded debit card so its citizens can shop with international merchants.

    The new UnionPay and Myanmar Payments Union (MPU) co-branded debit card is being introduced along with the launch of 1-Stop, a cash acceptance network of sellers and buyers, bringing digital commerce to Myanmar, especially helpful for its rural communities. Also a partner of the debit card is Myanmar’s Asia Green Development Bank (AGD Bank).

    Anyone in Myanmar can now set up a microbusiness to sell goods and services online. Domestic transactions are processed by MPU, while international transactions go through UnionPay International, which is recognised by more than 4000 merchants domestically and more than 26 million across 150 countries, as well as at 1.8 million ATMs internationally.

    MPU is Myanmar’s national payment network, authorising the issuance and acceptance of all payment cards within the country, of which there are more than 1.2 million. With UnionPay International, a subsidiary of China UnionPay, cardholders can shop with international merchants for the first time. UnionPay is the largest global payment card company with more than five billion cards issued.

    Myanmar is expected to quadruple the size of its economy from $45 billion in 2014 to $200 billion by 2030 (McKinsey), with a reboot of its cash-based economy seen as the key to growth. This will be driven by Myanmar’s young population (47 per cent of its 51.4 million citizens are 24 years old or younger). The World Bank pegs Myanmar’s annual growth rate as leading Asia at 8.3 per cent annually between 2014 and 2017.

    Myanmar’s millennials are also responsible for the country’s spike in outbound tourism. This sector grew from $29 million in 2002 to $257 million in 2012, a rise of 24 per cent, according to the World Trade Organisation.

    “2C2P is committed to support Myanmar’s financial institutions,” says CEO and founder Aung Kyaw Moe. “We do this by bridging the gap between local and international infrastructure.

    “We bring our robust platform, as well as our experience and knowledge in international payments, making it possible for Myanmar’s banking and financial institutions to innovate – offering new services that leapfrog legacy financial technologies.”

    AGD Bank customers can download an app to manage card transactions in real time with online support. A loyalty program offers discounts and privileges from more than 4000 merchants domestically, across food and beverage, retail, hospitality, and travel and tourism.

    “We are committed to innovate, offering Myanmar’s young, fast-growing and connected population the financial services that meet their evolving needs,” says AGD Bank chairman U Than Ye.

    Meanwhile, 1-Stop’s network has more than 3000 locations through 2C2P’s strategic partnerships with the country’s largest distribution network for the agriculture sector Myanmar AWBA Group, retail and convenience store chains Capital Hyper Mart and Grab & Go, mobile stores eCity, Lu Gyi Min andMr.Fone, as well as independent stores.

    It is aiming to contribute to modernising the economy through its online-to-offline commerce approach in a market with relatively high smartphone penetration but limited e-payment infrastructure.

    Myanmar is the fourth-fastest growing mobile market globally, according to Ericsson. In the third quarter of last year, it accounted for nearly 6 per cent of the world’s 87 million new mobile subscribers. Research firm Ovum estimates mobile subscriptions in Myanmar grew by 87.4 per cent in 2014 to 10.7 million. This is forecast to grow at a 21 per cent compounded annual growth rate to reach 38.5 million by the end of 2019 as networks expand to rural areas.

    Last year, 2C2P also launched easyBills, the country’s first online bill-payment system. Previously, along with Myanmar Citizens Bank, 2C2P launched the Citizen Card, a reloadable prepaid card accepted by MasterCard and merchants globally.

    2C2P has offices across Southeast Asia, including Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and The Philippines, as well as in Hong Kong.