Retail News CRM

Tag: ecommerce

  • India’s Flipkart planning offline venture

    India’s Flipkart planning offline venture

    India’s Flipkart is planning to enter the brick-and-mortar space as a master franchisee for foreign brands. This follows other e-commerce companies opening on-ground ventures as the online market slows down.

    Flipkart is already in advanced talks with Giordano for a licensing deal to sell the Hong Kong­ apparel and accessory retailer’s products both offline and online in India. The plan is to set up a chain of Giordano­-branded stores along with a digital platform, says an insider.

    Flipkart will appoint sub-­franchisees with brick-­and-­mortar expertise to run the physical stores.

    Meanwhile, pure-play companies such as Faballey, Lenskart, Myntra, Nykaa, Pepperfry and Urban Ladder have already set up physical stores.

    Fashion retailer Myntra this year acquired the Indian franchisee agreement for Spain’s Mango and is appointing two sub-­franchisees for the label – Jaipur-­based Samarth, which runs more than 100 outlets of Benetton, Calvin Klein, Lee, Puma, Tommy Hilfiger, US Polo and Wrangler, and New Delhi­-based G&B which has 25 Benetton stores in the National Capital Region.

    Myntra is also selling its own brands. It opened its first brick-and-­mortar store in Bengaluru in March under its private brand Roadster on the 100 Feet Road.

    Beauty retailer Nykaa.com is also expanding on the ground. Its head of offline retail strategy, Adwaita Nayar, says touch and feel is important for customers in India. “Almost 90 per cent of the market for beauty products is still offline.”

    Nykaa.com intends to have large-format experiential stores as well as smaller outlets. Its aim is to have 30 stores at malls and high streets as well as travel retail by 2020.

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  • Ho Chi Minh City to crack down on tax-evading Facebook retailers

    Ho Chi Minh City to crack down on tax-evading Facebook retailers

    The tax man is threatening to shut down social media accounts, but savvy retailers know that it’s an empty threat. Ho Chi Minh City sent out tax demands to nearly 13,500 Facebook retailers over a month ago, but a representative from the city’s Tax Department told that so far only around 1,000 of them have responded.

    As a result, the city’s tax authorities have decided to work on tougher solutions to crack down on potential tax-evading online retailers, and have asked the Ministry of Finance to finalize regulations regarding tax declarations and deductions at source, as well as the supervision of online business activities.

    The city’s tax department also said it is considering a name-and-shame approach to individuals and organizations that refuse to pay tax.

    To combat retailers that open multiple Facebook accounts to avoid detection, the department claimed it had come up with multiple solutions, such as closing down accounts or sending officials posing as customers to confront them in person.

    It also said it would ask the State Bank of Vietnam for copies of retailers’ bank statements to determine their incomes, and courier companies would be asked to provide information on the quantity and value of the goods they transport for them.

    However, many online retailers say that the tax man has no authority over Facebook.

    Nguyen Thi Cuc, who chairs the Vietnam Tax Consultants’ Association, also told that Vietnam does not have a comprehensive tax policy for online businesses, and that collecting taxes is difficult because most transactions are conducted in cash.

    Many retailers claim they already have business licenses and have declared tax, and only use Facebook to advertise their products, while others say they earn less than VND100 million ($4,400) annually so they are not required to declare tax by law.

  • The Alibaba Group is ready to do business in Macau

    The Alibaba Group is ready to do business in Macau

    Alibaba Group Holding Limited has had its application for trademark protection accepted in Macau, enabling the Chinese e-commerce giant to enter the MSAR with a series of products.

    Brands Ant Star, Ant Star Bank, Alimebot, 阿里蜜，星匯，星安，智惠，星匯銀行，智惠銀行, are now able to create and commercialise in Macau products ranging from newspapers and magazines to credit and debit cards, scientific and nautical instruments, file sharing software and GPS equipment. But also advertising, execution and supervision of loyalty programmes and incentives, business consulting to traffic optimisation of websites, large warehouse retail services or even insurance, financial and monetary businesses.

    In total, many hundreds of products and services that the company – based in Hangzhou and founded in 1999 by Jack Ma and Peng Lei – is now allowed to conduct here.

    With over 50,000 employees, Alibaba provides consumer-to-consumer, business-to-consumer and business-to-business sales services via web portals.

    Recently, the Chinese giant invested US$1 billion (MOP8 billion) in Southeast Asian online retailer Lazada Group increasing its stake to more than 80 per cent and making is presence even stronger in the region.

    According to Forbes magazine, over the past year Ma has spent more than 800 hours flying to dozens of countries, meeting business leaders and heads of state to introduce his grand vision: small businesses from all corners of the world trading freely and securely on the Alibaba platform.

    Highly reported Jack Ma’s ambition is to see his company reach the US$1 trillion mark in gross merchandise value by 2020.

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  • Gucci launches China e-tail site

    Gucci launches China e-tail site

    Gucci has launched gucci.cn, its e-tail site for the Chinese market. In the words of the Italian luxury label, it will be Gucci’s only official Chinese website, created to “allow consumers a better access to Gucci products, without the limitations imposed by store location or opening hours. To optimise service speed, goods are shipped from local warehouses, and each transaction is assisted by a China-based customer service team, via live chat or phone.” In addition, payments on gucci.cn can be made using popular providers such as Alipay and WeChat.

    Content-wise, the site offers a wealth of images and a narrative with a strong visual impact, culminating in the ‘Stories’ section, which takes an in-depth look at  the sources of inspiration which influenced Creative Director Alessandro Michele’s collections, offering an exclusive glimpse of the designer’s own world.

    “Combining editorial content with commercial features – said Gucci – is an approach which has already proved effective in North America, Europe, the UAEs and Australia, where the new website was launched back in 2015.”

    As of today, Gucci’s e-tail sites are active in the USA, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Canada, the UK, Italy, Ireland, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Turkey and the UAEs.

  • Amazon prepares to take on South Korean e-commerce

    Amazon prepares to take on South Korean e-commerce

    Amazon is preparing to expand competition in the Korean online retail market, as evidenced by a recent wave of advertisements for positions in its office in Seoul.

    In the last week alone, the e-commerce giant advertised for 49 full-time positions and internships in Seoul, many within Global Selling, Marketing, and Business Development.

    To date, Amazon’s business in South Korea has focused on cloud computing rather than online retail. AWS opened an office in Seoul in 2012 and began accumulating customers and formulating partnerships with a broad base of Korean companies, including Samsung, Nexon Gaming, and Mirae Investments.

    Amazon added an AWS region in Seoul in January 2016, to provide local customers with low-latency access to AWS infrastructure services.

    However, with the addition of employees in Global Selling and Marketing, it appears that Amazon is ready to expand its retail e-commerce footprint in the region as well.

    South Korea represents one of the biggest e-commerce markets worldwide, with an existing market of $19.12 billion in 2016 expected to grow to over $32 billion by 2021. This represents the highest e-commerce penetration in the APAC market, with 72% active online shopping reach.

    South Korea’s online shopping reach was second only to the UK in a recent survey, roughly similar to that of Germany. However, South Korea is expected to surpass both the UK and Germany in online sales over the course of the next two years.

    The current market leader is 11Street, a subsidiary of SK Telecom, followed closely by newcomer Coupang.com. However, Amazon is expected to have a disruptive effect on the South Korean market in part due to its global reach. Through Amazon, sellers whose current efforts are focused on the South Korean market will be able to access a global customer base for their products.

    The most popular online shopping categories in South Korea are online travel and reservation services, home electronics and appliances, and fashion and apparel. Amazon recently made major gains in online sales of home appliances and is on track to become the leading US online retailer of consumer apparel.

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  • e-retail brands out of the social media loop in SE Asia

    e-retail brands out of the social media loop in SE Asia

    Over 85% of consumers in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, who mention e-retailer brand names in their social media posts don’t tag brand handles, according to Digimind.

    This means brands need to be vigilant in monitoring their brand reputation in the wider social media space to ensure they aren’t missing out on key conversations and trends, and are able to act upon any customer service concerns quickly.

    With the rise of empowered consumers and an increasing adoption of online shopping, e-retailers need to adopt customer-centric strategies in order to thrive. With so much of our daily conversations happening online, data from social media can provide key insights for e-retailers wishing to optimize customer experiences.

    Digimind’s study, Social Shopping in 2017, assessed the state of the e-retail industry in the three countries by monitoring 15 local and regional e-retailers, including Lazada, Zalora, and Berrybenka.

    “It’s no secret that brands who implement customer-centric strategies are excelling. With 2.8 billion active social media users in Southeast Asia, it is crucial for e-retailers to listen to what is being said about their brand, competitors and the industry online,” said Stephen Dale, general manager of APAC at Digimind.

    “Understanding what consumers are saying on social media can provide companies with an arsenal of insights that can be used to develop content strategies, improve customer service, build brand advocacy, and increase sales,” said Dale.

    He added that when analyzed in conjunction with other data such as web page visits and browsing behavior, this can further inform marketing plans and Voice of the Customer programs.

    The study also revealed that while the majority of e-retailer’s followers in the countries studied were on Facebook, consumers were most actively publicly posting their opinions and experiences on e-retailers on Instagram and Twitter.

    This means while Facebook is the ideal channel for brands to communicate with followers, Instagram and Twitter are key channels for community engagement.

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  • Can Alibaba realize its global ambitions?

    Can Alibaba realize its global ambitions?

    Jack Ma, the man who turned Alibaba into China’s dominant e-commerce platform, now has his sights set on global domination.

    Over the past year, Ma met business leaders and head of states in many countries to introduce his grand vision: small businesses from all corners of the world trading freely and securely on Alibaba’s platform. His goals are equally ambitious: Ma wants Alibaba to hit $1 trillion in gross merchandise value by 2020. By 2036, the company sees itself serving two billion customers, effectively becoming the world’s fifth largest economy, with sales eclipsed only by the GDP of the U.S., China, Japan and the EU.

    But to sustain the near continuous 40% growth rate of Ma’s $300 billion empire, which centers on a marketplace connecting brands with buyers, globalization is seen as key. At home it faces heightened competition with the country’s second-largest shopping site, JD.com, which just posted record sales of $17.6 billion for its 6.18 shopping festival. Alibaba’s e-commerce dominance isn’t under threat but it nonetheless sees a “growth bottleneck” and feels “globalization is better done now than later,” said Teng Bingsheng, a professor of strategic management at the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business in Beijing.

    Alibaba’s global footprint has grown through investments in local partners. As part of a $21 billion-acquisition spree over the past two years, the company has stakes in India-based marketplaces Paytm and Snapdeal, as well as Southeast Asia’s top shopping site, Lazada, which it now holds a 83% stake after investing another $1 billion. Its financial affiliate Ant Financial has investments in payment platforms in Thailand, South Korea and the Philippines, and is expanding in further afield in South Africa.

    Some analysts however question whether Ma might be painting an overly rosy picture for small business owners. While it is true that China has a growing appetite for niche brands from cosmetics to baby food, competition on Alibaba’s shopping sites is cutthroat.

    Already thousands of brands are selling on Tmall and the number of foreign brands on Tmall Global grew 169% last year — while total sales only grew 30%, according to Mark Tanner, founder of Shanghai-based consultancy China Skinny.

    This means another part of Alibaba’s strategy has brighter prospects. Outside the U.S., through the likes of Lazada, and its own cross-border commerce platform AliExpress, Alibaba wants to find fresh customers for Chinese manufacturers. On Lazada, for example, Taobao has opened a shop, offering a curated selection of Chinese-made clothes, gadgets and toys to tap Southeast Asia’s $22 billion e-commerce market.

    Compared with facilitating exports to China, this strategy may ultimately take on more importance. Southeast Asia, for example, is an ideal market for Chinese products, whose price advantages can win over more customers, CKGSB’s Teng said.

    What’s more, Alibaba will not only create more revenue streams by selling globally but fit itself nicely into Beijing’s vision. Through grandiose projects such as the One Belt, One Road initiative, Beijing wants to restore demand for Chinese goods along the ancient Silk Road trading route, which stretches all the way from its middle west provinces to Europe.

    But it isn’t a smooth ride either. The Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP), Ma’s version of the World Trade Organization and a web-based approach to lowering trade barriers for small businesses in the region, is moving slowly. One year after its announcement, only Malaysiajoined the initiative, establishing in March a trading hub near Kuala Lumpur International Airport— a reflection of how stalling trade talks worldwide might be affecting Alibaba.

    That means, for now, international business remains a small part of Alibaba — contributing less than 10% of the group’s revenues in the last year. Evans said the company is on track to reaching its goal, eventually generating 40% of its revenues from international businesses over the next decade.

    The company has identified its chance of success. Aside from e-commerce, Alibaba’s payment, entertainment and cloud computing units are also expanding globally. AliCloud, for example, is wooing international customers with a price 85% cheaper than Amazon Web Services, according to CSLA analyst Elinor Leung. And Ant Financial, despite recent hurdles such as opposition to its acquisition of U.S. payment company Moneygram, has installed its service at millions of retailers in the U.S. through a partnership with payment processor First Data.

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  • H&M India to debut e-commerce, plans 8 new stores

    H&M India to debut e-commerce, plans 8 new stores

    H&M plans to launch an India-dedicated e-commerce this year, as well as several new store openings, in a bid to reach customers across all of India, not just major metropolitan hubs.

    The Swedish fast-fashion giant is planning to add 8 new stores within the next 6 months, adding five more stores in Tier 1 cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru, and three and in Tier 2 cities.

    H&M will add two new stores in Mumbai, two at Bengaluru and one in Delhi’s National Capital Region (NCR) of Ghaziabad.

    The brand will also foray into new cities of Coimbatore, Indore and Amritsar this year, the company said in a statement.

    “H&M is especially excited to expand its reach in India, a market that poses tremendous potential both in Tier I & Tier II cities”, said Janne Einola, Country Manager at H&M India.

    Meanwhile, H&M’s online vertical is on the verge of deployment. The venture into online market would see it cater to Tier 2 and tier 3 cities where H&M does not have any physical presence as of yet.

    The group’s Indian operations turned profitable this year, posting remarkable sales of Rs 435 crore (US$67 million) in six months from December 2016 to May 2017.

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  • Capitalising on China’s cross-border e-commerce market

    Capitalising on China’s cross-border e-commerce market

    Attendees of the dialogue on GMS Cross-border E-commerce Cooperation Platform held in Yunnan province, China earlier this month discussed how to develop cross-border e-commerce businesses of ASEAN countries. More than 100 representatives from e-commerce companies and associations from the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) comprising Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam as well as Yunnan Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in China participated with this event. Ray Li, vice president of SF Express International Business Division, shared his insights as a representative from the logistics sector on the import opportunities for Chinese e-commerce companies at the event.

    China’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative and Supply-Side Reform policy provides a driving force for the development of cross-border trade for ASEAN countries as well as for China itself, Ray Li said. Overseas shopping by Chinese consumers is growing at a rate of more than 50% annually, driving the rapid increase in sales of milk power made in Singapore, coffee made in Vietnam and latex products made in Thailand.

    As how to best expand into the Chinese market, in the pilot stage of business, Ray Li suggested cross-border e-commerce suppliers use B2C direct mailing services with light assets, zero inventory, small quantities and multi batch models, in order to accelerate the stock cycle and sales.

    SF Express is a Chinese express company known for its fast delivery and quality services and has a network coverage of 34 provinces and cities across China. The express service provider, which owns 51 all-cargo aircraft, is building an air logistics hub that will soon to be the first in Asia and the fourth in the world. In Southeast Asia, the company has set up service points in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand with its own local service teams that can provide door-to-door international express services.

    This event was co-hosted by the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China Department of International Trade and Economic Affairs, the Department of Commerce of Yunnan Province, and the Asia-Pacific Model E-Port Network Operational Center. The event aims to strengthen the cooperation between and the development of GMS members in terms of cross-board e-commerce, through in-depth dialogues and communications.

  • Amazon Prime Day will include China and India on July 11th

    Amazon Prime Day will include China and India on July 11th

    Amazon’s Black Friday-like event for the summer will be back for the third time. On July 11th, the e-commerce giant will hold the third annual “Prime Day,” and this time, more people will be able to take advantage of all the deals on offer.

    To start with, the event will last for 30 hours instead of the usual 24 and will begin at 9PM Eastern on July 10th. In addition, Amazon is launching the event for the first time in China, India and Mexico, which only recently joined the list of countries where the company’s Prime service is available. Customers in the US, UK, Spain, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, Canada, Belgium and Austria will be able to participate as always.

    While the event itself won’t begin until the evening of July 10th, Amazon will reveal exclusive promos for Prime members every day until then. It is possible to access the first batch of promotions starting today, which include access to Amazon Music Unlimited for 99 cents, 40 percent off Kindle Unlimited membership and 40 percent off Audible for your first six months on the audiobooks service. Alexa-exclusive deals are also to be checked out when having an Echo or a Tap speaker, a Fire TV or a Fire table, since they typically include bigger discounts than what you’ll find on the website.

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  • Saha, Lazada unite for e-commerce expansion

    Saha, Lazada unite for e-commerce expansion

    Saha Group Fair is anticipated to attract over 1 million visitors, contributing more than 300 million baht in transactions. The fair runs until Sunday at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center.

    Saha Pattana Inter-Holding Co, an investment company of Saha Group, has entered into a partnership with Lazada Thailand Co, aiming to use the e-commerce channel to explore its business at home and abroad.

    Saha Group chairman Boonsithi Chokwatana said the cooperation will fully take place this year after both parties started working together in 2014 to improve their selling platforms, warehouse systems, logistics management, payment methods and customer service centres.

    The companies have since signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) enabling the Thai group to explore markets abroad, with Asean countries and China being targeted in particular.

    brands from Saha Group are now available via Lazada in various categories, including health and beauty products, lingerie and sport wears. More product categories will be added, including home and living products and groceries.

    Mr Boonsithi said Lazada is the leader in the Southeast Asian e-commerce market and seventh in terms of overall website popularity. It has a strong business base in Indonesia, Malaysia and other Asean market as well as China, the hometown of Alibaba, which is the parent company of Lazada.

    “This will help increase opportunities for our products to expand into the Asian market, particularly China, where customers are familiar with online shopping,” he said.

    Lazada expanded its online business into Asean five years ago in the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore and Thailand.

    “One strong trend being seen among Thai consumers that is very positive for e-commerce is the higher penetration of mobiles,” said Alessandro Piscini, chief executive of Lazada Thailand.

    A lot of people access the internet for the first time through a mobile device and they are spending more time online for entertainment and various other content, he said.

    “E-commerce is not just about a website, but also the sub-businesses that complete the user experience i.e. payments or logistics,” said Mr Piscini, adding that Lazada will continue to invest in strengthening this ecosystem through its facilities to be put in the Eastern Economic Corridor.

    Lazada offers more than 10 million items in Thailand and 100 million items across Southeast Asia. The company plans to add two to three product categories including groceries.

    Saha Group has engaged in online business for a decade but sales remain sluggish, accounting for only 1% of Saha Group’s total.

    After partnering with Lazada, the group forecasts the sales contribution from online channels will rise to 10% in the next three years.

    The 75-year old group, which is Thailand’s leading consumer product conglomerate, has annual sales revenue of more than 200 billion baht from a variety of products, including food and drinks, household goods, clothes, leather goods, shoes, cosmetics and sports gear.

    “The cooperation with Lazada opens a new business chapter for our group,” said Mr Boonsithi.

    To support the online channel, Saha Group’s subsidiaries Tiger Distribution and Logistic Co yesterday signed a MoU with Paltac Corporation of Japan to strengthen its logistics businesses.

    Tiger Distribution is spending 1.8 billion baht to develop Tiger Suvarnnabhumi DC Project, a large scale warehouse building in Lat Krabang, Bangkok. It is expected to open this distribution centre in June next year.

  • Social media set to morph into shopping platform

    Social media set to morph into shopping platform

    China’s shoppers expect a more personalized customer experience in a new digital era where the distinction between online and offline matters less, a new report on Chinese consumer trends has found.

    McKinsey & Co released their report China iConsumer Research 2017 on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the New Champions 2017, also known as Summer Davos, in Dalian, Liaoning province.

    It found the primary shopping mode for Chinese customers has become the omni-channel experience that can offer both offline and online channels before making purchases.

    More than 95 percent of the 5,900 respondents said they either visited the physical stores before purchasing electronics online or bought them in stores after doing online research.

    The report predicted the e-commerce market in China would expand 19 percent in 2017, a relatively modest rate compared to six years of rapid growth including 74 percent in 2011.

    The report found that the solely online retail platforms are reaching their ceiling, but the full potential of the digital retail sector has not yet been fulfilled.

    “Having quickly evolved as a market for pure digital players, Chinese e-commerce is poised to enter a new retail era,” the report said.

    The term ‘new retail’ refers to a combination of the strengths of both online and offline retail.

    Founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba, Jack Ma, said new retail is wiping out the distinction between physical and virtual commerce.

    In addition to shoppers’ high expectations for omni-channel services, McKinsey suggested other major consumption trends are emerging in China in the new retail era.

    Chinese customers are pursuing scenario-triggered shopping – an e-commerce experience that adapts to whatever a shopper is doing and seeing at a given moment, the report said.

    The report also found various consumer activities such as discovering new products and making purchases are appearing on social media platforms.

    About 70 percent of the people surveyed by McKinsey who use WeChat, an instant messaging tool and social media app in China, showed interest in shopping through the platform if their favorite brands were available on it.

    The report also noted Chinese consumers’ rising enthusiasm for customized products and services.

    The report found existing online product recommendations received by consumers are far from personalized. They are based on consumers’ previous online search topics or shopping history but fail to indicate new items consumers would be interested in.

    Deeper personalization based on data and connecting online and offline experiences are key for brands and retailers in China’s new retail era, the reports said.

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  • Brick-and-mortar stores with online presence have retail edge

    Brick-and-mortar stores with online presence have retail edge

    The growth of e-commerce may pose a serious threat to brick-and-mortar stores, but there is a silver lining for department stores here. A nationwide survey has found that department stores with both a physical and online presence can have a competitive edge over online-only stores.

    Department store customers who shopped via the store’s online channels – such as its website or mobile app – reported higher levels of customer loyalty than shoppers at e-commerce sites such as Zalora and Groupon.

    This was one of the findings of the latest Customer Satisfaction Index of Singapore released yesterday.

    “This would suggest that traditional brick-and-mortar stores could be better served and complemented by developing a robust omni-channel presence if they have not already done so. It can potentially give them a competitive edge over the e-commerce retailers,” said Mr Chen Yongchang, head of research and consulting at the Institute of Service Excellence (ISE) at the Singapore Management University, which compiled the index.

    The survey of 6,900 Singapore residents and tourists between January and April this year found that satisfaction levels in the retail sector remained similar to last year’s, with the retail sector scoring 72.1 points out of 100, up from 71.7 the year before.

    Of the four retail sub-sectors surveyed, the department store sub-sector showed significant improvement.

    This largely stemmed from more satisfied local shoppers, said Ms Neeta Lachmandas, ISE’s executive director.

    “This increase could be related to the revamps of various stores and product offerings, as well as increased promotional activities targeted at boosting sales.”

    Among department stores, DFS had the highest score of 73.6 while Metro was the only store whose score had increased significantly.

    DFS’ managing director for Singapore and Indonesia, Ms Wilcy Wong, attributed the retailer’s high score to its focus on providing “authentic and personal customer engagement. But at the heart of the DFS experience is of course our people,” she added.

    “We invest heavily in talent management programmes, as well as learning and development through our own DFS University to enhance our operations.”

    The fashion apparel, supermarket and e-commerce sub-sectors did not see any significant change in scores.

    A notable observation among supermarket customers was that those who frequently used self-checkout counters were more satisfied than those who mostly used manned cashier counters.

    The survey also looked at customer satisfaction for the info-communications sector, which scored a record high of 69.6 points out of 100, up 1.6 per cent.

    ISE found that service attributes relating to responsiveness, assurance and empathy were key drivers of loyalty among mobile telecommunications and broadband customers.

    This was in addition to the usual product-related attributes such as suitable subscription plans and fast data speeds.

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  • Blibli.com acquires Tiket.com, expands into online travel

    Blibli.com acquires Tiket.com, expands into online travel

    Indonesian e-commerce company Blibli.com has acquired a pioneer Online Travel Agents (OTA) in Indonesia, Tiket.com. Blibli.com CEO Kusumo Martanto and co-founder and chief communications officer Gaery Undarsa, the of Tiket.com signed the documents finalising the acquisition recently. At the same event, George Hendrata was appointed Tiket.com’s new CEO.

    Since it was founded in 2011, Blibli.com has held on to a vision of expanding its business line through various innovations.

    In late 2016, Blibli.com introduced its online travel product category, Blibli Travel. Blibli Travel is a special category section that offers travel products on the Blibli.com website.

    Since then, online travel has become one of Blibli.com’s focuses in developing its business due to the size of this market.

    “Tiket.com has a good business track record. In a relatively short time, it grew into one of the biggest OTA in Indonesia. It has maintained its focus on customer satisfaction and has been consistent in running its business.

    “Moreover, we see that Tiket.com shares many similarities of vision, mission and corporate values with Blibli.com. We expect that this can ease the process of achieving synergy between the two. Based on this consideration, we are confident with this acquisition,” explained Kusumo.

    Tiket.com is currently one of the OTA with the biggest inventory of travelling-related and leisure products, namely airline and train tickets, hotel room bookings, car rental, concert tickets.

    Tiket.com has partnered with more than 35 international and domestic airlines, and with thousands of domestic and international hotels.

    Blibli Travel, newly-developed late last year, now has more than 1,000 travel product variants, including train tickets, hotel vouchers, and entertainment and lifestyle tickets.

    Blibli.com partners with various banks offering 0% interest instalment programs and offers a wide array of payment methods to customers.

    With the acquisition, Blibli.com is set to become an e-commerce group offering a one-stop shopping experience and added value to its customers.

    Business target and plan

    “The acquisition process started five months prior. We see this as an opportunity for Tiket.com to grow exponentially, in terms of the plan for synergy and from the point of view of market penetration. Seeing the future potentials and the similar business cultures and vision shared by both companies, we are very excited about the move to become part of Blibli.com” said Gaery.

    Blibli.com will provide full support to Tiket.com, both in the share inventory, sales programme, promotion, and social media penetration. Blibli.com will also help strengthen Tiket.com’s team.

    “Blibli.com is optimistic that from the business point of view we are looking at organic and non-organic growths which are to reach 2.5 times in the second semester of this year,” explained Kusumo about the target by the company for the second half of 2017.

    “With the acquisition, Blibli.com is ready to emerge as the biggest OTA player in the country and to become the only, or the first, B2C e-commerce player in Indonesia whose OTA business offers the most complete variety of travel products,” said Kusumo, who went on to explain that the money for the acquisition was from the internal sources set up by Blibli.com for its business development.

    Moving forward, Blibli.com sees no reason not to expand to other categories of products. The company, however, for the time being will concentrate on developing the two e-commerce companies to cater to the traveling and online shopping needs of its domestic and international customers.

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  • Uber CEO Travis Kalanick resigns under investor pressure

    Uber CEO Travis Kalanick resigns under investor pressure

    Kalanick’s decision ‘was a surprise to everyone’, a second Uber spokesman said. Uber Technologies Inc Chief Executive Travis Kalanick, co-founder of one of the most influential technology companies of its generation, resigned on Tuesday under mounting pressure from investors over his leadership.

    Kalanick’s departure caps a tumultuous period for the world’s largest ride-services company, which upended the taxi industry and transportation regulations globally with Kalanick at the helm.

    “I love Uber more than anything in the world and at this difficult moment in my personal life I have accepted the investors’ request to step aside so that Uber can go back to building rather than be distracted with another fight,” Kalanick said in a statement first reported by the New York Times and verified by an Uber spokesman.

    Kalanick, 40, has faced increased scrutiny in recent weeks following an investigation into the culture and workplace practices at a company he helped start in 2009 and is now the world’s most highly valued startup.

    But it was a chorus of demands for changes at the top from some of Uber’s biggest investors that ultimately forced Kalanick out, according to a source familiar with the matter.

    Venture capital firm Benchmark, whose partner Bill Gurley is one of Uber’s largest shareholders and sits on its board, as well as investors First Round Capital, Lowercase Capital, Menlo Ventures and Fidelity Investments, all pressed Kalanick to quit.

    They delivered a letter to Kalanick while he was in Chicago, the New York Times reported, citing people with knowledge of the situation. The newspaper, which was first to report Kalanick’s resignation, said he would remain on Uber’s board.

    Kalanick’s decision “was a surprise to everyone”, a second Uber spokesman said.

    Kalanick’s departure comes after a lengthy investigation led by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

    Uber hired Holder to look into its culture and workplace practices after a female former employee publicly accused the company of what she described as brazen sexual harassment.

    Privately held Uber has been valued at $68 billion, shattering the norms for Silicon Valley startups, and the company embodied many of Kalanick’s aggressive and pugnacious personality traits.

    Following the release of recommendations stemming from the Holder investigation, which called for increased controls and oversight at the company, Kalanick said last week he would take a leave of absence for an undetermined period.

    He said he needed space to grieve the death of his mother, who died recently in a boating accident in which his father was also seriously injured, and to work on his leadership skills.

    Gurley, one of Kalanick’s closest confidants, praised the CEO on Twitter, after calling for his resignation.

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