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Tag: ensogo

  • Ensogo Philippines to shut down

    Ensogo Philippines to shut down

    Ensogo Philippines will be closed down along with the online retailers’ other sites across Southeast Asia.

    Following the resignation of its co-founder Kris Marszalek, the Singapore-based tech company said it will cut its financial support to its sales and marketplace business units in Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong and the Philippines.

    “These business units will be shut down. All staff have been informed and communications will be made to customers in the coming days,” the company said in a statement.

    Australian internet entrepreneur Patrick Grove founded Ensogo, formerly iBuy. Grove also established the online businesses iProperty and iCar under Catcha Group.

    Recently the company reported growth averaging more than 100 per cent in the first quarter, after the launch of a cross-border marketplace business in January. It said the number of suppliers had skyrocketed from 3141 in the fourth quarter of 2015 to 13,599 in the first quarter of 2016. The first three months saw US$8.2 million in gross merchandise value.

    As of the end of March 2016, however, Ensogo reported A$22.6 million (about US$17 million) in receipts from customers, while total cash was only A$17.6 million, a 64 per cent decline from A$29 million by the end of last year. Earlier this year the company, which is headquartered in Singapore and listed in Australia, laid off employees.

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  • RIP Ensogo Asia shuts down sites

    RIP Ensogo Asia shuts down sites

    Ensogo Asia has closed down all of its online stores as the online retailer appears on the brink of collapse.

    Following the resignation of its co-founder Kris Marszalek, the Singapore-based tech company said it will cut its financial support to its sales and marketplace business units in Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong and the Philippines.

    “These business units will be shut down. All staff have been informed and communications will be made to customers in the coming days,” the company said in a statement.

    Australian internet entrepreneur Patrick Grove founded Ensogo, formerly iBuy. Grove also established the online businesses iProperty and iCar under Catcha Group.

    Recently the company reported growth averaging more than 100 per cent in the first quarter, after the launch of a cross-border marketplace business in January. It said the number of suppliers had skyrocketed from 3141 in the fourth quarter of 2015 to 13,599 in the first quarter of 2016. The first three months saw US$8.2 million in gross merchandise value.

    As of the end of March 2016, however, Ensogo reported A$22.6 million (about US$17 million) in receipts from customers, while total cash was only A$17.6 million, a 64 per cent decline from A$29 million by the end of last year. Earlier this year the company, which is headquartered in Singapore and listed in Australia, laid off employees.

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  • Philippines online grocery service launched

    Philippines online grocery service launched

    Jakarta-based HappyFresh is bringing its operations to the Philippine market by the second quarter of 2016.

    Manila is the online grocer’s fifth market in Asia, following  Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Taiwan. Isabel ‘Pao’ Barientos, former chief operating officer of online marketplace theshop.ph, will lead the Manila office as MD. Barientos has also previously worked for deal sites Ensogo and the Lazada Group.

    The Philippines online grocery shopping app will target the growing urban workforce, especially working mothers, who are in need of personal shoppers to deliver goods amid the city’s notorious traffic congestion.

    “The Philippines is an exciting market because the population’s wealth is expanding and consumer spending growth will accelerate through to 2030,” said HappyFresh CEO and co-founder Markus Bihler in a statement.

    In Bangkok, HappyFresh competes with supermarket chain Tesco Lotus, which has been offering a delivery service for several years already. In Jakarta, the competitor is startup Back Garlic, a meal-kit delivery service sends pre-packaged, portioned and labeled groceries in a box.

    Bihler said the market for online grocery shopping in Asian countries could see double-digit growth in market turnover by 2020 to reach S$19 billion (US$13 billion) by 2020. He said the rise of a young, working-class population in urban areas is driving the market.

    Working mothers outnumber all other HappyFresh customers, with dairy products such as milk and eggs among the top purchases. They are followed by young professionals and expatriates who mainly buy tomatoes, spaghetti and chicken breast.

    Securing $12 million in funding as a start-up last year, led by Singapore’s Vertex Venture and Sinar Mas Digital Venture, HappyFresh partners with supermarket retailers, “particularly small and medium-sized enterprises that do not have the capacity or ability to invest in technology and reach out to new set of customers,” said Bihler.

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  • Ensogo mobile marketplace takes wings

    Ensogo mobile marketplace takes wings

    Ten weeks after its launch, the mobile marketplace of Australia-listed Hong Kong-based eCommerce platform Ensogo has reported “exceptional” growth.

    Ensogo connects products for sale to more than 600 million consumers throughout Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, The Philippines and Thailand.

    Ensogo app

    The company says its marketplace’s inventory has rocketed 3000 per cent, with the number of sellers swelling 600 per cent over the first two weeks of January, following a strong fourth-quarter.

    “The introduction of Ensogo’s mobile marketplace represents a game-changing shift for the business,” says co-founder and CEO Kris Marszalek. “Since its launch, we have seen an exponential increase in both new and active sellers, adding hundreds of thousands of products to our offering.

    “Exciting merchandise is a prerequisite to successful customer acquisition and retention, and Ensogo now offers consumers across the region a vastly expanded and truly exceptional range of products at competitive prices.”

    Powerful personalisation technology drives product discoverability while creating individualised shopping experiences on the marketplace, which with its rapid traction underscores the company’s transition away from its legacy services business. Along with changing trends and consumer behaviours in Southeast Asia, the company believes a streamlined offering is critical as the business moves into its next stage of growth. “The eCommerce opportunity in Southeast Asia is enormous, and has immense potential for further growth,” says Marszalek.

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  • Ensogo allocates record B100m for marketing push

    Ensogo allocates record B100m for marketing push

    Ensogo, a leading e-commerce site in Southeast Asia, is spending a record 100 million baht on marketing this year to promote its new product footprint.

    The aggressive push is aimed at cashing in on booming online retail in Thailand, which is expected to account for 7.5% of total retail sales by 2020, up from 1.2%, in a market worth 400 billion baht last year.

    “We are positioning ourselves as an online product and service sales site, apart from offering daily deals,” said Voravudh Varikarn, managing director of Ensogo Co.

    Ensogo is shifting its focus to high-growth product sales because the daily deal service has reached the mature stage and it is difficult to target customers in the mass market.

    He said Thailand’s e-commerce market had the potential to grow at 100% over the next five years, thanks to intense competition and the proliferation of mobile devices.

    Ensogo has set the goal of becoming a leading lifestyle shopping marketplace in Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, with a combined 500 million potential users.

    Thailand is one of the top three largest markets for Ensogo Group.

    Mr Voravudh said only 10 shopping websites were expected to dominate the market in Thailand over the next five years, down from the current 20, due to fierce competition.

    He said Ensogo was building its brand awareness to raise consumer awareness of it as an e-commerce site, instead of just a daily deal site.

    “We estimate up to 10 million Thais currently buy products and services online,” said Mr Voravudh, adding that Ensogo has 3.5 million users.

    In order to double its customers to 7 million and achieve sales growth of 80% this year, he said Ensogo would launch aggressive marketing and advertising campaigns this month. Special offers include free delivery without a minimum purchase and a one-year warranty for products’ return.

    To expand its customer base, Ensogo will also allow customers to pay for goods at the time of delivery.

    Ensogo is increasing its variety of products with a greater price range, especially for fashion and mother and child products.

    Target customers are females aged 20-45, mostly housewives. This demographic has strong purchasing power, spending an average 3,500 baht a month compared with an average of below 1,000 baht, said Mr Voravudh.

    “By the year-end, we aim for revenue from sales of products and services to account for 70% of total revenue,” he said.

    The top three best-selling products are health and beauty, house and garden, and IT gadgets. Restaurants, beauty and health, and travel are the best-selling services.

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  • Vipshop takes stake in Ensogo

    Vipshop takes stake in Ensogo

    Chinese eCommerce company Vipshop has taken a cornerstone stake in southeast Asian online retailer Ensogo.

    The deal will open the way for Vipshop’s inventory to be offered on Ensogo and for the two parties to share commercial and business expertise to drive Ensogo’s growth.

    Australian Stock Exchange listed Ensogo has also raised US$7.5 million from the issue of nearly 60 million shares to equity fund investor Ward Ferry, through a subsidiary WF Asian Reconnaissance Fund.

    Ward Ferry will now hold a 10.6 per cent stake and Vipshop 12.2 per cent. The total capital raised in the two transactions is approximately $12 million.

    Ensogo CEO Kris Marszalek said to have an investor of the caliber of Ward Ferry was exciting.

    “The additional AU$10m of funding means we are perfectly positioned to execute on the tremendous opportunity our strategic relationship with Vipshop brings, as well as on the enormous opportunity for eCommerce in Southeast Asia.

    “As a part of the (Vipshop) strategic investment, the companies will also enter a strategic operating partnership, whereby Ensogo will have access to Vipshop’s vast volume and selection of existing inventory, all to be made available for immediate shipping. The companies also intend to cooperate in the areas of logistics, merchandising, technology, marketing and user acquisition; the very expertise, which enabled Vipshop to scale its revenues from US$32 million in 2010 to US$3.77 billion in 2014,” said Marszalek.

    “We’re excited to be in the perfect position to build the Vipshop of Southeast Asia.”

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