Retail News CRM

Tag: PropertyGuru

  • Canva Hires Ex-Bukalapak Head Willix Halim as Regional Revenue Triples

    Canva Hires Ex-Bukalapak Head Willix Halim as Regional Revenue Triples

    Australian software group Canva has named former Bukalapak chief executive Willix Halim as head of South-east Asia after tripling regional annual recurring revenue since 2022.

    The privately held design platform doubled its monthly active user base across South-east Asian markets during the same period.

    Halim served as an advisor to Canva for roughly twelve months before taking the regional chief executive role full-time three months ago. His remit focuses on local product development and mobile adoption across the regional footprint. He previously served as co-founder and chief executive of Indonesian e-commerce company Bukalapak, where consumer traffic shifted decisively toward mobile handsets over the past decade.

    Mobile Dominance Across Developing Markets

    Consumer behavior across South-east Asia drives Canva to alter its product rollout strategy compared to Western markets. Company data shows that one out of every two presentations created in the region begins on a mobile device. In Indonesia, two out of every three presentations start on mobile handsets. The ratio reaches three out of five across the Philippines.

    Desktop-first design interfaces present an immediate barrier to user acquisition in economies where the majority of retail entrepreneurs and small corporate teams operate entirely through Android and iOS devices. Adapting software workflows for touchscreens determines subscription conversion rates for enterprise software vendors expanding across developing Asia.

    Regional Headcount and Enterprise Accounts

    Enterprise and institutional accounts now form a core target for Canva in regional commercial hubs. Singapore-based real estate platform PropertyGuru deploys Canva across its group operations for internal workflows and marketing assets. Small and medium-sized merchants represent another major revenue segment, using the design software for day-to-day social commerce, product promotions, and branding campaigns.

    Education authorities represent the third expansion pillar. Canva maintains formal partnerships with education regulators in Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines to supply software access across public school networks and universities.

    User Concentration in Archipelago Economies

    User volume in island nations anchors Canva’s regional scale. Indonesia ranks among the top three markets globally for monthly active users. The Philippines ranks in the top ten worldwide and hosts Canva’s second-largest corporate campus after its Sydney headquarters. Vietnam and Thailand sit consistently inside the global top fifteen.

    Chief product officer and co-founder Cameron Adams noted the geographical spread of active accounts across regional hubs. Indonesia consistently ranks in the top three in terms of monthly active users. The Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand are consistently in the top 15.

    Software Competition Across Emerging Asia

    Competition among digital workplace platforms in Southeast Asia centers on merchant acquisition costs and recurring monetization. Software providers face tight margins when converting free tier users in emerging economies where average revenue per user remains substantially lower than in North America or Australia. Growth depends directly on broader income expansion across regional economies.

    Halim’s appointment gives Canva executive experience from Indonesia’s competitive marketplace sector, where Bukalapak fought for merchant market share against Tokopedia and Shopee. Canva continues to maintain private ownership while expanding enterprise sales teams across Manila, Jakarta, and Singapore.

  • Former PropertyGuru Exec Kenneth Soh Spearheads Foodpanda Malaysia as New MD, Aims for Everyday Value Amid Rising Costs

    Former PropertyGuru Exec Kenneth Soh Spearheads Foodpanda Malaysia as New MD, Aims for Everyday Value Amid Rising Costs

    Malaysian food delivery titan, Foodpanda, has recently unveiled Kenneth Soh as its new Managing Director (MD). Prior to assuming his new role at Foodpanda, Soh was the Country Manager for Propertyguru. He is taking over from Tan Ming Luk, who held the role of MD for Foodpanda Malaysia starting from October 2024.

    Mission Statement

    Upon his appointment, Soh expressed his enthusiasm and gratitude for the opportunity. He noted the impressive growth and presence Foodpanda has established in the on-demand food and grocery segments. As he leads the team, his primary aim is to make Foodpanda the most popular application in Malaysia.

    Soh highlighted the company’s commitment to focusing on the aspects most important to Malaysians. This includes providing reliability, diverse selection, and consistent value on food and essential items. He acknowledged the increasing living costs and global uncertainties, reinforcing the company’s commitment to addressing these challenges.

    Previously, Soh also served as the Country Manager at Shopee, a well-known e-commerce platform that was launched in 2015.

    Looking Ahead

    In a statement, Soh emphasized the importance of a thriving ecosystem to the company’s long-term success. He pledged that the company will contribute to this ecosystem to the best of its abilities. Expressing his anticipation for the company’s future growth, he voiced his confidence in the Foodpanda team. He stated that with dedication, humility, and heart, there’s much they can achieve together.

    Questions & Answers

    Who is the new Managing Director of Foodpanda Malaysia?
    Kenneth Soh is the newly appointed Managing Director of Foodpanda Malaysia.

    What is Kenneth Soh’s primary aim for Foodpanda Malaysia?
    His primary aim is to make Foodpanda the most popular application in Malaysia by focusing on providing reliability, diverse selection, and consistent value on food and essential items.

    What previous role did Kenneth Soh hold before joining Foodpanda?
    Before joining Foodpanda, Kenneth Soh was the country manager at Propertyguru and Shopee.

  • Property prices likely to continue downtrend in Malaysia: PropertyGuru

    Property prices likely to continue downtrend in Malaysia: PropertyGuru

    Property prices in the country are likely to continue their downtrend for at least the first half of the year (1H19), despite improving consumer sentiment and proactive government policies announced in the Budget 2019, online property company PropertyGuru said. It said in a statement that this is validated by the company’s Market Index, which shows that asking prices of homes in Malaysia continue to show a 2.3% drop year-on-year.

    The Market Index is an analysis of over 250,000 property listings aggregated and indexed. PropertyGuru said its online portal, which has over 1.3 million Malaysians searching for properties, has seen a surge of interest in the following property hotspots identified in the various states of Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Penang and Johor.

    While there has been a dip in asking prices, it said the demand for properties in Kuala Lumpur is still strong with the most popular and highly searched areas being Bangsar, Mont Kiara and Cheras.

    It said the property types that are most searched in these three areas are condominiums, followed by apartments and townhouses, noting the reason for high-rises being the most preferred property type in Kuala Lumpur may be due to the more affordable entry price points.

    In terms of the price bracket, PropertyGuru said many are searching below the RM300,000 bracket which is not feasible for the locations that are preferred, since many of these locations are priced above the affordability range.

    The company said demand for properties in Selangor continues to be high despite declining prices, with properties in Petaling Jaya, Shah Alam, and Subang Jaya topping the list in this order.

    It said properties that are most searched for in these areas are condominiums, followed by apartments and two-storey terrace houses, with many looking at transit-oriented development properties.

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  • Singapore’s PropertyGuru acquires Indonesia’s RumahDijaul

    Singapore’s PropertyGuru acquires Indonesia’s RumahDijaul

    Earlier today, Singaporean start-up PropertyGuru announced it has acquired one of Indonesia’s largest real estate portals RumahDijual for an undisclosed sum. The deal is the latest of PropertyGuru’s acquisition sequence in Southeast Asia. It comes not long after the firm snapped up ePropertyTrack in July, following a S$175 million ($124 million) investment in June from a consortium of three backers including Emtek, one of Indonesia’s largest media companies. The island nation is PropertyGuru’s second biggest market in terms of traffic.

    Founded by Indonesian Yohanes Aristianto, RumahDijual translates to English as ‘house for sale’, which makes the site almost priceless in terms of search engine optimisation in Indonesia. The acquisition of RumahDijual, coupled with PropertyGuru’s Rumah, emboldens the group to now claim market leadership in Indonesia.

    The group says 43% of all time spent on property portals in Indonesia is accumulated on PropertyGuru, almost double that of its closest competitor, which we know to be iProperty Group’s Rumah123. Rumah and RumahDijual now claim combined traction of 5.5 million users and 30.2 million monthly page views in Indonesia.

    “Indonesia is strategically important for PropertyGuru because it is the largest, and one of the fastest growing property and digital markets in Southeast Asia,” says Steve Melhuish, CEO and co-founder of PropertyGuru. “Together with our local partner, Emtek, we have earmarked tens of millions of dollars in the coming years to bring further innovations to the Indonesian market and help solidify our market leadership.”

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