Malaysia-based retail advertising and intelligence technology provider, Ebizu Sdn Bhd, has secured a round of Series A investment amounting to $3 million from undisclosed Singapore investors to fuel its regional expansion plans.
Ebizu’s operations has grown to a team of 130 people spread across offices in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.
Established in 2013, Ebizu, an O2O (Online to Offline) solutions provider which specializes in retail advertising and location intelligence, has expanded within the Southeast Asia region. Co-founder Rohit Maheswaran said, the company has been aggressively enhancing its solution as well as expanding its beacon and retailer network in the past five months. “Behind all these, negotiations for investments were being conducted and we were glad to see so many interested parties. This round of funding will help us maintain the intensity of our growth,” he said.
“We emphasise on helping physical retailers and brands reach out and engage with their consumers, our product is evolving to become more data driven, so that merchants and brands can acquire and retain customers with more precision,” Maheswaran said.
He added that Ebizu’s brand new geo-behavioural intelligence and insights platform will help advertisers target online and offline ads better. Seeing the accelerated growth in digital ad spend and mobile advertising, Ebizu was formed to bridge the gap between brick and mortar retailers and mobile technology utilization.
The company’s integrated retail solutions empower the offline retailers with knowledge of the customer’s journey, enabling retailers to reach and engage shoppers’ on-the- go with promotions, vouchers and loyalty campaigns, engaging them at the right time and optimizing sale conversions.
Currently, Ebizu’s merchant network consists of 1,900 retail outlets with the target of 5,000 to be reached by the end of 2016. It also has around 5,000 geofenced points of interest and 10,000 BLE beacons installed across Malaysia and Indonesia, at the moment, with hopes to grow that network to 25,000 by year end.
At the end of last year, it was named the 2015 Asia Pacific BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) in Connected Retail Company of the year by Frost & Sullivan.
Niche fragrance specialist Perfumer’s Workshop International (PWI) is looking to make a move into travel retail locations in Malaysia, Sri Lanka and India following feedback from buyers at this year’s TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition in Singapore.
PWI Founder Donald Bauchner said his company’s success at the show was due to the “dramatic increase in awareness and attention to niche in general, and for oud concepts specifically”.
Tea Rose and Amouroud: two of Perfumer’s Workshop International’s signature lines
Bauchner said PWI was considering domestic market openings for its Amouroud line in Singapore, South Korea, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Pakistan and is negotiating travel retail opportunities in Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka, Abu Dhabi and Russia.
PWI’s oud-based Amouroud line will make its debut at London’s Harrods department store on 15 July. “We are very excited about our launch at Harrods,” said Bauchner. “Of course it will impact our travel retail opportunities within the UK. However we are not certain whether we would prefer to start travel retail and duty free in the UK at airports or inflight. Consumer profile will likely decide the issue but only once the timing itself is right,” he added.
PWI added two new fragrances, Midnight Rose and Miel Sauvage, to its Amouroud range which was presented in Singapore and extended its Samba Metallics line.
Samba Metallics is based on a colour preference influencing fragrance preference concept
“The Samba Metallics concept actually does work,” Bauchner said. “The interest at the show was very good. However we targeted our presentations to only those distributors who are actual ‘trend-setters’ in their regions.”
PWI’s Zipped Man, targeting “fashion-conscious young ‘trendies’”, and Parfum Tea Rose were also highlighted in Singapore.
Speaking at the TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition, Bauchner said he predicts further growth for niche brands in Asia. “Generally niche customers do not want something that other people are wearing. They are not looking for a new signature scent. They are hunters, looking for a scent that they are not going to find everyone else wearing,” he said.
“What will be interesting to see will be the eventual relationship between niche and prestige fragrance in Asia. There is a possibility that niche in Asia will eventually occupy as large, or a larger, section of the fine fragrance local market than in Europe because what we refer to as ‘Western fine fragrance’ came late to Asia and therefore remains a far smaller market than elsewhere.
“We believe that our Amouroud collection will perform very well in Asia because we are attuned to many Asian fragrance sensibilities: refinement, beauty, unique fragrance character, long lasting and qualitative packaging.
“Asia was late coming to niche products and even later developing an interest in oud. But, hey, we are here. We have a wonderful concept that is proving to be well liked,” Bauchner concluded.
The Toggle Red Button, based on Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HbbTV), has been launched by Mediacorp-Singapore for its OTT service. This will now together live broadcast TV and Toggle’s VOD services into a single seamless environment.
Mediacorp is the first company in Asia to deploy HbbTV technology. The technology has been widely deployed across Europe, Australia and New Zealand with adoption rates up to 80% in some markets and a range of services such as games, voting and contextualized advertising
The technology rides on Mediacorp’s Digital TV (DVB-T2) network and seamlessly combines broadcast with broadband TV. The service is delivered via HbbTV-enabled Smart TVs that are certified for the Toggle Red Button service, and available on selected models by major TV manufacturers.
Key features of the service include direct access to Toggle’s catalogue of more than 12,000 hours of Mediacorp TV shows and Toggle Original content as well as an Electronic Program Guide (EPG), which provides program information, synopses, and schedules.
Rare and seasonal editions stored in a snow cave for a year are being offered by a new online sake service in Singapore.
Introduced by Sisi Limited, the Sakemaru service delivers premium sakes to customers every month. Subscriptions are priced from S$50 (US$37) a month, and to mark the launch a trial promotion is being offered at a 50 per cent discount for the first month.
Benefits include special logistics and cold storage, product from specially selected breweries, and sake sommeliers.
Leading the sommelier team is Japan International Trading CEO Tadashi Okushima, who first became a sake sommelier in 2007. He is a certified teacher of sake traditions, and in 2014 was appointed Japan’s first honourable sake sommelier.
Sisi CEO Taichi Abe, who is also a sommelier, says sake has seasons. Breweries produce rare limited editions of sake every season. Unpasteurised and unfiltered, the limited-edition sakes have a taste that is totally different from the general line-up.
Winter is the brewing season, and fresh sake nouveau is similar to a sparkling wine. Through spring and summer the sake matures, its taste becoming soft and smooth.
By autumn, after nine months of maturing, sake becomes mild and rich.
Sakemaru stores its rare sake in a specially designed room made entirely from snow. The snow cellar is an ancient Japanese way to keep food fresh. The advantage of storing the sake under snow is that there is no vibration from electricity, it is dark with high humidity.
Japan has about 1500 sake breweries, each producing dozens of labels.
Founded a year ago, Sisi is a platform for introducing Japanese culture worldwide. Its services include trading, promotion, branding and business localisation.
Jollibee Foods Corp has opened two more outlets in Singapore, driven by Filipinos’ demand for the popular Philippine fast food chain.
The new stores of Jollibee Singapore are located at Square 2 Novena and Changi City Point, complementing the first one in Lucky Plaza.
Aside from the usual fare, the new stores’ menu includes Spicy Chickenjoy, Crispy Chicken Burger and Chicken Tenders, to provide more options for Singaporeans.
“We are delighted to further extend our presence in Singapore to further bring the joy of eating to more families. This is also in response to the growing demand of Singaporean residents who love our Chickenjoy and our Jolly Spaghetti,” said Dennis Flores, Jollibee Foods Corp VP for International Markets.
“Our unique style of preparing our bestselling Chickenjoy was very well-received; crunchy and juicy fried chicken enjoyed with tasty gravy is a hit with local palates.”
Jollibee has hit a milestone when it opened its 1000th global store at The Dubai Mall. The company now sets its sights on high-expansion growth in the US, Middle East, Europe, Australia and Southeast Asia.
Singapore’s Mapletree has revealed how its SC VivoCity joint venture in Ho Chi Minh City is performing.
The shopping centre, built in the heart of District 7, a area popular with expats from Korea and Singapore especially, opened in April 2015.
In its recent annual results presentation, Mapletree said almost 90 per cent of SC VivoCity’s 440,000 sqft retail trading space was leased by March 31 this year. Cornerstone tenants include Vietnam’s first Hamleys toy store.
Mapletree said its first shopping mall in Vietnam “has been enjoying strong footfalls since it first welcomed visitors”.
SC VivoCity is the first phase of Saigon South Place, a 4.4-ha integrated mixed-use development project that Mapletree is developing in District 7. When completed, Saigon South Place will comprise retail, office, serviced apartments and residential space.
Construction of the adjoining office complex has started and is expected to be completed by end 2016, while work on the serviced apartments and residential block will commence soon and both buildings are scheduled for completion by end 2017, Mapletree said.
SC VivoCity is a joint venture between local company Saigon Co Op Investment Co, a supermarket operator, and Mapletree, bearing the same brand as the award winning VivoCity centre on Singapore’s waterfront.
Singapore’s M1 has become the first operator in Southeast Asia to offer BlackBerry’s BES12 Cloud bundled with new or renewed business mobile plans.
The operator is the first in the region to take advantage of BlackBerry’s Enhanced SIM-Based Licensing, which offers multi-OS support from a single console, including for personal and company-issued devices.
The platform supports remote provisioning of corporate applications and the setting of usage rights over the portal.
M1 will also offer upgrade options including more advanced EMM features, billed via a monthly subscription model using carrier billing.
“M1 is pleased to be the first in Southeast Asia to bring the benefits of BES12 to customers with easy deployment through Cloud,” the company’s chief product development and corporate solutions officer Willis Sim said.
“This partnership with BlackBerry simplifies the way customers buy and use mobility, driving efficiencies and ultimately helps businesses enhance the way they service their own customers.”
Operators including Vodafone India, Taiwan’s Chunghwa Telecom, Malaysia’s Maxis and Celcom Axiata agreed to support carrier billing for BES12 last year.
The Great Singapore Sale (GSS), which starts on Friday (June 3), has been extended from eight to 10 weeks this year to cater to tourists from the region.
And for the first time, UnionPay International cardholders will get extra perks during the sale, under a new three-year partnership between the payment network and GSS’ organiser, the Singapore Retailers Association (SRA).
SRA said the sale, now in its 23rd year, has grown into an “all-encompassing” event with offers at both online and offline stores, ranging from fashion and dining to beauty and wellness, hotel stays, sightseeing tours and visits to attractions. The sale also stretches from Orchard Road to Marina Bay, Sentosa Harbourfront and the heartlands.
There are no “official” participants of the GSS, as merchants do not need to formally register or sign up with SRA to take part. All merchants who offer special deals during the sale period are considered participants of GSS, said SRA.
The extension of the sale period to 10 weeks – for the last 12 years, GSS stretched over eight weeks – is to better cater to tourists from Asia-Pacific countries whose summer holidays fall in the June to August period, said SRA’s executive director Anthony Gan.
He added that the sale, which ends Aug 14, will still coincide with the school holidays in June and the regional peak travel seasons in July, as with previous years.
UnionPay International also replaces MasterCard Singapore as the new official card of GSS. This means UnionPay cardholders can get exclusive privileges at over 100 retailers here during this year’s sale.
“With a base of over 5.4 billion UnionPay cards issued worldwide and an acceptance rate of over 80 per cent at various retail, lifestyle and food and beverage establishments in Singapore, we are confident that our partnership with UnionPay International will bring substantial benefits to the GSS, participating merchants and consumers,” said Mr Gan.
Consumers who shop at GSS stand to win a record of over $200,000, with SRA giving out $100 each – in the form of a UnionPay prepaid card loaded with the cash – to five shoppers daily, while those who pay with UnionPay cards stand to win an additional $500.
Samsung has secured the support of Citibank as it readies the release of its mobile payments service in Singapore.
Samsung has already won around Singapore’s major banks as it prepares for the launch of its service in Q2.The company is hoping the deal with Citi will give it the edge over rival Apple, which last week announced that it had lined up five major banks, extending the use of the mobile wallet beyond a limited earlier release for AmEx cardholders.
Samsung says it will be able to tap in to Citibank’s extensive customer base and merchant network to promote greater adoption and usage of digital payments in the country.
The South Korean consumer electronics giant says it has signed up ‘thousands’ of consumer to enter into beta tests of Samsung Pay ahead of its launch later this quarter.
UberEats Singapore has launched, the ride-hailing app’s food-delivery service making its Asian debut.
Using the standalone app, Singaporeans can order food from about 100 restaurants. While deliveries are initially limited to the central business and commercial area, the company plans to expand its service coverage as well as menu.
Making its debut in Toronto early this year, the app expanded to four major US cities in March, and Uber began signing up restaurants and testing the service in Singapore last month.
Singapore was also the first Asian market to have Uber’s ride service, in February 2013.
UberEats is up against entrenched food-delivery services such as Rocket Internet-backed FoodPanda and Deliveroo, whose investors include Accel and DST Global. Using the map-routing algorithms Uber uses to connect drivers and passengers as quickly as possible, UberEats Singapore promises delivery within 35 minutes.
It has raised US$9 billion in funding so far, and the delivery driver program is separate from ride-sharing, though drivers can do both.
Singapore’s Land Transport Authority said Tuesday it is investigating Hyundai vehicles following reports of accidents involving sudden acceleration while reversing.
In a statement, the authority said it was looking into cases of Hyundai vehicles having “unintended acceleration in reverse gear.”
“It is premature to draw any conclusions at this point in time,” it said.
The statement gave no further details, but the local newspaper Straits Times cited recent incidents involving taxis from operator ComfortDelGro, which leases Hyundai Sonata cars, among other models. It is Singapore’s largest taxi operator with a fleet of 17,000 cabs.
Hyundai Motor said it is looking into the matter.
South Korean consumers have lodged complaints about accidents that they believed were caused by sudden unintended accelerations. But past government probes have found no evidence that this was linked to faulty vehicles.
At a public demonstration in 2013, the government tried to reproduce conditions that were believed to cause cars to suddenly accelerate without intention but those attempts failed.
The ministry concluded that it was “reasonable” to see the sudden unintended acceleration phenomenon does not exist.
eCommerce in Singapore is in full swing against the tide of fashion brands exiting the local market. Raoul, New Look and Celio, the most recent casualties of the highly competitive retail scene here, signal a shift away from brick-and-mortar stores. In 2015, the net retail space takeup was in decline as stores vacated 86,379 sq ft of retail space.
In contrast, the size of Singapore’s online retail market has expanded to SGD4.4 billion in 2015, four times the size of the market in 2010. Lower costs of entry, mobile customer base and ease of accessibility are making selling online an attractive option for entrepreneurs, quickly transforming ideas into a manageable businesses.
1- Personal Fruit Grocer Delivering To Your Doorstep
Founder of Lazyfruits Ben Phua comes from a family with over 30 years of experience in the retail and wholesale business, and his trained eye for potential markets led him to set up his own premium fresh-fruit store in 2014. Lazyfruits solves an everyday problem of wanting a healthier lifestyle but not knowing how to pick fresh fruits from the market grocer or having the time to do so by delivering your fruits to you next-day and with assured freshness through personal checks.
Image Credit: EcommerceSOS
Their success story of zero-dollar marketing shows how rewarding great customer relationships can be as regular customers bring in more business through word-of-mouth recommendations. From just a humble facebook page in 2013 with posts about their products to a social web of constant referrals and reviews, you can definitely see the spirit of a warm family business beyond their store page.
2- Top-Quality Handmade Treats For Pets
Specialized treats galore for dogs at the Barkery brings not only novel dehydrated treats like anchovies and bak kwah into the mouths of our canine companions, but also cakes and dietary supplements for a long and active life for the urban dog! The creativity behind the designs of their novelty cakes make for an extra-special dog birthday, but what is impressive is the reach of their products, which appear on multiple stores like Loyalone, Nekojam, Redmart and more!
3- Reinstating Mobility And Dignity In Aging
Founded in 2011, The Golden Concepts have made their own market with active aging and elderly independence in mind. Starting off with only 4 products, their story of expansion and sheer determination is a cultural exchange between how the elderly age in Denmark and in Singapore. Today, their catalogue of over 300 products is a true expression of their commitment to enabling the elderly to live a more mobile lifestyle through the aid of technology in Singapore.
Image Credit: eCommerceSOS Youtube
Designer canes, colourful massagers and foldable wheelchairs brighten up the idea of aging as The Golden Concepts aims to dignify the need for such aids through sleek and lively product design. Eldercare has been re-imagined by The Golden Concepts, striking off ideas of dependence and liability from the dictionary of aging.
4- Wholesome Organic Produce With A Digital Twist
Visiting the farmer’s market is always on the checklist for Singaporeans touring European countries for the first time, and SimplyFresh gives us a taste of what farm-fresh organic produce from Europe is like from the comfort of our homes in Singapore. A wholesale market with a digital twist, SimplyFresh offers a variety of affordable organic vegetables through the box subscription model used by gift companies overseas such as Lootcrate, Birchbox and Helloflo to surprise the creative cook at home. Their selection of vegetables comes from family-run farms, making SimplyFresh’s products all the more wholesome than those found in big box stores.
5- Staying Fit Without Breaking The Bank
Image Credit: Hula Hoop Singapore
Ideas sometimes come from wants, and May Lim, founder of Hula Hoop Singapore, wanted a solution to combat an unflattering waistline that didn’t involve too much time or money. Her discovery of weighted hoops for exercise proved to her that fitness doesn’t have to be burdensome or time-consuming. Wanting to try out exercise hula hoops, she soon found out that there was a supply gap of exercise hoops in Singapore. This led her to set up Hula Hoop Singapore to provide weighted hoops to Singaporeans, thus spreading her idea of fitness to others.
She remains as a one-woman team, but collaborates with ME-Retail Solutions to handle her storage and delivery. Her resourcefulness and hardworking attitude is one that should be emulated when it comes to setting up a new online retail store.
More Than Just Numbers And Convenience
Image Credit: imagesource
Passion and personality are the key factors that separate the online retail store from traditional brick-and-mortar retail stores. Most online stores have some form of direct interaction from the founders behind the business to their customers, whether it is in the form of stories,facebook posts or even whatsapp messages, making the customers feel more connected to the business. Knowing the people behind the business also makes the product feel more personable, as the customer can relate with a face associated with the product better than with just a brand or a logo. Relatability transforms online retail stores into stories which people can share, bringing back the familiar feel of the neighborhood retail store.
If you have a great idea for an online store, why not try your hand at Singtel-Shopify’s Build-A-Business Competition? With a top prize of $20,000 and an advanced eCommerce workshop worth $2,000 for the top 10 winners, Shopify will help you build your online storefront and much more in just a few clicks!
Retailers are still looking for growth across borders, with Asia a particular interest to many. Nevertheless, high eCommerce investments have slowed down the international expansion, according to real estate consultant CBRE‘s “How Global is the Business of Retail?”‘s report.
Hong Kong most appealing
The annual study, in its 9th edition, analyzes 334 international retailers’ activities in 61 countries. In their quest for expansion, retailers target “established” shopping cities, according to the study. In at least 90 % of the cities, at least 1 new retailer appeared in 2015 (compared to 85 % of cities in 2014). 30 % of all markets in the study welcomed at least 10 new retailers.
The top 20 of most popular cities for new retailers did feature some new cities: Asia is still the most important region in the top 10, with four of the five most attractive markets. Hong Kong was the most appealing market in 2015, with 73 new retail brands. Singapore is second with 63 newcomers, followed by Tokyo (57), Taipei (47), Moscow (40), London (39), Dubai (38), Beijing (37), Bucharest (35) and Doha (29).
London is still the most international shopping city in the world, followed by Dubai, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Paris and Tokyo.
Safeguard the right mixture
CBRE expects international retailers’ attention to shift to growing cities in Africa and Latin America, especially if the economic situation in the East changes. Established markets like Germany, the United Kingdom, France, the United States and China seems to get priority over others, with retailers choosing a certainty over a gamble.
International expansion is also slowing down slightly, a trend CBRE attributes to the fact many retailers have invested more in eCommerce platforms and multichannel environments. Retailers are looking at their store portfolio more diligently and are safeguarding the right mixture of locations. They will consider new formulas, like airport stores or stores in train stations.
Shopping centers are also key for retailers looking to enter new markets. These will have to reposition themselves, in order to shift their focus to food, leisure or lifestyle.
Five major banks, representing 80% of Visa and MasterCard credit and debit cards issued in Singapore, have signed up to Apple Pay, extending the use of the mobile wallet beyond a limited earlier release for AmEx cardholders.
MasterCard says it is working with DBS, OCBC, POSB, Standard Chartered and UOB, to enable iPhone and Apple watch users to make purchases in stores equipped with contactless readers.Recent figures from MasterCard indicate that consumers in Singapore are supportive of the idea of adopting contactless payments. Singaporeans are among Asia’s top three adopters of digital wallets and interest has been climbing steadily with one in four likely to use a digital wallet compared to just one in 20 three years ago.
Apple Pay’s launch comes just a month after Samsung announced plans to roll out its rival mobile wallet with the support of DBS/POSB, OCBC Bank and Standard Chartered. Previously, Apple Pay had only been available for American Express cardholders in Singapore.
OCBC Bank in Singapore has launched voice metrics and speech recognition in its contact center to improve the retail customer experience.
According to the bank’s head of consumer financial services Dennis Tan, the solutions launched reduce the time taken for customer verification, giving customers quicker access to services required. The voice biometric authentication replaces PINs, one-time passwords and security questions at the bank’s contact centre. Customers can use their voices as vocal passwords for authentication.
Voice biometrics was launched by OCBC in September last year to a targeted group of retail customers. With the technology, customers could use their voiceprints to authenticate requests for account balances, latest transactions and the status of deposited cheques.
Voice biometrics will be available to the bank’s retail customers in the fourth quarter of this year, with customers expected to be able to use their voiceprints to authenticate a majority of banking transactions.
To enrol their voiceprint, customers are asked to say a specific phrase, called a passphrase, three times. A passphrase is an explicit sentence crafted by OCBC Bank to be spoken by the customer into the system to capture the customer’s voice. The voiceprint is created using the spoken passphrase and stored in the system’s database. A voiceprint is not a recording of a voice but a digital representation of a person’s vocal characteristics, so it cannot be disguised and is not affected by emotion or a blocked nose.
To authenticate a banking transaction, the customer will be asked to say the passphrase that was used to enroll his or her voiceprint. If further verification is needed to confirm the customer’s initial vocal password is valid and is not a voice recording, the system will then ask the customer to say a different sentence from the enrolled passphrase. The customer’s voice is captured and is compared with the relevant stored voiceprint on the database. A verification result is then provided by the system. The authentication process is hassle-free and can be done in 15 seconds.
Speech recognition
OCBC Bank launched speech recognition at its contact center in April this year to all personal banking customers.
While voice biometrics enhances customer experience by replacing PINs, passwords and security questions, speech recognition replaces the need to select service options via the phone keypad. The deployment also reduces the number of steps needed to enter the options sequentially on the keypad to access a particular service. Speech recognition technology recognizes and understands a customer’s spoken request, thereby enabling the customer to access the required service faster and more accurately.
According to OCBC Bank, the top customer enquiries received via speech recognition are checking recent transactions and account balances, requests for fee waivers, and Internet Banking and statement enquiries. These requests amount to 30.4 per cent of all requests to the Contact Centre. The success rate of the speech recognition service has been extremely high, says OCBC Bank, with 90 per cent of customers having their spoken requests recognised by the system.
