In their latest report on the state of e-commerce in Vietnam in the first quarter of 2020, e-commerce aggregator group iPrice Group and analytics company SimilarWeb revealed that three out of four major online marketplaces in the country actually experienced traffic drops in the quarter.

The report dubbed this update as “surprising” considering the view that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is supposed to drive traffic towards e-commerce sites, as customers in many parts of the world are facing some degree of lockdown, forcing them to move their shopping habits online.

Based on an analysis of 50 e-commerce sites in Vietnam, the report revealed the details in the following table:

According to analysts at iPrice Group, there are reasons why this happened:

1. E-commerce marketplaces tend to restrict advertising and promotions during the crisis, and instead choose to promote live streaming and games on their applications. “The goal is to take advantage of the situation to increase customer engagement, and test new features,” the report elaborates.

2. The unpredictable and constantly changing nature of consumer demands during the crisis.

In February or the early days of COVID-19’s appearance in Vietnam, there was a sharp increase of online demands for products such as facemasks (610 per cent) and hand sanitizers (680 per cent), as recorded by iPrice Vietnam.

Also Read: How this entrepreneur is stepping up the game for gaming tech e-commerce

By March, when more and more customers are staying at home for self-quarantine, the demand for online grocery increased.

“Unfortunately, these categories were not the primary focus of Vietnam’s e-commerce industry. Among the surveyed top 50 e-commerce websites in Vietnam, only two are specialised in online grocery, and one is specialised in pharmacy. Meanwhile, there are 10 mobile device retailers, nine consumer electronics retailers, and seven fashion retailers,” the report detailed.

Despite the shocking data from February, the report also noted that by mid-March the e-commerce sites have “finally” begun paying more attention to grocery and healthcare products, leading to an average of six per cent increase in traffic.

Advertising and promotion in times of crisis

Marketing and advertising in times of pandemic is a tricky matter as there are several points for marketers to consider, such as sensitivity to the issue.

According to a survey The Marketing Week, as quoted in this contributed post by Shameel Abdulla, 55 per cent of marketers are delaying campaigns or putting them under review.

But there are several steps that businesses can take in order to ensure that campaigns and compassion can go hand-in-hand.

Prantik Mazumdar, Managing Partner at Happy Marketer, spoke in a webinar, “This breakdown has surely forced us to feel the need to pause, think, read, listen, analyse and strategise because marketers usually are always too busy ‘doing’. It is important to look at a macro view and realise every bit count.”

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We’ve recently launched e27 Pro to create a platform that helps empower businesses by providing access to tools and insights and ultimately bridging the community closer together and connecting founders, corporates, and investors.

As such, one of the key features that come with the e27 Pro membership is the e27 Connect, a tool that allows companies to engage directly with APAC’s investors who opt to be part of the programme and who are actively looking for startups to support.

To give you a glimpse of how the experience has been like, these company founders are sharing their enthusiasm about the platform, what progress they’ve made so far, and how the platform has impacted their fundraising efforts.

APAC companies react to e27 Connect

“Overall, a good impression. Investors seem keen to know more about our project and the ones focused on our stage are willing to follow-up,” shared Guri Founder Fabio Marzano. The wellness tech platform founder also added that most of the investors they’ve engaged with have been responsive in scheduling calls so far, which is an optimistic start for companies looking for funding.

Meanwhile, DIKA, a digital freight B2B marketplace based in Indonesia, shared that over 30 investors have already expressed interest in connecting with the company. With many big names on the list of investors keen on speaking with them, DIKA Co-Founder and CEO Gunawan Wahab expressed gleefully, “This e27 Connect is very good!”

Singapore headquartered ad-tech company Adzymic has also expressed their positive experience with the platform. Adzymic Co-Founder Travis Teo shared, “My cofounder and I really love this initiative. It has allowed us to connect with investors whom we previously had difficulty reaching.” Teo also added that the connection rate has exceeded their expectations, especially during this period.

On the other hand, Ngoc Minh Kim, CEO of Toppy Education, a Vietnam based online adaptive English learning platform, expressed, “I see this Connector work pretty well. We could learn a lot from that, and also speed up the time to connect and interact with the investors.” He noted the importance of the e27 Connect feature in saving time and establishing interaction with multiple investors at the same time.

Also Read: Going big? Then Go e27 Pro.

The beauty about e27 Connect is that it doesn’t exist as a lone feature in a larger platform. The purpose that e27 Connect serves is inextricable with other available tools and fundraising widgets in the platform that collectively render a robust business growth tool out of the larger e27 Pro system.

This is why ZeusX, a digital gaming marketplace based in Singapore, has decided to take part in the programme. “I would say it exceeded our expectations! We definitely achieved our original goal to promote ZeusX as a known startup, and we were pleasantly surprised by the investor interest we’ve been getting. The investors that engaged us in the first couple of weeks knew about us through e27 first,” shared Alex Tay, ZeusX Founder and CEO.

This galvanises e27 Pro’s role in putting startups in the investor radar, supplemented further by other features and fundraising widgets like e27 Connect that ultimately empowers startups to directly connect and engage with investors.

Join e27 Pro

Interested in taking the next step? Be a part of the community and sign up for an e27 Pro membership today! You may visit here for more details.

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How will a post-COVID-19 look like?

There is no a clear answer to this question. But one thing is certain: this pandemic will force some behavioural changes — not just on the people but also industries. And those who effect the changes as soon as possible will come out successful.

Southeast Asia will be no different. The region, home to over 650 million people and startup unicorns like Grab, gojek and Tokopedia, will certainly be impacted severely.

But the silver lining is that its young population and budding startup and VC landscape, which will present a greater opportunity to fully realise the region’s potential.

Cathay Innovation — a VC firm operating across Europe, North America, China and Southeast Asia — published a detailed report on the impact of COVID-19 on the region.

As per this report, the current crisis presents an opportunity for the region to leapfrog many economic activities into the digital world as businesses will be required to run more efficiently after a big reset.

Also Read: Why Khailee Ng puts mental healthcare support as key to successful founders-investors relationship

The healthcare, education, retail, agriculture, and logistics sectors will specifically see a new wave of digitisation and local startups and tech companies will be well-positioned to participate in the reinvention of these industries.

“With mobile technologies and connectivity more prevalent, the population will have better access to information, financial services and education, which are fundamental for people to learn about, identify and seize economic opportunities,” Cathay Innovations’s Co-founder and CEO Denis Barrier in a blog post.

As per this report, the most transformation and opportunity will be visible in the following industries:

1. Healthcare 

Apart from Singapore, most SEA countries suffer from an under-developed healthcare system, lacking the hospital beds and doctors to satisfy demand.

The digital health sector has attracted large amounts of investment, even before the pandemic, with APAC drawing over US$6.8 billion in investment in 2018 and SEA alone coming in at US$242 million in 2019 (according to Galen Growth Asia).

Telemedicine in particular has proved extremely valuable as a way to optimise consultation management while doctors are scarce.

For example, take a look at Indonesian mobile health tech platforms Alodokter, which has raised over US$45 million in funding, and Halodoc, with nearly $100 million from investors such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, serving around seven million patients per month with 80 per cent of patients residing outside the main city centres.

“Digital health and tele-medicine platforms are well-positioned to compensate for the deficiencies of SEA’s healthcare systems and will certainly grow further during the pandemic. While many different models will co-exist, we’ll likely see influence from the large Chinese digital health platforms like Alihealth, WeDoctor, Ping An Good Doctor, DXY and others,” Barrier shares.

Singapore will have a major role to play as the center of excellence for healthcare in the region. Healthcare and biomedical sciences is one of the four pillars of Singapore’s national R&D strategy, representing a US$4 billion budget for the Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) 2020 Plan of the National Research Foundation.

2. Mobility, logistics, retail, and supply chain

The pandemic will revolutionise several sectors, pushing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to reinvent their operating model by impacting mobility, logistics, retail operations and supply chains.

Naturally, the retail sector will suffer the most as populations will be in lock-down for several weeks to months. The recovery of offline retail will certainly imply a wave of digitisation of retail operations to build more resilient companies.

In parallel, online retail and last-mile delivery will clearly benefit from social distancing.

Companies like Grab, gojek and Ninja Van, have had to quickly ramp up to meet the demand for fulfilment of online grocery, food delivery and e-commerce all over the region.

Innovative technologies such as Machine Learning will be required to optimise platforms that are reaching operating bottlenecks and will benefit from more data-centric models in areas like pricing, addressing, inventory management, routing and supply chain management to make logistics and e-commerce operations faster and more resilient.

3. Fintech, edutech and future of work

In an environment where 70 per cent of consumers are underbanked and 70 per cent of SME merchants accept cash-only payments, fintech companies and online lenders are likely to emerge as big winners with the closing of physical bank branches and more transactions driven online.

As most of these companies acquire users online, the increase in e-commerce and online transactions will bring more traffic to fintech companies in the region who are positioned well to help people in precarious financial situations after a loss of income or unemployment.

“Finally, the crisis will create massive opportunities in the edutech and ‘future of work” space,” continues Barrier.  “In China, we saw investment in online education spike at the end of the lockdown with the drastic increase in time spent on online education platforms.”

New ways to work and vocational education will also be very promising sectors. Just like the explosive rise in video conferencing services like Zoom, we can anticipate that collaborative and decentralised work platforms will gain in popularity, the report states.

With unemployment rising, online hiring platforms (such as Kalibrr in the Philippines or older generation JobStreet/JobsDB portals) are expected to accelerate during the post-pandemic recovery period.

“The opportunity for innovation and investment in Southeast Asia (SEA) remains strong, with the region fundamentally enjoying favourable growth factors due to its demographics, modernisation, rapid growth of its digital economy, and accelerated tech adoption,” Barrier concludes.

The post ‘Post-pandemic, SEA will see a sustainable leapfrog into the digital age’: Cathay Innovation report appeared first on e27.

COVID-19 has deeply affected our daily lives and forced us to reinvent the dynamics of our professional relationships. For instance, it led to the (perhaps overdue) mass adoption of remote work across companies.

How do you continue doing business on an international scale, in spite of COVID-19? Through the internet, of course.

Tools abound: From communication platforms such as Zoom (whose stocks were at an all-time high while the rest of the stock market plunged), to project management tools and apps through which we can get online business interpreters on demand.

The problem is not a lack of tools to stay in touch with international business partners. The problem is what to say, how to plan in times of instability, and how to maintain relationships when no news (or no good news) can be given in the short term.

As noted in a recent presentation from Ogilvy, although every brand is differently equipped to face our current situation, some feelings are present across all organisations. And they are not particularly positive.

Most brands are working towards an action plan, but struggle with setting the right tone, are concerned about sounding exploitative and are puzzled at what “the day after” might look like. All these feelings are present  — if not amplified — among entrepreneurs and startup founders.

Also Read: How a startup founder in China tackled the COVID-19 crisis –and what you can learn from him

If we are trying to expand our business, make new partnerships and make ourselves known: How could we go about it during a pandemic?

Join online communities

Online business communities can be great networking spaces. Especially nowadays. Do more than LinkedIn groups. Platforms such as the StartupSauce Academy, Healthpreneurs, and Indie Hackers can be great places to meet potential customers and business partners.

You should also be up-to-date regarding hangouts, webinars, and online events. The “social life” of your industry (or startup ecosystem) did not end when the quarantine began. It just moved online. And, by doing so, some events that might have been limited by geographical boundaries are now available for an international audience. This might be the right time to grow your network beyond your city — or even beyond your region.

Be helpful

Nowadays, brands are especially focusing on comforting customers and communicating that they care about their wellbeing. This might include sharing important information, writing empathic and positive messages, as well as offering discounts and freebies. For instance, some online course platforms are providing free access to normally paywalled material.

Brands have also focused on giving back by helping fight back the crisis. For instance, fashion heavyweights such as Zara, H&M, and fashion conglomerate LVMH (owner of Dior, Louis Vuitton and Givenchy, among others) have helped cope with mask shortages by producing thousands of them themselves. This is the right time to establish strong partnerships with the goal of helping your community.

Aspire to move from a self-interested approach focused on promoting your products and services, to a more purpose-focused approach. And, as part of that purpose-focused approach, you can re-engage with competitors. But this time, as potential partners.

Also Read: How a startup founder in China tackled the COVID-19 crisis –and what you can learn from him

Sensible communication

On the other hand, be very aware of your tone and language when networking. Talk to colleagues and clients in a way that lets them know that you are there for them. Make yourself available. Ask yourself how you can make these times less stressful for them, and offer some value in that direction.

It might be a free meeting to discuss their needs, free advice, or a heavy discount on your regular services. It all depends on what you do, what you can offer, and who you are offering it to. Show strong leadership while remaining empathetic and human. Prioritise good relationships over short-term revenue.

Plan for tomorrow

These are uncertain times. But they will not last forever.

As McKinsey’s Kevin Sneader and Shubham Singhal note in Beyond Coronavirus: The path to the next normal, the financial effects the virus is having — and will have — are deep and undeniable. The aftermath will be a need to reimagine our place in the market:

“A shock of this scale will create a discontinuous shift in the preferences and expectations of individuals as citizens, as employees, and as consumers. These shifts and their impact on how we live, how we work, and how we use technology will emerge more clearly over the coming weeks and months. Institutions that reinvent themselves to make the most of better insight and foresight, as preferences evolve, will disproportionally succeed.”

It will be vital to partner with innovation-focused, future-proofed businesses that do not shy away from but thrive on reform. And having a disruption in our company’s DNA will be, more than ever, a key competitive advantage. Focus your networking efforts on the day after the quarantine, not under the belief that everything will go back to normal, but with a hunger to explore and innovate once the rules of the game have changed.

Also Read: Is COVID-19 eating jobs away?

The key to a great business is great relationships

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about a very difficult time for business. To continue networking, growing, and creating the strong bonds that drive good business, you need to be a leader, be sensitive, and be relevant.

Revisit your brand’s purpose, and turn it into concrete actions that not only help your brand but also your community and your partners. Actions are more impactful than words.

Reach out with an honest desire to help in any way you can. Understand the human implications of what’s going on, and adapt your tone accordingly. Be compassionate and attentive. Of course, this carries yet another challenge.

Do not forget who you are

Staying honest and not sounding exploitative are very common and justified concerns. Entrepreneurs that are just developing their brand might be inclined to completely reshape it so it meets the caretaker archetype. That, too, is opportunism. You don’t need to pretend you’re someone you’re not. Your brand should have the capacity to worry and be compassionate from its place and without losing its tone.

The reason why your product deserves to exist is that it’s unique, that it can provide something your competitors cannot. Now it is time to figure out what is the unique role your brand can play to help others throughout this crisis. And find the key partners who can help you carry out your mission.

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Register for our webinar today: Mindfulness meditation for entrepreneurs and working professionals

Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. Become a thought leader in the community and share your opinions or ideas and earn a byline by submitting a post.

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‘When life gives you lemons, make lemonade’ – this could not stand truer than ever! When you have got an unprecedented lockdown staring at you, what do you do?

Instead of getting entangled by the thought of boredom, make the most of it count! Take each day as an opportunity to develop a new skill, explore hobbies, or do things you’ve always wanted to. Never have we received an opportunity such as this, to do what we wanted to amidst our busy lives.

Lockdown Challenge

At DevX, we also navigated the team into a unique direction by asking them to initiate a Lockdown Challenge! The team, with utmost interest, took upon the challenge of considering an activity, a unique one, that they never attempted before.

The team, with full vigour and spirits, came up with some very unique ideas to make the most of this quarantine phase interesting. A long list of recreational activities started coming in! Wondering what those activities are?

You’ll find them below; we certainly can assure you that you’ll find not one but many useful activities to put up with the COVID-19 lockdown stress.

Since things are going haywire, courtesy the COVID-19 pandemic, each one of us is dealing with mental stress in our own way! Though we are all in this together, we must take care of our own selves first & then help others in need! Making room for an activity that refreshes you from the news about the world outside may help big time!

Also Read: Report: 3 out of 4 major online marketplaces in Vietnam experience traffic drops during COVID-19

Here’s the list of activities that Team DevX tried their hands on to shift the focus from the COVID-19 stress:

• Sketching/Painting
• Learning a new language
• Shuffling through old photo albums
• Breathing exercises
• Indulging in a hobby such as playing an instrument, singing, writing, dancing, etc.
• Play age-old games with the family such as carrom, chess, snakes and ladders, 21 questions, Name-Place-Animal-Thing, Ludo, etc.
• Take time to reflect, see what you have accomplished, set goals for the future!
• A good book is always a winner
• Cook, alone if you may!
• Finish off a long pending task such as organising a draw, cleaning the corners in the house, etc.
• Reconnect with old friends
• Take up a challenging task such as developing a habit to drink green tea, exercise regularly, quit smoking, or waking up early.
• Maintain a healthy diet
• Complete a stimulating Puzzle or Rubik’s Cube
• Focus on self-care
• Do the once-a-year jobs such as flipping over your mattress, purge your phone of unnecessary photos and contacts, etc.
• Gardening calms your mind perfectly well
• Spending time with family (we can all agree upon the need of this very much)

For those of you working from home, any of these activities can be of great help to take a quick break in the middle of your routine. It is important to stay healthy, physically as well as mentally. Also as rightly said, an empty mind is a devil’s workshop.

In a world where fake news and rumours spread at a speed faster than light, we must be careful as to what information we receive. Rather than spending time over-thinking about possibilities, occupy your time into healthy activities & useful conversations that may help you overcome stress & give you some relief.

Also Read: Business in the time of COVID-19: Best practices to stay afloat

This is a perfect time to take a pause and reflect upon our life choices and priorities. For most of us, probably it’s a first, to spend this much time with ourselves. A time long enough for many discoveries of our, very own, surrounding.

Enjoy the happy realisations as big as something your kid must be doing until today that you’ve failed to notice all along or as simple as the number of formal black shirts you own!

Now is the time when we need to stand united and help each other get through this. Mental wellbeing is of utmost importance at a time like this. Let’s pull up our sleeves and put all our efforts into this.

Stay strong, stay healthy, stay safe!

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Register for our next webinar: How to future proof your supply chain

Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. Become a thought leader in the community and share your opinions or ideas and earn a byline by submitting a post.

Join our e27 Telegram group, or like the e27 Facebook page.

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