The story: Sqreem Technologies (Sqreem) has announced the launch of a new tool called Data Natinto to track COVID-19 related information including hospital beds, ventilators, and more in the Philippines.
More about the story: According to co-founder Ian Chapman-Banks, the way that the Philippines government is handling COVID-19 data is unstructured. Sqreem said it had redesigned, recoded, and further developed its technology to augment government contact-tracing efforts worldwide last year and is investing US$500,000 to create the tracker.
About Sqreem: An AI company that provides data analysis and programmatic targeting services to companies and government agencies.
Indonesian biotech startups receive approval for saliva-based COVID-19 tests amid infections rise
The story: Two of Indonesia’s biotech startups have gained approval to launch saliva-based COVID-19 tests, according to KrAsia.
More about the story: Indonesia is currently battling a COVID-19 surge which has led to an increasing shortage of medical supplies, including oxygen cylinders.
Both Nalagenetics and Nusantics are hopeful that the newly developed test kits can improve Indonesia’s COVID-19 tracing capabilities.
Accuracy rates: Nalagenetics (Quickspit) has an accuracy of up to 97, while Nusantics has an accuracy of 95 per cent.
India’s cannabis startup Hempstreet receives government grant
The story: Hempstreet announced today that it has received a grant from The Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) of India.
What the funding will be used for: To patent and commercialise a recent research breakthrough around transdermal delivery technology, a technique that provides drug absorption via the skin.
More about the story: In around six months, HempStreet claims that it has marked the fastest rollout witnessed by the industry across over 2,000 clinics in 24 states in India that are now prescribing HempStreet medicines.
About Hempstreet: A startup that creates natural relief products from cannabis for chronic pain and uses blockchain to prevent drug misuse.
Volopay, WeWork partner to help businesses with expense management in Singapore, Australia
The story: Volopay, a Singaporean fintech startup, has partnered with WeWork to offer an integrated business spend management solution in Singapore and Australia.
More about the story: This partnership will offer WeWork’s members, from startups to larger tech enterprises, to streamline their expense and payable management processes that align with their business needs.
According to Rohit Bhageria, founding member of Volopay, this will allow members can close their books 5x faster.
About Volopay: An all-in-one platform for managing business spendings that combines expense approvals, corporate cards, bill payments, expense reimbursements, credit, cashback, and accounting automation.
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Dagangan, an FMCG-focused B2B supply chain and social commerce startup in Indonesia, has bagged an undisclosed amount in pre-Series A financing from a host of investors, including Spiral Ventures, CyberAgent Capital, 500 Startups, and local transportation company Bluebird Group.
The fresh capital will be used for business expansion. By the end of this year, the company looks to expand into 7,000 villages, open 30 hubs, and reach 40,000 active consumers.
The startup is currently operating in more than 4,000 villages spread across Yogyakarta, Central Java, and West Java. In the future, Dagangan also wants to expand to other village locations around Java.
Founded in 2019, Dagangan is a demand aggregation platform for small towns and villages in Indonesia.
The firm leverages the power of community and social networks of influencers to solve production and accessibility issues, enabling rural households to get their daily needs delivered to them at cheaper prices and with much less effort.
Dagangan targets two types of consumers:
1) Small-time shop owners: They are usually underserved by principal brands as most of them are located far away from urban areas. Now, with the Dagangan app in place, they can order online and get the stuff delivered at their doorsteps. They no longer need to close their shops to travel for 20-30 km for purchasing items.
2) Retail buyers: Individual buyers can purchase household items such as snacks, kitchen spices, and processed ready-to-eat foods.
According to the company, the products are delivered within a day by Dagangan’s own fleet of vehicles.
Dagangan operates warehouses as a hub and distribution channel in every village across Java island, involving local communities.
According to co-founder Wilson Yanaprasetya, the entire procurement process is carried out in two ways — 1) taken directly from the principal brands and then stored in hubs, 2) taken directly from MSME owners in the surrounding villages.
“The unseen opportunity in the rural areas of Indonesia is huge. We believe that in the next three to five years, a good number of quality startups will take birth in the archipelago, and many investors will try to inject capital to help startups outside of Jakarta,” Gio Novfran, Head of Indonesia at Spiral Ventures, said.
Dagangan’s co-founder Ryan Manafe said that with the current business model, his team is able to attract the local community to grow together. “Dagangan is here to provide convenience to local communities in getting on with their daily economic activities. With the spirit of building the local economy, Dagangan offers a one-stop digital service solution to provide various household needs.”
The Indonesian social commerce industry is crowded with multiple players. In April, Super, a social commerce platform serving second- and third-tier cities and rural areas in Indonesia, announced the completion of a US$28 million oversubscribed Series B round led by SoftBank Ventures Asia.
A few months earlier, RateS, another player, bagged an undisclosed amount in Series A, co-led by Vertex Ventures and Genesis Alternative Ventures.
Southeast Asia’s super app battle continues, as airasia Digital (previously known as RedBeat Ventures), the digital arm of the Malaysia-based airline operator, has acquired the Thailand operations of Gojek.
The deal is expected to rev up the expansion of the airasia Super App in ASEAN, while enabling Gojek to increase investments in its Vietnam and Singapore operations.
In return, Gojek will receive shareholding in the airasia Super App, whose market value is said to be around US$1 billion.
In Thailand, airasia Super App aims to continue to leverage the existing ecosystem services for riders, merchants and customers, while adding new offerings such as groceries and beauty items.
It will also seek regional expansion into new markets like Chiang Mai and Phuket in the near future.
The Gojek app will continue to operate for existing users in Bangkok through to 31 July 2021. Its driver and merchant partners will be invited to join the airasia Super App in the coming weeks.
The airline company will work with the existing Gojek team in Thailand, who will operate the Gojek business during the transition period before moving over to its super app.
At the same time, in a realignment of its international strategy, Gojek is increasing investment in its Vietnam and Singapore operations. It has identified these markets have strong sources of growth for the business going forward. This includes increased driver and merchant acquisition initiatives, enhancements to user experience as well as launching new products and services.
airasia Group CEO Tony Fernandes said today’s announcement is the start of a tremendous long-term strategic partnership with Gojek. “By taking on Gojek’s well-established Thai business, we’ll be able to turbo-charge our ambitions in this space to become a leading ASEAN challenger super app.”
“We already have a complete digital economy ecosystem. We have successfully established over 15 different non- airline products and lifestyle services on our digital e-commerce platform in Malaysia. Now it’s time to take it to the next level. In response to overwhelming regional demand, we are setting our sights on bringing our Super App offerings to all of our key markets, following the successful rollout in Thailand,” he added.
Gojek CEO Kevin Aluwi said: “airasia Digital and the airasia Super App will become a highly valued partner for us as we share the same goal to provide users with better services while enhancing the livelihoods of drivers and merchants. At the same time, the deal will enable us to pivot our focus in international markets towards Vietnam and Singapore — markets providing us with the best return on investment and strategic growth opportunities.”
airasia Digital leverages the group’s physical and digital assets to create an ecosystem of businesses that connect with its customers in their everyday life. It consists of three key digital companies: 1) airasia Super App, which provides a lifestyle platform for travel, e-commerce, financial services, farm to table, health and edutech products and services; 2) Teleport, an e-commerce logistics company offering instant door-to-door deliveries; and 3) the fintech arm BigPay.
On Tuesday, the group announced the launch of its fresh groceries delivery service, airasia fresh, in Singapore as part of its continued expansion in the island state. It follows the introduction of its food delivery platform, airasia food, in March.
The airasia-Gojek deal is expected to further intensify the battle for the number one super app position, as tech giant Grab, which positions itself as a super app, is far ahead of others with its deep pocket and backing from top-notch investors. The Singapore-based tech giant recently announced that it is going public in the US through the largest-ever merger with a blank-cheque company at a market valuation of US$40 billion.
They may be set for one of the biggest IPOs investors have seen over recent years, but TikTok owners ByteDance have been forced to shelve their preparations for their initial public offering due to the choppy regulatory waters put in place within China.
ByteDance seemingly cemented its intentions by launching a recent share buyback for current and former employees. The buyback comes after the company announced in April that it had no imminent plans for a public listing.
This represents a full reversal after ByteDance had initially planned to list some of its Chinese businesses, including Douyin, a Chinese equivalent to leading social media app TikTok, in Hong Kong, according to Reuters.
As we can see from the chart above, ByteDance is one of the world’s leading companies when it comes to generating advertising revenue, attracting twice as much money as YouTube for ad sales over the span of 12 months.
In fact, ByteDance’s performance has become such a leader in the Asian tech landscape that the South China Morning Post estimated in April 2021 that the company was on course for a US$400 billion valuation.
However, in a recent company-wide email, ByteDance confirmed that eligible shareholders can apply to sell their holdings by the June 20 at US$126 per share for current employees and US$100.80 per share for former employees. This represents a significant increase on a November buyback that was US$60 a share.
The delay in going public will undoubtedly be cause for frustration with ByteDance as the global IPO market undergoes a boom period that’s been punctuated by widespread investor optimism- particularly for tech companies.
One of the biggest hurdles that ByteDance will need to overcome in order to revive its listing plans revolves around appeasing investors in both the US and China. According to reports, the company has failed to work out a way of restructuring its business operations in a way to meet the regulatory requirements of both the US and China.
Notably, the fact that TikTok and Douyin operate using the same algorithm means that it’s been difficult for ByteDance to separate the operations of both apps.
In the wake of ByteDance’s founder and CEO stepping down, one source told the South China Morning Post that “many people with different agendas are trying to have a say in the IPO plan.”
Because of ByteDance’s global outlook, the company’s ambitions to appeal to US investors has been difficult to make functional as the relationship between the US and China becomes increasingly strained.
Beyond the difficult relationship between the US and China, ByteDance may also be required to navigate the increasingly restrictive IPO rules that have recently been set out by China. In a recent bid to protect against stock market volatility, the country’s securities regulator announced draft rules in a bid to boost the transparency of its IPO listings.
As part of the IPO process in China, a sponsorship system has been developed where third parties act in a similar way to underwriters to assess risks, detail competitive advantages, profitability and business plans pertaining to firms looking to go public.
When a firm is accepted by a sponsor it’s thoroughly scrutinised and may even be restructured based on subsequent recommendations, however, the final decision as to whether the business is in a position to go public is still down to the securities regulator, known as the China Securities Regulatory Commission.
Some of the more restrictive requirements detailed in the draft include more in-depth interactions between sponsors and their clients, transparent financial reporting and the threat of shutdowns for uncooperative sponsors.
Capitalising on the IPO boom
It’s likely that ByteDance would have identified the current IPO climate as an ideal backdrop for its flotation.
With investor confidence growing after the pandemic, and social distancing measures making for an extremely profitable 12 months for tech-based companies, recent IPO listings have grown significantly.
Image: Seeking Alpha
As the data above shows, global IPO proceeds in Q1 of 2021 have dwarfed every other opening quarter for the past decade, paving the way for a record-breaking year for companies going public.
According to Maxim Manturov, head of investment research at Freedom Finance Europe, the pandemic inadvertently brought far more confidence to the investment market. “People in the US traded about 90 per cent more stocks than the week before they received their stimulation funds,” Manturov explained.
“Finally, a survey by Deutsche Bank, which included 430 retail investors, showed that the respondents were going to invest, on average, 37 per cent of all their stimulation money into stocks. Goldman Sachs recently raised its expectations for stock demand by retail investors in 2021, from US$100 billion to US$350 billion.”
After such a successful year for apps like TikTok, and a resounding rise in the revenue generated through IPOs in early 2021, it seemed like an appropriate time for ByteDance to go public.
Although regulatory hurdles may have pushed an IPO out of the hands of the company, it’s still reasonable to believe that when the choppy waters are cleared and tensions between the US and China dissipate, we could still be on for a mammoth initial public offering.
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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. This season we are seeking op-eds, analysis and articles on food tech and sustainability. Share your opinion and earn a byline by submitting a post.
You only have to log onto your social media channels to know that in June the world celebrates LGBT Pride. Year on year, it’s become an increasingly common sight for brands to change the colour of their logo to the iconic rainbow flag that has been the global symbol of the LGBTQ+ community since it was devised by Gilbert Baker in 1979.
These acts definitely help to create awareness and support, but is it enough? Is this rainbow slapping tokenistic, or a real show of support for the LGBTQ+ community? I’m always intrigued to see what else businesses are doing when you scratch below the surface to champion this community.
And I really hope that businesses are not only doing more but that it extends year-round, not just for the month of June. Pride, along with every intersectionality, should be socially accepted so that we don’t need a month to celebrate it.
I’m not part of the LGBTQ+ community. This means I will never fully be able to appreciate the challenges this community faces and the discrimination they frequently feel. I am a proud ally and a leader, so I have a responsibility to continually challenge the status quo.
Diversity is embedded in my company’s DNA; our founder Steve is part of the LGBTQ+ community, so when the band’s frontman is leading the chant, it’s very easy for the rest of the team to pick up an instrument and play to the beat.
Great leadership means developing a culture that celebrates individuality, and when you have leaders who represent it we can attract diverse talent.
We know that we need role models to help break down the barriers of entry and for people to see leaders with who they can identify with. It’s like a snowball effect as diversity leads to more diversity. Here are three initiatives from my agency that have helped drive great inclusion at distillery.
Having so many backgrounds and beliefs in the team is amazing when it comes to creative brainstorms or trying to find solutions to client problems or briefs. Different perspectives birth ideas that you could never achieve if the team were all cut from the same cloth. This is especially important in APAC where we have such a diverse melting pot of people.
If you have someone in your team that comes from that country, is embedded in that culture, or has similar values to the target audience, they can act as a fantastic sounding board for what will work, and what won’t. We use this logic whether we’re walking (or Zooming) into a New Business meeting, or delivering a multimedia campaign.
Everyone has to get stuck in
But our team doesn’t have all the answers; no one does. Diversity is a continual journey of exploration, so it’s important that we fuel debate and education amongst our employees. We recently ran an initiative called the Diversity Type Project to promote diversity in the creative industry.
Whilst every team member at the distillery was involved, we had to engage a range of people from different organisations and bodies that could add value and experience to the narrative. We knew we didn’t have all the answers, but by asking for input from the people we’re trying to speak to, we were able to find the right direction.
I find that a lot of brands and businesses aren’t sure what to say, or they are worried about getting criticised, so they don’t say anything at all. But by staying quiet, you’re not helping either.
What is amazing about diversity is that it brings diverse opinions. And you can’t, and won’t, please everyone. But as is human nature, we learn and evolve by giving it a go.
We learn from others to create a community
We also actively surround ourselves with people and organisations that we can collaborate with or reach out to when we want to broaden our thinking. Steve (our founder) and Lucy (our strategy director) sit on the board of ‘Outvertising’; a not-for-profit focussed on making advertising more LGBTQ+ inclusive.
We partner with the Diversity Standards Collective, which gives us guidance on how brands communicate with specific communities. We also have a number of allies from the creative industry who are part of different communities that we consult when we need a specific opinion.
We also bring these people into our business to run education sessions, feature on our podcast, or share work that they have created. All of our staff have access to this, and we encourage everyone to get involved.
The acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community is growing in momentum across APAC, and it’s only a matter of time before nations like Singapore legalise same-sex relationships (it still blows my mind that I even have to write that).
Until then the least I can do as a business leader in APAC is be an active ally to the community.
I encourage everyone else to do whatever they can within their remit to break down the barriers and actively champion equality. It will make our work, society and workplaces much better when we embrace each other’s differences.
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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. This season we are seeking op-eds, analysis and articles on food tech and sustainability. Share your opinion and earn a byline by submitting a post.
(This article has been updated with the name of the investor)
OsakaKuma, a Singapore-based online beauty store that sells Japanese cosmetics, has announced that it has secured US$6 million from local investment company SEEINFRONT Capital in a pre-Series A round of financing from undisclosed investors.
This round brings the startup’s total funds raised to date to US$8 million and follows a US$2 million funding from undisclosed investors in 2020.
With its first store launched in Bugis+ in Singapore in September 2020, OsakaKuma has since opened three more outlets in Paya Lebar Quarter, Wisma Atria and Vivo City. Wisma Atria, the brand’s flagship store was opened in June 2021.
With the fresh funds, the company is set to open three new outlets across Singapore by July-end and has plans to open more outlets in the years to come. This is part of an effort to cater to more customers around the neighbourhood and to create more touchpoints for consumers.
Japan is known for being one of the dormant beasts of the beauty products industry, which has now awakened. Some even predict J-Beauty to be the next industry phenomenon in the US and worldwide.
OsakaKuma was founded in 2020 by Tony Wang with the goal of making it Singapore’s first beauty and personal care store that would offer a data-driven product selection of exclusive Japanese brands.
The company uses data from over 100,000 surveyed customers from 15 online stores worldwide to target consumer needs and demands so that solutions can be offered in a more precise way.
By doing this, Wang believes that OsakaKuma can help people tackle their personal beauty issues in a much more effective and cost-efficient way.
“While we see the trend has grown for e-commerce, we believe that many would still prefer to enjoy the physical shopping experience, having our in-store beauty curators to guide and help them,” he said.
Launched as an online-first store, the company now has four physical stores across the city-state. OsakaKuma has also spread its footprint in six countries, opened 15 online stores, and made over 1,000 Japanese single-brand products available to the rest of the world.
Globally, the beauty industry is only getting stronger. Since the onset of the pandemic, there has been a growth in the skincare and personal care category as well as a growing demand for overseas beauty products since travel restrictions have made it hard for people to travel.
Southeast Asian car trading platform Carsome has acquired an equity stake in Indonesian offline car and motorcycle auction service company, PT Universal Collection (PT UC).
The details of the deal undisclosed.
Through this investment, Carsome intends to accelerate its automotive transaction volumes in Indonesia and expand its network coverage and access to financial and leasing providers.
The company’s dealer partners will also enjoy more inventory diversity and broader options through PT UC.
On the other hand, PT UC’s suppliers will be able to make use of Carsome’s wide demand pool to improve its customer base.
Additionally, Delly Nugraha, Country Head of Carsome Indonesia, has also been appointed as President Director of PT Universal Collection.
Commenting on the deal, he said, “We are really excited to invest in PT Universal Collection. This investment serves as a strategic move for Carsome to open up more opportunities and networks, and to significantly expand our operations in Indonesia, a key Southeast Asia market for Carsome.”
“Through PT UC’s access to used car supplies in the market, Carsome’s dealer partners will enjoy more inventory diversity and broader options. PT UC’s suppliers, on the other hand, will be opened to a wider demand pool, broadening their accessibility in the used car market,” he added.
Founded in 2015, Carsome provides end-to-end solutions to consumers and used car dealers — from car inspection to ownership transfer to financing.
Every car that transacts on the platform goes through a comprehensive 175-point inspection, and every car purchase is backed up with an extended warranty and a money-back guarantee, it said in a statement.
The company continues to grow fast claiming to have an annualized revenue of US$800 million with plans to achieve US$1 billion this year.
Carsome is seeing dynamic growth across its Southeast Asian markets, particularly with rising demand for used cars as more consumers opt for private car ownership amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
A quarter of full-time employees in Singapore reported feeling less connected to their company’s community while working remotely, a new study by Qualtrics has revealed.
They miss the spontaneous interactions with colleagues, exposure to different ideas, and simply being around others, said the survey, titled ‘The new rules of engagement: A better way to work in Southeast Asia’.
With two-thirds of organisations in the island nation still to announce their post-pandemic office plans, the study outlines the experiences employees want to see as their employers rethink and redesign the way teams work.
“Creating a culture of belonging is the top driver of employee engagement, as well as a positive influence on engagement, intent to stay, and wellbeing, meaning it is critical that initiatives focused on inclusivity and connectivity are an integral part of every organisation’s post-pandemic office plan,” said Steve Bennetts, Head of EX Growth & Strategy, Qualtrics.
“The challenge facing employers today as they develop their post-pandemic plans is equally as big as those last year. This is because as organisations drive toward a more flexible and hybrid future, it’s important to remember that to deliver an incredible experience they need to take into account and act on the diverse needs of every employee,” added Bennetts.
Key findings
The impact of hybrid work on employee wellbeing
While the number of Singaporean full-time employees say their personal wellbeing has declined during the pandemic — 15 per cent in May 2021 compared to 26 per cent in April 2020 — stress, anxiety, and concerns about job security continue to have an adverse effect on the workforce.
The characteristics of working remotely that people like least are often related to wellbeing: difficulties separating work and personal lives (45 per cent), a lack of social connection (45 per cent), difficulty collaborating (43 per cent), and feelings of isolation (32 per cent).
2. Age and role impacts wellbeing and connectivity
Millennials and Gen Z workers were more likely to say they felt more connected to their company’s community, and that their mental health had improved compared to those from Gen X. Job type also impacted wellbeing and connectivity, with higher numbers of managers, team leaders, and c-level executives reporting improvements to their mental health compared to individual contributors and trainees.
In contrast, managers, leaders, and c-level executives were the least likely to feel connected compared to individual contributors and trainees.
3. Improving wellbeing in the hybrid workplace
To better promote and cultivate wellbeing in the workplace, employees are calling on their employers to provide benefits such as wellness-related reimbursements (50 per cent), enforced working and non-working hours (42 per cent), wellbeing days (38 per cent), and free counselling sessions (25 per cent). Respondents identified flexible schedules, a better work-life balance, and relocation opportunities as the top three things they’ve enjoyed most in the way employers have operated during the pandemic.
4. Improving productivity in the hybrid workplace
Collaboration, productivity, and task management software, along with phone and internet expenses, were listed as the top 5 tools and resources employees want to see offered by their employer when working remotely: team communication software (47 per cent), productivity software/tools (45 per cent), covering home internet and phone bills (39 per cent), task management tools (38 per cent), and work phone (37 per cent).
5. While connectivity suffers productivity thrives
The majority of Singaporeans (65 per cent) indicated a strong preference for hybrid work models and flexible working hours, with 80 per cent saying working from home has enabled them to be equally or more productive as compared to pre-pandemic levels. This is due to fewer work interruptions, more control over their workspaces, and fewer in-person meetings.
Similarly, more than three-quarters (78 per cent) of respondents reported that they perceive their co-workers to be more or equally efficient in the delivery of work-related tasks since working remotely.
6. The impact of vaccines on a return to work
While half of the respondents said they are happy to return to the office when restrictions are lifted, 25 per cent said they won’t return until everyone is vaccinated and 25 per cent remain unsure. A significant portion of the workforce also believes employers have an important role to play in the vaccine rollout, including providing readily available information (39 per cent) and encouraging employees to be vaccinated (39 per cent).
In contrast, 32 per cent of respondents said employers should not get involved.
The data for this report comes from a study that Qualtrics conducted in May 2021. Using an online survey, Qualtrics collected data from 585 full-time employees in Singapore.
Things have changed in this new normal –consumer needs and expectations have shifted dramatically since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since early 2020, the pandemic has led to major restrictions on personal mobility. Our experience at TWG Tea in the past 18 months has confirmed our belief that customers increasingly expect to access their favourite brands through both brick-and-mortar as well as online retail experiences.
In 2020, TWG Tea saw growth in every market we have an online presence in. Furthermore, we have noticed that this new online shopping trend is remaining consistent even in instances when social distancing measures are lifted, proving that consumer behaviour has evolved.
What we did
When we launched the TWG Tea mobile commerce app in 2013, it was the first of its kind in the tea industry. No other tea brand at the time had invested in m-commerce. We wanted to stay ahead of the curve and connect with our customers where they were increasingly spending their time — on their smartphones.
From then on, we have been extending the reach of our delivery network globally, while gradually improving our customers’ online and offline retail experiences at the same time. Today, the TWG Tea app has over four million users worldwide.
By 2019, we were already available in 58 countries through TWGTea.com and our physical stores in major cities across the globe. Then came COVID-19 last year.
To bridge the gap caused by social distancing, in August 2020 we started expanding our online retail footprint globally, focusing on establishing new official online stores in third party marketplaces.
Countries where we do not have brick-and-mortar locations
Markets we anticipate have potential for brand growth
The rest of the country beyond the capital cities we have physical stores in
What our strategy delivered
By the end of 2020, we surpassed our target of launching 20 new official online stores in third party marketplaces. We saw a 98 per cent increase in online retail in 2020, compared to the same 12-month time frame in 2019.
It also gave us the opportunity to extend our reach into markets such as Germany, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands where TWG Tea does not have existing physical stores.
Where we already have physical stores located in major capital cities, such as London, we have been able to extend our reach to the rest of the country via third party marketplaces.
Here’s what we learned:
Leverage and collaborate
Establishing our own flagship or official online stores in third party marketplaces helps us to protect our brand equity and assures customers that they are purchasing genuine TWG Tea products. We chose to work with marketplaces that have created platforms committed to featuring authentic brand owners. They take on the responsibility of registering and protecting our intellectual property.
We are conscious that as a luxury brand, our brick-and-mortar locations are unlikely to be on every street corner around the globe. Adding third-party marketplaces to our e-commerce mix gives us a unique opportunity to reach out to customers who are at different points of their consumer brand journey with TWG Tea.
They may already be loyal TWG Tea customers, or are curious about experiencing TWG Tea, but not ready to commit to placing an order through TWGTea.com. In regions where consumers are already accustomed to shopping online, third party marketplaces also make it easy for shoppers previously unable to buy TWG Tea products to make their first purchase online.
Make no compromises
Since the pandemic last year, we have doubled the size of our e-commerce team to support our growing online business and operations. In order to meet the significant growth we anticipated in online sales, we also made a 6-figure investment in an e-commerce warehouse and fulfilment centre located in the central part of Singapore. We fulfil all online purchases in-house so that we deliver a consistent brand experience.
As most of our products are packaged by hand, we focused on designing a facility that would help our e-commerce colleagues. Ergonomic workstations were constructed specifically to suit our different teams and products.
Our e-commerce team picks, packs and customises all online orders by hand for Singapore and the rest of the world from this facility.
Listen to your customer (as old school as this may sound)
The global pandemic has led to major restrictions on personal mobility. In addition to expecting a seamless shopping experience, our customers are seeking familiarity and a brand experience online that resonates with them. Tailoring our online retail offerings to suit each market has helped us to better connect with our customers.
We achieve this by being sensitive to market specifics such as:
Language
Gifting seasons
Buying patterns
Cultural preferences
Even simple things like monitoring the news to get a sense of the general mood and feeling on-ground can help us to better connect with our customers.
For example, in Singapore, we launched our work from home campaign — Stay Home, Stay Calm with TWG Tea — in May this year, three days after the city-state was placed on Heightened Alert. We anticipated that our customers would be feeling low.
Knowing that most people were likely to remain at home, our intention was to help ease customers into making their TWG Tea purchases online. The campaign offered customers a small incentive to shop online, with messaging that changed from week to week.
Our outreach touched on different needs such as taking the opportunity to unwind by enjoying tea at home and connecting with loved ones we cannot see in person through thoughtful gifting. Our customers responded positively to these calls to action.
This year, the number of TWG Tea official online stores in third party marketplaces continues to grow. We plan to be in new markets in North and South America by the end of 2021.
Furthermore, consumers will have a wider selection of languages and currencies to choose from when they shop at TWGTea.com by the end of 2021.
As we scale our e-commerce operations, we are also searching for more ways to run our business sustainably. One of our priorities is to avoid using packing materials unnecessarily in our deliveries. We aim to achieve this by creating customised 100 per cent recycled carton boxes which will protect our products and reduce the need for additional cushioning inside the box.
In addition, reducing the extra volumetric weight of packing materials can potentially reduce our carbon footprint. We are also moving away from the use of plastic when packing our products, with the exception of our most fragile tea accessories.
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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. This season we are seeking op-eds, analysis and articles on food tech and sustainability. Share your opinion and earn a byline by submitting a post.
Despite being in the thick of a pandemic, Singapore-based financial aggregator MoneySmart Group still managed to record strong business growth in 2020. The company generated US$16.7 million in annual revenue, a 25 per cent increase compared to the previous year. Launched in 2009, MoneySmart is one of Southeast Asia’s largest personal finance portals. Apart from providing financial insights, it also helps consumers find relevant personal finance products such as loans, credit cards, and insurance. MoneySmart does not sell any of these products, but it does earn a commission from banks and insurers via a built-in referral business model. The company claims to have served more than 100 million people across four countries: Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the Philippines.
“One of the most effective ways to reach our customers is by making sure that we’re visible with super contextually relevant content based on what they’re looking for at that time,” explains David Harling, CMO of MoneySmart Group. Joining the company in January 2018, David has overseen an in-depth business transformation at MoneySmart, which has helped the company almost quadruple its revenue within three years.
Speaking with ContentGrip, David provides a glimpse into how MoneySmart’s marketing engine operates to drive growth, capitalising specifically on first-party data and original content.
Managing first-party data is important
Harling believes in the importance of building first-party data for marketing purposes. When he joined the team three years ago, they started using the data management platform (DMP) Oracle BlueKai to integrate MoneySmart’s marketplace comparison side with its content assets.
As a result, the team now has an advanced understanding of customer data.
With a DMP in place, MoneySmart can also collect behavioural data of everyone who visits the site (e.g. what content they are reading, which products they are comparing, and whether they have already converted into a customer). The company then uses this data to create highly specific audience segments.
“One of the biggest channels for customer acquisition is taking that first-party data and using it to drive retargeting to re-engage those customers that were on our platform who might not have converted or who might not have finished their research or education process,” he explains.
Armed with first-party data, MoneySmart can also leverage third-party data like Facebook’s lookalike audiences, for the purpose of retargeting campaigns.
Looking to take it one step further, Harling is now planning to transition the company’s DMP system into a customer data platform (CDP). Unlike a DMP, which gives an overall look at the audience, a CDP would provide the MoneySmart team with a clearer view of individual customers and their activities. Thus, the marketing department could make informed decisions about each and every case.
For example, the team could personalise their messaging and offer better solutions to users.
“And then, suddenly acquisition becomes less important. It’s more about retention and customer lifetime value in a digital marketing play,” he adds.
Because of this dynamic, Harling is not overly concerned with the imminent arrival of a ‘cookieless’ world. He says, “Our retargeting efforts aren’t reliant on third-party data.”
As an alternative, however, he does think it’s a good idea for marketers to explore second-party data (leveraging first-party data from other businesses). That said, it can be tricky to overlay both data assets (first-party and second-party) while avoiding a potential conflict of interests.
MoneySmart’s user acquisition play
Another crucial aspect of MoneySmart’s marketing success, according to the CMO, is its content. SimilarWeb estimates that more than 80 per cent of the company’s traffic comes from organic search.
The company’s most mature product, MoneySmart Singapore, is estimated to serve around 1.3 million visitors each month. Harling says that the team has historically invested a lot of time into content and has become a well-known independent voice around personal finance in Singapore.
Currently, 4,000 out of MoneySmart.sg’s 7,600 pages are blog posts, while the rest are part of the marketplace’s product pages. David says that these articles are optimised around the ‘discovery’ and ‘consideration’ parts of the marketing funnel (as opposed to pushing for the final transaction).
In this way, the editorial team can focus on crafting what they know is meaningful content for consumers at various life stages.
Beginning his marketing career in the search department, the now-CMO notes that Google’s SEO algorithm is different in each geographic market.
This is one of the reasons the team uses different languages for each site: English (Singapore, Hong Kong, and the Philippines), Cantonese (Hong Kong), and Traditional Mandarin (Taiwan).
According to Moz, MoneySmart Singapore has garnered an impressive 717,000 inbound links from 4,800 domains. Harling says that inbound links are more of a quality game than a quantity game. He notes that the team regularly receives strong SEO juice from Yahoo Finance Singapore and MSN thanks to a news syndication strategy.
According to him, Google may become even smarter soon, going beyond links when scoring websites. “I think they look at brand mentions. And so any sort of organic PR or editorial strategy can carry some weight,” he explains.
He reminds marketers that they still need to provide the very best platform experience to users. In this respect, things like site speed and UX truly matter.
Harling is also considering how strategic distribution partnerships for MoneySmart’s content may look in the near future. According to him, this could mean letting other businesses carry and publish MoneySmart’s assets.
These partnerships could potentially help David’s marketing team extend the site’s reach, while also controlling the rising costs of essential tools like Google and Facebook.
In early 2018, for example, MoneySmart partnered with Singapore’s online marketplace Carousell. Carousell users were able to discover recommended financial listings (MoneySmart’s product pages) quickly inside of the app.
Don’t just think about user acquisition
MoneySmart believes that marketing and customer experience should go hand-in-hand.
Harling advises fellow marketers not to focus solely on customer acquisition, but pay attention to the overall customer experience.
He explains, “You can have the most efficient customer acquisition machine. But if you fail to deliver on the experience, essentially, you’ll find yourself re-recruiting that same person […] as opposed to retaining that person and actually giving them an experience that matters.”
Marketers will end up spending more on user acquisition if they don’t care about customer experience. CMOs, in particular, should start caring about customer experience to retain and lengthen customer lifetime value.
“For any business, your attitudes toward marketing should strongly connect to the needs of customers right now,” explains Harling, adding that such needs can be dynamic and change quickly in a three-to-six-month window.
In MoneySmart’s case, the marketing team has identified that customers in Singapore are already financially disciplined, and they’re now looking to protect themselves, even as the pandemic winds down.
This has driven tangible demand for insurance, and the company is now doubling down on related content marketing efforts.
When it comes to producing meaningful, original content, he adds, “I would encourage you to really understand your target consumers, and what’s important for them, as opposed to what you think they want.”
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