How global brands can ride the e-commerce wave in SEA

ANALYSIS: E-COMMERCE How global brands can ride the e-commerce wave in SEA

ZALORA provides brands with data-driven insights derived from its 2.6 million users.

E-commerce in Southeast Asia (SEA) grew rapidly as consumers switched to online assortment discrepancies,” he also said, adding this could drive customers away over time and lead them towards channels. As this growth persists in the coming years, the challenge now for retailers is to better understand the “very complex and diverse” market.

The region has seen some 40 million new internet users in 2020, according to a report by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Co. This growth also led to a 23.9% year-on-year rise in ZALORA’s active customers, driving a 41.4% increase in the company’s net merchandise value in the first quarter of 2021.

“SEA is a very complex and diverse region, most brands tend to either establish logistic hubs in Singapore and try and cater the whole region from them, or work with a different partner for each country through a franchisor or distributor network,” Simone Cortini, ZALORA’s Marketplace and Platform Services director, told Singapore Business Review.

“Whilst distributor networks have a value for the offline world in a connected online world, they often bring issues such as cross-country price discrepancies and cross-country other brands.

Seizing SEA’S e-commerce momentum

In order for fashion and retail brands to stay ahead in the game, Cortini said the brands must ensure that they have a clear omnichannel strategy and access to strong decision-making driving data. They must also have a coherent customer experience and service quality across digital channels and a locally adjusted and tailored marketing strategy. ZALORA fulfills all four through its Operations by ZALORA service suite as well as TRENDER, which helps it deliver deep data insights to navigate the complex SEA market. “As more consumers embrace online shopping, one of the most critical resources that brands need to harness would be data,” Cortini said. This is to “derive genuine insights about consumers’ needs so they can better anticipate shopping behaviour and curate more effective engagement strategies, design processes, and even

demand projections.” Through this, brands are able to present the right product offerings at the right price and through the right channels. ZALORA, for instance, uses TRENDER Professional to mine data from its 2.6 million active users, allowing it to provide insights on geo As more consumers embrace online shopping, one of the most critical resources that brands need to harness is data segmentation, buying behaviour, design intelligence, assortment, and pricing. TRENDER proved to be an asset amidst the pandemic when ZALORA introduced a COVID-19 Sales Dashboard in aid of brands affected by the sudden shift in retail trends and consumer behaviour. ZALORA has so far recorded over 1,000 subscriptions on TRENDER. It has also partnered with global brands, such as Nike and Under Armour. ZALORA also provides an e-distribution solution that gives brands access to its logistics and delivery capabilities for products sold on their websites and online marketplaces. This could also accelerate brands’ e-commerce growth in the region without heavy capital expenditures. The e-retailer has been tapped by Puma and Superdry in their expansion to Indonesia and the Philippines. It is also looking to deepen its partnership with H&M Group, which will be launching new collections. Through this, ZALORA aims to eventually fulfill distribution services across Southeast Asia. “By being an e-commerce enabler, we hope to deepen ZALORA’s impact on the wider landscape in the region,” he said.

What to expect

Cortini said lifestyle brands— particularly in sports, loungewear, and kids, as well as in the wellness category—saw an increase in demand in the past year as consumers prioritised their health and wellbeing. He noted that nearly 90% of the customers who were surveyed have shown interest in shopping for green products. “Livestreaming adds a strong emotional connection to online shopping, which can help to bridge the gap between the online and offline shopping experience.”

REAL ESTATE LUMINARIES Singapore’s most notable real estate agents aged 40 and under

The real estate industry in the Lion City seems to be in good hands with young realtors who not only thrived in managing clients and negotiating deals but also displayed leadership in shaping new talents. Singapore Business Review presents 10 of the city’s most competitive real estate agents aged 40 and under who have excelled in the industry.

This year’s pool of realtors was chosen by their companies and colleagues as they have shown creativity and innovation in their profession at such a challenging time. They are ranked by age.

2 Douglas Chew, 33, OrangeTee

1 Matthew Lam, 32, PropNex

A young and talented team leader, Lam has over 270 salespersons under his wing. Matthew, who currently sits as a senior associate group district director with PropNex, has been an ambassador of the agency for five years.

In just the first half of 2021, the 32-year-old has once again clinched the title of the PropNex Millionaire for the third consecutive year.

“I set myself apart from the rest by focusing on empowering consumers with valuable insights, directions of the market, and personal genuine views of what to do in this market, rather than focusing on product selling,” he said.

“Most importantly, leading a team of more than 300 associates has opened up my mind and exposed me to many different perspectives. It has allowed me to hone my skills of identifying consumers and my salespersons’ objectives, sizing people up quickly and genuinely giving them what they want.” a new generation of leaders and contribute to business growth strategies. Furthermore, Oliver majored in Finance and was with the banking sector in the earlier days of his career. Oliver’s wealth of experience is well sought-after, having shared his knowledge with thousands of Huttons’ associates and on various media platforms such as CNA938.

Douglas has been with OrangeTee and Tie Pte Ltd a shy under a decade, since his rookie days. He climbed through the ranks from the first day and has been a consistent Top Achiever since 2015.

Some of his more notable achievements are his yearly Top Achiever awards since 2015 with some years coming in as top 5% of OrangeTee and Tie Pte Ltd. Douglas also currently leads one of the youngest teams in the company and is made up of many young and dynamic real estate salespersons from all walks of life.

Amidst the pandemic, Douglas was featured on LianHe Zaobao, in which he shared how the pandemic gave him a window of opportunity to further add value to his clients through his services and managed to capitalise on the bullish property market sentiments allowing him to flourish in his real estate business.

3 Oliver Tan, 33, Huttons Asia

Oliver is Huttons’ millionaire for three consecutive years and has achieved amazing feats including the 1st position in Huttons Sales category for 2019 and 2020. He was also the Local Project Champion for 2019. A consistent top performer, he has transacted a wide range of assets from HDB flats, mass-market to high-end condos, different types of landed properties including good class bungalows (GCB), commercial and industrial properties.

Recently, he was appointed as Chief Trainer of the Millennial, a committee formed to encourage

4 Timothy Tan, 33, OrangeTee

In 2015, freshly back from living in the United States for 10 years and out of university, Timothy felt lost with nary a goal. His father was willing to mentor him, having built a successful company in manufacturing. But the field was not his forte as he found himself back on the bench seeking a more fulfilling career. One thing remained certain, however – his vision to find his own niche and build his career. A pal of Timothy’s shared his experiences as a real estate consultant and Timothy recognised that its dynamics suited his strengths and passion.

Timothy has since become a seasoned realtor bringing in 118 sales and 238 rental transactions since 2017. Timothy also stood as amongst the Top 1% of OrangeTee’s top achievers in 2017 and 2018, and in the Top 5% in 2019. He ranked 5th in 2020 and was the youngest of the top 10 award recipients. His consistent achievements are testaments to his dedication and commitment to his work.

5 Nicholas Keong, 34, Knight Frank

Nicholas currently serves as the Head of International Residential at Knight Frank Singapore advising high-net-worth individuals on the purchase, sale, and management of

residential property across major global markets such as the UK, Australia, Japan, and Singapore, as well as working alongside colleagues on prime property across Europe and North America. Nicholas has experience in new development sales and marketing and frequently assists his clients with single properties for personal use or building investment portfolios.

He started his career in international properties at a boutique Singapore firm, DST International Property Consultants. There, he honed his skills as he advised HWN clients across a spectrum of global cities.

6 Jeremy Lim, 36, Huttons Asia

Since 2016, Jeremy is one of Huttons Top 20 Producers and Leaders, as well as Huttons’ Millionaire in 2018 and 2021. Within the first half of 2021, Jeremy has already transacted $120m worth of properties including conservation shophouses, offices in the prime CBD, condominiums, and landed homes.

Properties in New Futura, Gramercy Park, OUE Twin Peak, Marina One, and The Avenir, are some of the iconic landmarks that Jeremy has helped clients to build their portfolios for asset progression over the years. Jeremy firmly upholds values of honesty, sincerity and empathy in addition to professionalism as a realtor. His steadfast beliefs and differentiated service have enabled him to build long-term trust and relationships with clients, many of whom are high net worth individuals.

7 Stan Lee, 36, Huttons Asia

Stan is Huttons’ millionaire for two consecutive years and has achieved outstanding performance such as a $400,000 sales commission in a month for January 2021. He focuses on project sales and has transacted more than 150 new launch units in the past five years.

He believes that in this revolutionary industry, leaders need to be forward thinkers and constantly improve so that they can better provide value-add to clients. Hence, he developed his own SOP from marketing to conversion and Collaboration Booster Program for new salespersons to learn and execute marketing activities. In addition, Stan frequently shares his advice with other Huttons’ associates through dialogue sessions.

8 Shanel Liew, 38, PropNex

Shanel Liew, who has been in the real estate industry for 15 years, is a PropNex Millionaire for four consecutive years. Since joining the firm seven years ago, she has weathered numerous property cycles and trends and has been successful at being a consistent top achiever in the real estate industry.

Shanel, who has been a PropNex Ambassador for five years, has since grown from a threeperson team to over 100 salespersons today.

Shanel shared that there are no courses out there to specifically teach how to be a good leader in the real estate industry, or how to treat and guide people. However, she highlighted that PropNex Leadership Bootcamps designed by the agency have really made a vast difference to her.

9 Dallas Hassan, 39, OrangeTee

Inspired by the book, “Rich Dad, Poor Dad,” Dallas made his attempt immediately into real estate in early 2005 as the way forward to immense wealth and legacy building. He switched to OrangeTee & Tie knowing that it’s in tandem with his property technology aspirations. Despite the market condition and the necessary government policies, he found his niche through Asset Protection as an avenue to safeguard depleting CPF and value from the ageing property and its limitations.

Dallas is OrangeTees Top 5% producer 2020, Top 3 Lister 2020, and a Top 5 Leader in his leaders’ cohort, surprisingly in the time of the pandemic. Having attained his International Transformative Coaching certification, ACTA, and having conducted close to 100 training sessions for his comrades at Orangetee and AAG division platform, he has been able to transform his clients’ portfolio and his fine line of agents into a wealth enhancing ecosystem.

To date, he has personally brokered more than 292 properties and in a single year team production (year 2020) of 361 transactions emerging from private, HDB, landed, GCB, commercial, and creative financing advisory.

10 Evan Chung, 40, Knight Frank

Kevin specialises in commercial litigation and international arbitration and was formerly a Justices’ Law Clerk and Assistant Registrar Evan Chung leads Knight Frank’s subsidiary brokerage arm of over 400 salespersons and 10 staff. He sets and oversees the direction for the business, spearheads training activities, leadership development and the expansion of the associate network’s transactional capabilities. Evan has been with the firm since 2016 and quickly rose to Head of KF Property Network in the span of four years. Previously a Senior Division Director, Evan led two divisions and held roles as an in-house trainer to associates, in addition to being a Senior Project IC since 2016.

Evan has been a speaker and panelist at events for major property portals such as PropertyGuru and 99.co, and discussed views on the local residential market on business radio station CNA938.