Shopmatic expands Asia footprint with new SG office
Shopmatic, a homegrown e-commerce SaaS (Software as a Service) company, has launched its business operation in Singapore designed to help local entrepreneurs go digital, particularly SMEs and ‘Homepreneurs’ (entrepreneurs who work from home). Shopmatic provides business owners with affordable, ready-to-use, intuitive templates that are easily customised, to grow their businesses online.
The ASEAN economies have a population of more than 600 million people and Singapore, as a financial and business management hub, provides a strong digital infrastructure with the highest internet penetration in the region. Industry analysts estimate that , three out of every four residents in the country will use the internet at least once a month , a figure well above that for any other country in Southeast Asia. This has created an excellent opportunity for an e-commerce company such as Shopmatic to launch in Singapore.
“The opportunity for local businesses to leverage the online world is immense, and that’s what we want to enable for Singapore.We are looking at the market opportunity through three audience segments – existing SMEs that are selling their products but are not online, existing SMEs that are selling their products offline with a minimal presence online or selling through marketplaces and, lastly, the big opportunity that sits with Individual entrepreneurs who have yet to realise the potential of doing business online. If we just look at Singapore, SMEs take up 99% of all enterprises in this city-state and there is a significant base of untapped individual entrepreneurs ,” CEO & Co-Founder of Shopmatic Group, Anurag Avula said.
“At Shopmatic, we understand that managing payments is one of the biggest challenges for SMEs. We are delighted to partner with PayPal to enable cross-border trade for local business owners, making it easier for merchants to accept payments from customers outside Singapore. We are focused on helping not only the SMEs and individual entrepreneurs to find their success in the online world, but also to give them global exposure,” Mr Avula said.
This year, the company plans to expand its presence to other parts of Asia such as Hong Kong, Philippines, Australia, and Indonesia, further strengthening its commitment to the region.
“We will look at significant investments, given the potential of the Asia markets, and investors are in talks with us to invest in our growth strategy. Right now, we are privately funded by angel investors from across the globe. In addition to that, our business operation in Singapore also means we will be creating job opportunities for local talent. I am very excited to bring this opportunity to the city-state,” Mr Avula said.
The post Shopmatic expands Asia footprint with new SG office appeared first on Digital Market Asia.
