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11street Surprises Malaysians with Incredible 11:11 Deals this November. Let the Madness Begin!

Key highlights:

  • 11street unleashes exciting deals and promotions from today, October 29 to November 27 in conjunction with 11:11
  • Promotions during this period ranges from madness deals under RM11, crazy flash deals, mind-blowing category sales, product discount up to 90% and more!
  • Shoppers also stand a chance to win a free dinner with social media influencers hosted by 11street

Kuala Lumpur, 29 October 2018 – Everyone’s favourite time of the year is here and it is not the festivities, as you might expect. Something bigger, better and crazier is lurking around the corner in conjunction with the worldwide shopping phenomenon, 11:11. To cater to the 15.2 million online shoppers in Malaysia, 11street, one of the leading online marketplaces in the country, has curated a host of exciting deals and promotions that will make even the smartest shoppers go mad!

The online shopping platform will be kicking off the insanity with the ‘Madness Category Sales’ from October 29 to November 10, where customers will be able to snap up selected products and services at shocking prices. During this period, items from categories such as Tech (mobile, IT, electronics), Beauty (health & beauty, fashion), Family (groceries, kids & baby, home & living) and Lifestyle (eVouchers, books, sports, hobbies & gifts) will see crazy slashes in prices.

“Everyone loves discounts, especially because with massive markdowns come mad savings! The Shopping Madness 11 also gives us more reasons to reward our customers and thank them for their unwavering support. Some may think that we’re out of our mind for when they see the extremely appealing campaign promotions, but it wouldn’t be ‘Shopping Madness 11’ if we didn’t provide deals that would entice the shoppers,” said CEO of 11street, CHEONG Chia Chou.

The peak of this campaign will be during the ‘Madness Heaven’ period, from November 11 to November 14. During this time, 11street will be surprising shoppers with product discounts of up to 90%, exciting flash deals and coupons as well as deals under RM11. The madness doesn’t stop there! In a bid to thank their loyal customers, 11street will be extending their sales period, ‘The Madness Continues’, for selected items which are offered at very competitive prices.

CHEONG continued, “We know that the year end is the time where Malaysians tend to spend quite a bit as the festive seasons approach. With that in mind, we’ve decided to run a month-long campaign to help alleviate some of the burden and bring back the fun in shopping.”

On top of the free shipping services offered by selected brands, shoppers who are looking for a steal should keep an eye out for the Shocking Deals and Shocking Deals Plus promotions that will leave you in awe. Keeping on to the theme of madness, 11street will also offer exclusive bundle deals and attractive flash deals with up to five (5) sessions a day, increasing the shoppers’ chances of grabbing the items they want most!

During the campaign, consumers will enjoy a range of products from participating brands namely 888 Tea & Coffee, Axxel Marketing, Century Battery, Chek Hup Ipoh White Coffee, Chicco, Dale & Cecil, Dettol, Durex, Enfagrow, Eu Yan Sang, Eucerin, Fujifilm, Gintell, Gitaloha Music, Jeoel, Kinohimitsu, Laneige, MamyPoko, Music World, Nestle, Nivea, Oppo, Pentoli, PBH eStore, Pediasure, Pokka, RB Home Care, Samsung, SilkyTrend, Skechers, Soon Thye Hang, Super Malaysia, Sustagen, Tesco, Tradeshoppe, Tronsmart, Unilever, Vivo and Watsons.

As a token of appreciation, customers who spend on 11street during this period will also stand a chance to dine with local social media influencers, hosted by 11street. Find out more about the contest on 11street’s Facebook page.

Shoppers can now enjoy the ‘Shopping Madness 11’ campaign by heading over to https://promotion.11street.my/madness-campaign. Customers can also download the 11street.my app on iOS or Google’s Play Store.

Lemonilo healthy instant noodle becomes cheaper

The famous healthy Lemonilo instant noodle revealed to the media that starting from 22 October 2018, each pack of Lemonilo noodle will now be priced at IDR 6,400 (USD 0.42) to IDR 7,200. This is a reduction of 21% to 32% from the previous prices of IDR 8,200 to IDR 9,500.

Lemonilo instant noodle, which is naturally green from spinach, is now available in over 500 physical supermarkets in addition to online.

The reason the company is able to lower the cost is because it has reached economies of scale to pass on extra savings to consumers. The other reason for the price revision is to make healthy instant noodle more accessible to consumers in view of the 3% fall in the overall instant noodle sales by volume in Indonesia in 2017, according to the World Instant Noodle Association (WINA).

F.EAST pays tribute to Egg Prata with Fish Curry

F.EAST (Flavours of the East), a Singapore-based that is behind the Singapore Laksa and Hainanese Chicken Rice potato chips, has introduced a another potato chip flavour inspired by Asia’s diverse cultures and mouth-watering cuisines – Egg Prata with Fish Curry.

The new Egg Prata with Fish Curry is now available at Giant, NTUC, 7-Eleven and Redmart.

Apparently, F.EAST is staying clear from salty eggs and mala and is tapping into the local foodscene for the next flavour inspiration. Well, we suggest let’s have Nasi Lemak but this is too cliche. So… what about a Bak Kut Teh potato chips (we mean the Singapore version).

Calbee goes the licensing route in the Philippines, focuses on Indonesia

Japan-based Calbee said it has learned a valuable lesson for picking rival Universal Robina (URC) as its joint venture partner in the Philippines. In an interview with Nikkei Asian Review in October 2018, Makoto Ehara, executive vice president of Calbee said  “Universal Robina has its own brand, with the same salesmen dealing with both labels.” He added URC “sells its own product rather than the combined brands. It is difficult to fully count on a player in the same industry which has similar products.”

On 25 September 2018, URC signed an agreement with Calbee to acquire the remaining 50% stake in Calbee-Universal Robina Corp (CURC) from the Japanese firm, which will give URC a 100% stake in CURC. As part of the deal, Calbee will grant URC a licensing agreement to continue to sell Calbee products in the Philippines.

CURC net sales remained at the PHP 210-230 million level from 2015 to 2017. As a comparison, its Indonesia’s joint venture with Wings, which started operation in the first half of fiscal 2016, is expanding rapidly. Wings, famous for its Mie Sedaap instant noodle, does not have its own snack food business.

Tapping into Wings strong distribution network, Calbee saw its sales in Indonesia growing to JPY 3 billion in fiscal 2018 ending 31 March 2018.

Calbee plans to expand the production capacity at the Karawang factory in Indonesia in 2019 as the existing production capacity is full, said Ehara.

AJE Indonesia embroiled in court-supervised debt moratorium

PT AJE Indonesia, the maker of Big Cola, was reported by Tirto.id to have been involved in a court-supervised debt moratorium and restructuring process also known as a Suspension of Debt Payment Obligations (Penundaan Kewajiban Pembayaran Utang or PKPU).

As described by the American Chamber of Commerce in Indonesia (Amcham Indonesia), PKPU “gives a debtor the opportunity to prepare, negotiate and submit a composition plan to its creditors for their approval.” The objective is to offer both “creditors and debtors with an avenue to avoid liquidation bankruptcy.”

AJE Indonesia’s case was lodged on 15 October 2018 under “151/Pdt.Sus-PKPU/2018/PN Jkt.Pst“.  The applicant is PT Cahaya Muda Kreasi.

The amount of debt outstanding is not known. It is not clear if the PKPU will affect the operation of AJE Indonesia.

AJE Indonesia’s case reflects growing competition in the Indonesian soft drinks market as consumers reduce their spending on sugary drinks including carbonated soft drinks.

Big Cola is known for undercutting Coca-Cola and Pepsi by selling at a lower price with a larger volume. The latest case with PKPU shows the days of cheap and cheerful growth driven by volume is probably over and there is a need to become more creative in product innovation.

On product innovation, AJE Indonesia has recently introduced Big Cola in a 215ml single-serve pack size.

AJE Indonesia beverage portfolio. Image from AJE Indonesia

Heartthrob Thai actor Thanapat Kawila to make Ichitan Happy Tea a success

Image from Ichitan

Ichitan is back with Happy Tea, a new range of fruity RTD green tea, to boost its RTD tea sales. This comes as first half 2018 revenue of Ichitan fell 9.3% dragged by the sluggish RTD tea market.

This time, Ichitan is connecting with its female consumer base emotionally using heartthrob Thai actor Thanapat Kawila ธนภัทร กาวิละ (Nickname: Film). With his charming smile and persona, Film has the qualities to ensure Happy Tea can truly connect with its customers. 

Film shot to fame in the Thai drama Mia 2018, also known as The Fierce Wife. He is portrayed in the drama as a loving and caring person. Essentially, Film is the Thai version of Kim Soo-hyun, best known for his role in the Korean drama My Love from the Star. Marketing using heartthrob does work but it only works when the drama and the character is still fresh in everyone’s mind.

Here is the TVC for Happy Tea

https://www.facebook.com/ichitan/videos/1932649863702537/

Ichitan Happy Tea comes in three flavours including pomegranate.

Botaneco Garden Combines Organic Chia Seed Oil and Honey For A Deeply Moisturising Hair and Skin Care Experience

Sunway, October 26, 2018 – Guardian Malaysia has introduced the Botaneco Garden Organic Chia Seed Oil and Honey range, a nature inspired solution that deeply moisturises and protects dry skin and hair with the benefits of traditional home remedies[1],[2] minus the mess.

Themed ‘Be A Mess Free Beauty’ the launch held at A Cut Above Academy, highlighted the messy challenges of preparing DIY beauty remedies using chia seed and honey in a light-hearted take on YouTube tutorials, while sharing the benefits of the two ingredients for the real problem of dry skin and dry hair.

Air-conditioned environments, showers, blow drying hair on high heat and harsh personal care products that do not suit the skin and hair condition of the user can all contribute to dryness[3]. As we get older, skin loses the dewiness of youth, and our scalp produces less oils resulting in dry hair[4]. [5]

With so many factors arrayed against achieving the holy grail of dewy, smooth skin, and lustrous, shiny locks, what can you do?

The new Botaneco Garden Organic Chia Seed Oil and Honey range offers a solution for eco-conscious consumers who prefer a gentle yet effective personal care range. It includes the aptly named  Deep Moist and Protect shampoo, conditioner, hair oil, body wash, body lotion and hand cream for daily hair and skin care focused on moisturisation and protection of dry to normal skin and hair.

The range is formulated with 100% eco-certified organic chia seed oil from Germany to restore skin and hair’s natural moisture barrier and to retain moisture, and enriched with organic honey extract from France that is high in minerals, vitamins and anti-oxidants. The combination of 100% eco-certified organic chia seed oil and organic honey extract provides moisturisation and hydration that is ideal for dry to normal skin types. It is dermatologically tested and proven. It is not tested on animals.

The entire Botaneco Garden range of 58 products, including the new Organic Chia Seed Oil and Honey line is available only at Guardian Malaysia.

Guardian Malaysia now operates a chain of over 400 stores, providing an unrivalled variety of Pharmaceutical, Health and Beauty products to more than 2.5 million Malaysian customers a month, across the country. It is among the leading health, beauty and personal care chains in Malaysia.

Guardian Health & Beauty Sdn. Bhd, Brand Manager, Health & Beauty Own Brand, Malaysia & Brunei, Ms Michelle Yeap explained that the Organic Chia Seed Oil and Honey range was developed to deliver mess-free products based on global cosmeceutical trends, and the needs of Guardian’s customers in the region.

“Nature-inspired, deeply moisturising and protective solutions for dry skin and dry hair are high on our customers’ wish list. We studied numerous eco-certified and organic ingredients before finding the unique combination of 100% eco-certified chia seed oil and organic honey extract that provided the effective moisturising and hydration and benefits for dry to normal skin,” Ms Yeap said.

“Our core consumers enjoy the clean beauty of DIY home preparations but are put off by the amount of time, effort and cost involved in do-it-yourself remedies. The preparation followed by the clean-up of the kitchen and bath after is a workout in itself! There is also the risk of using the wrong recipe at home where the ratio of the ingredients do not deliver good results.”

The Botaneco Garden team demonstrated the possible DIY fails and messiness of preparing chia seed and honey beauty aids for skin and hair in the Botaneco Garden Mess Free Beauty YouTube studio.

“For the Organic Chia Seed Oil and Honey range Botaneco Garden put in the goodness of two functional ingredients to give our consumers an affordable full personal care line that works for dry to normal skin types. It is dermatologically tested and proven so that you can be a mess-free beauty. Use it straight from the bottle or the tube, it is gentle enough for daily use,” she added.

Guests at the Botaneco Garden Organic Chia Seed Oil and Honey launch experienced the mess-free benefits of this line through a full salon hair wash, condition and blow dry service, followed by a manicure with hand massage provided at A Cut Above Academy.

“We tested the Botaneco Garden Organic Chia Seed Oil and Honey shampoo, conditioner, hair oil, body lotion and hand cream ahead of this event to familiarise, and the results were impressive. The shampoo does not produce much foam which is a good thing as foam can strip hair of natural oils, drying it out. The conditioner increased manageability and reduced frizz. The hair oil is a star that makes styling easier and natural looking without weighing down hair,” said Mr Peter Wong, Head of the A Cut Above Academy.

There are five product lines under the Botaneco Garden brand namely Inca Inchi which uses Inca Inchi and Aloe Vera as key ingredients, the premium Organic Argan and Olive Oil range, Botaneco Garden Baby which uses eco-certified chamomile and colloidal oatmeal for a gentle and effective baby range; the Trio Oil range which uses 100% eco-certified oil  – Babassu oil, Baobab oil and Chufa oil, and the new Organic Chia Seed Oil and Honey range.

The Botaneco Garden Organic Chia Seed Oil and Honey range is priced from RM 9.34 for the Deep Moist and Protect hand cream to RM18.77 for the Deep Moist and Protect shampoo, conditioner, body wash and body lotion.  The entire line is available at all Guardian stores nationwide, and through the Guardian e-store www.guardian.com.my. For more information on Botaneco Garden please visit http://www.botanecogarden.com/en-my/ or follow mybotanecogarden on Instagram.

[1] https://www.womenshealthmag.com/beauty/a19946109/beauty-uses-for-honey/

[2] https://www.naturallivingideas.com/chia-seeds-for-beautiful-skin-hair/

[3] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1610-0387.2005.05068.x

[4] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.0909-752X.2006.00146.x

[5] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022202X15525864

What makes the new Red Bull Plus unique?

Image from Red Bull Singapore

Red Bull Plus with Vitamin B5, B6 and B12 has been launched in Singapore. The new energy drink claims to “boost energy levels and support immunity and mental function.” But what is the difference between the new Red Bull Plus and Red Bull Classic?

Both Red Bulls have the same amount of Vitamin B5, B6 and B12. The real difference lies in the amount of sugar. Essentially, Red Bull Plus contains the lowest sugar in the Red Bull range.

The Most Visited E-commerce Merchants in Malaysia

The Top Performing E-commerce Players of Q3 2018 in Malaysia

iPrice Group recently updated the Map of E-commerce, ranking Malaysia’s top 50 e-commerce merchants based on the latest Q3 2018 data. The rankings were based on data points such as web visits, mobile application rankings, social media followers and number of employees. The top e-commerce merchants are Lazada with an average of 23 million monthly web visits followed by Shopee at 15 million and 11street at 7 million average monthly web visits.

Key highlights in Q3 2018

Comparing monthly web visits between Malaysia’s top five e-commerce merchants in Q2 and Q3 2018, Shopee and 11street were the key gainers, experiencing 28% and 21% increase. In the past quarter, the key web traffic drivers were the MyCyberSale (3-7 September) and 9.9 sales (9 September).

This year, the fourth annual MyCyberSale was led by the National ICT Association of Malaysia (PIKOM) and was estimated to garner RM370 million in gross merchandise value (GMV). Key players driving the local online sale period were the country’s top e-commerce merchants along with small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

In September 2018, Lazada and Shopee were highly active for the 9.9 sales (9 September). Both e-commerce merchants launched the sale period in an extravagant manner, promoted additional consumer protection features, improved delivery times and introduced attractive promotions.  The two e-commerce leaders also launched the sale campaign across Southeast Asia and experienced a boost in web visits on 9 September and the days leading to it.

Merchant Q2 2018 Monthly Web Visits Q3 2018 Monthly Web Visits Difference (Q2 vs Q3)
Lazada 27,990,500 23.384,800 -16%
Shopee 12,330,200 15,790,900 +28%
11street 6,437,600 7,829,000 +21%
Lelong 5,221,300 5,104,900 -2%
Zalora 1,817,200 1,520,300 -16%

The monthly web visits for Q3 2018 were averaged and obtained from SimilarWeb

With the ever-increasing usage of mobile by consumers today, shopping applications have played a significant role in the development of e-commerce in Q3 2018 as well. Leading the charge are Shopee and Lazada, where both players introduced mobile-specific deals to increase the usage of their respective mobile shopping applications.

According to experts, mobile application rankings on both iOS and Android’s app stores are determined by factors such as the title of the app, number of downloads, user rating and reviews and others.

iOS   Android
AppStore Rank Merchant   PlayStore Rank Merchant
1. Shopee   1. Shopee
2. Lazada   2. Lazada
3. Zalora   3. GoShop
4. Sephora   4. Zalora
5. 11street   5. CJ WOW SHOP

Rankings of the mobile shopping applications were averaged and obtained from AppAnnie

Top Malaysian-Based E-commerce Merchants

The most visited Malaysian-based e-commerce merchants are Lelong, GoShop, Hermo, FashionValet, and CJWOWSHOP. The oldest player in the list, Lelong, which was established since the late 90s, is the only e-commerce merchant to exceed more than 5 million monthly web visits in Q3 2018.

Merchant Q3 2018 Monthly Web Visits AppStore Rank PlayStore Rank
Lelong 5,104,900 10th 8th
GoShop 836,900 7th 3rd
Hermo 699,900 8th 11th
FashionValet 352,100
CJ WOW SHOP 338,700 11th 5th

All data points were averaged and obtained from SimilarWeb and AppAnnie

E-commerce’s most important quarter (Q4 2018) and beyond

Based on 2017 data, e-commerce merchants are expected to experience a 30% increase in monthly web visits at the final quarter of the year. Q4 2018 will be the most important period for e-commerce players in Malaysia since almost all major online sale campaigns takes place near the end of the year. Among the most important sale periods are the 10.10 sale, 11.11 sale (also known as Singles Day), 12.12 sale, and year-end sales.

From a long-term perspective, the annual Budget 2019 announcement by the Malaysian government on 2 November 2018 is expected to play a vital role in the development of the digital sector. According to analysts, among the biggest initiatives to be announced is the Digital Tax, which aims to level the playing field for all businesses in the digital economy.

More insights on Malaysia’s top 50 e-commerce merchants can be found at our interactive content: https://iprice.my/insights/mapofecommerce/en/

This is a study by iPrice Group.

Businesses Can Accept MyDebit Card Payments using only Mobile Phones – Pilot Launch by Soft Space and PayNet

PayNet Group Chief Executive Officer Peter Schiesser with Soft Space Chief Executive Office Joel Tay at the launch in Kuala Lumpur today

Kuala Lumpur, 25th October 2018 – Soft Space Sdn Bhd (Soft Space), in collaboration with MyDebit, Malaysia’s national debit scheme operated by Payments Network Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. (PayNet), will pilot Fasstap, an innovative fintech solution that could potentially allow small businesses and sole-proprietors to accept card payments at minimal cost.

Under the Fasstap pilot, businesses may use any supported Android-based smartphones with near-field communication (NFC) technology to accept and process MyDebit payments, instead of relying on traditional card point-of-sale (POS) terminals.

Powered by Soft Space’s very own “Made in Malaysia” technology, cashiers or store keepers can just launch the Fasstap application on their smartphone, and within a few clicks, easily and safely accept a MyDebit card payment. Fasstap can also process payments exceeding the RM250 threshold for contactless or wave payments, because Fasstap facilitates secure PIN-entry and authorisation.

“Soft Space has always been synonymous with innovative payment solutions and this pilot is another testament of our ingenuity,” said Joel Tay, the CEO of Soft Space. “While NFC-based mobile payment application isn’t new, utilising the hardware-embedded security technology within the smartphone to enable secure PIN-entry and authorisation is a world’s first.”

“In line with our objective to make cashless payments accessible to all Malaysians, we initiated a pilot to trial MyDebit acceptance through Fasstap because the solution promises to significantly reduce the cost for merchants to accept card payments. Small businesses, including hawkers, street vendors and pasar malam traders will need nothing more than their smartphones to collect debit card payments from their customers, once we are ready to go to a full commercial roll-out” said Mr Peter Schiesser, the Group Chief Executive Officer of PayNet.

“We are excited as MyDebit acceptance via Fasstap has the potential to make cashless payments accessible and affordable to all businesses in Malaysia. This solution will further cement MyDebit as the most cost-effective mode of card payments in Malaysia,” added Mr Schiesser.

Today, MyDebit’s transaction fees for businesses, or more commonly known as merchant discount rates (MDR), averages at 0.56% compared to an average of 1.33% for credit cards.[1]  With Fasstap, the fixed costs associated with POS terminals, which may cost up to RM1,000, will largely disappear for merchants that already have smartphones that can double up to receive card payments.

Fasstap has the potential to disrupt the payment space as it leverages the Android-NFC-enabled smartphones that are widely used in the South East Asian market, thereby making it highly scalable and efficient for merchants of all sizes.

“Fasstap is unique in that it extends today’s mPOS capabilities to make cashless payments accessible to a wider group of merchants, especially the smaller scale ones in a cost effective and secure way,” said Mr Tay. “Additionally, this pilot will help us understand the intricacies of the market and help pave the way for Soft Space to roll out similar payment schemes and even support QR Code Mobile Payments regionally by leveraging our existing client base that consists of 20 financial institutions in 11 countries worldwide.

 Video link

https://we.tl/t-tMSfXTn4DC

 

About PayNet

Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PayNet) is Malaysia’s premier payments network and central infrastructure for financial markets. We innovate, build and operate world-class payment systems and financial market infrastructures that safely, reliably and efficiently enable the functioning and development of Malaysia’s financial system as well as the economy as a whole. With Bank Negara Malaysia as PayNet’s single largest shareholder and eleven major financial institutions as joint shareholders, PayNet also serves as a platform to harness the collaborative efforts of the Malaysian banking system to accelerate the adoption of electronic payments.

For more information, please visit www.paynet.my

Amy Pang

Phone: +603 2264 8689

E-mail: amy@paynet.my

About Soft Space

Founded in 2012, Soft Space is a leading FinTech player in the ASEAN region headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Soft Space simplifies the complexity of financial infrastructures and creates value-added features for businesses to expand their business growth. With over 20 financial institutions in 11 countries adopting its solution, the company is now gravitating towards expanding into omnichannel payments that include the adoption of artificial intelligence, QR code payments, E-wallet systems and money lending schemes.

In February 2018, Soft Space was ranked 66th of 1000 companies in the Financial Times ‘FT1000: High Growth Companies in Asia Pacific’ Special Report. This report highlights the top FinTech companies with the highest growth rates in the Asia Pacific region and they have been listed 2nd of 97 chosen companies in Malaysia, that highlights the potential market and growth developments that the fintech industry in Malaysia has to offer.

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