Southeast Asian ecommerce is a marathon, not a sprint, says aCommerce Thai CEO

Bangkok-based startup aCommerce unveiled a strategic plan that could lead to an initial public offering soon. The company has raised US$10 million from its existing investors, including KKR & Co. It plans to put these funds toward developing better products and services for its clients, riding on 73% growth in revenue to more than US$100 million, driven by achieving profitability in its core market: Thailand.

Photo credit: aCommerce

In particular, aCommerce continues to experience rapid growth in its core Brand Ecommerce solutions – the source of most of its business today. The company’s revenue grew at a compound annual growth rate of 188% in 2017 and 2018 to exceed US$90 million by the end of the two-year period.

KrAsia spoke with aCommerce Thailand CEO Phensiri Sathianvongnusar to find out more about the company’s recent partnerships and its future plans.

ACommerce has just raised an additional US$10 million. Where does this lead the business in terms of the company’s plan for growth going forward? How soon might we see the company go public?

Our company continues to experience rapid growth. We are now positioning our business for long-term sustainable growth and profitability by working with brand clients that show the same commitment to grow online. The new investment will help us focus on growing our core brand ecommerce business and tech to reach group profitability, and will hopefully lead us to an IPO in the next few years.

Could you tell us more about your recent partnership with Line to help brands utilize social commerce effectively? What does the collaboration mean for aCommerce?

Social commerce is one of the fastest-growing online segments. Brands also highly value the direct relationship with consumers on this platform. As Line’s retail solutions partner, we will be able to help our brand clients to reach more consumers and offer a unique shopping experience effectively.

We are in discussion with some brands to have their official store on Line. Unfortunately, we can’t elaborate on that as it’s still in the early stage of development.

What is unique about the Thai ecommerce market, which is expected to surge to US$13 billion by 2025? How is aCommerce’s operations in Thailand different from those in other markets?

In Southeast Asia, Thailand is one of the early adopters of ecommerce due to the comparatively strong logistics and payment infrastructure, as well as high mobile and internet penetration. Thai consumers are also early adopters of features like live video streaming and influencer marketing.

This quick pace requires us to always be innovative in developing solutions for clients. The partnership with Line is the best example of this, as Thailand is still one of the messenger company’s biggest markets outside Japan, recording a significantly higher adoption rate compared to anywhere else in Southeast Asia.

The development of our social commerce technology is also mainly spurred by better infrastructure in the country and Thai consumer behavior that shows more inclination and a higher level of trust to shop online via social media channels.

What differentiates you from your competitors? Who are your major clients in Thailand? How have your services changed over the past few years?