This ecommerce enabler just raised $12m to become the Philippines’ Alibaba

Great Deals CEO Steve Sy (left) and Navegar managing partner Javier Infante / Photo credit: Great Deals

Philippine-based Great Deals E-commerce Corporation announced that it has received US$12 million in funding from Navegar, a local private equity firm focused exclusively on investments in the country.

Great Deals plans to use the new funds to invest further in enhancing its technology, infrastructure, and warehouse capabilities, according to a statement. It also looks to “aggressively” expand its presence in the country in a bid to become the Philippines’ own Alibaba and Baozun, a leading ecommerce enabler in China.

Alibaba eFounder fellow Steve Sy founded Great Deals in 2014, after spending years as an entrepreneur in the retail and ecommerce sectors.

Catering to multinational brands, the company provides anything from digital content, web design, analytics, and chat support to warehousing and fulfillment solutions. Its clients include the likes of Reckitt Benckiser, Nestle, Samsonite, Reebok, Crocs, L’Oreal, Abbott, and Unilever, among others.

Since its establishment, Great Deals claims to have generated about 1 billion pesos (about US$19.6 million) in revenues.

Lazada Group CEO Pierre Poignant said late last year that the company has more than 50 million active buyers annually, making it the top ecommerce player in Southeast Asia. It’s currently battling it out with Sea’s Shopee, another regional giant that surpassed Lazada in terms of web traffic in Southeast Asia during the third quarter of 2019, according to statistics from iPrice.

While the two are trading blows, local competitors such as Tokopedia in Indonesia and Tiki in Vietnam have also been gearing up.

According to data from Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company, ecommerce is the biggest and fastest-growing industry in Southeast Asia’s internet sector. It was valued at US$38 billion in 2019 and is expected to quickly rise to US$150 billion by 2025.

Following this growth is the rise of ecommerce enablers in the region. Sy told Tech in Asia that what sets Great Deals apart from rivals like aCommerce and AAD is its capacity to provide 24/7 chat support, its innovative forward-thinking management, and its team of world-class creatives.

See also: Ecommerce enablers: Southeast Asia’s next big opportunity?

Early this year, Thailand-based aCommerce raised US$15 million in funding from Indies Capital Partners. In addition to the Philippines and Thailand, it also has a presence in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore and serves multinational firms including Samsung, Unilever, Nestle, L’Oreal, Philips, Adidas, and Mars, among others.

Hong Kong-headquartered Shopline is also looking to capitalize on the growth of ecommerce in Southeast Asia, as it plans to expand into the region with its recent US$20 million funding round. Unlike Great Deals and aCommerce, however, Shopline keeps its focus on smaller sellers, enabling them to keep selling at relatively lower prices.

Right now, Sy plans to keep Great Deals’ operations local. “Ecommerce is a sunrise industry in the Philippines, and there are so many opportunities looming on the horizon,” he said.