One of Thailand’s leading online retailers iTrueMart has opened an online store in the Philippines, in the first step of a broad Asian rollout.
iTrueMart’s parent Ascend Group is reportedly planning to invest US$150 million in a Southeast Asian expansion to make the most of the advent of the Asean Economic Community (AEC).
Ascend Group eCommerce COO Dean Krstevski said the company chose the Philippines as its first new market because it sees a massive opportunity there.
Next year, the company plans online stores in Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Myanmar, and Cambodia.
Ascend Group’s president Punnamas Vichitkulwongsa said the company aims to be the second largest eCommerce player in the region by the end of next year and the largest by 2017 through partnerships with authorised brand distributors.
iTrueMart has a cloud services partnership with Amazon Web Services which it says has allowed it to become one of the fastest-growing eCommerce businesses in Thailand.
Last January, iTrueMart was fulfilling 400 orders a day, but now it is averaging 8000 a day with peak volumes as high as 17,000.
The website sells branded products including household appliances and electronics, beauty products, personal care items and health supplies.
