SingPost to launch end-to-end e-commerce solution to help SMEs
SingPost is launching a new web platform to help small businesses begin selling, or expand their sales, online. The national postal operator of Singapore said this week that it will roll out the ezyCommerce service next month.
The cloud-based platform will bring together all aspects of e-commerce fulfillment to provide SMEs with an “end-to-end” e-commerce solution, the firm said.
The new platform will automate the order fulfillment process so that retailers can outsource their inventory management and fulfillment. It makes use of SingPost’s warehousing capabilities and its postal and logistics operations to provide delivery.
SingPost said the system will help retailers manage their costs more effectively with the pay-as-you-use system that cuts out the need for a fixed cost infrastructure.
The company said that while Singapore’s e-commerce market has quadrupled in size since 2010 to a forecast S$4.4bn in 2015, there is a lack of scalable fulfillment services for small businesses.
“Stepping stone”
Wolfgang Baier, the SingPost Group chief executive, said ezyCommerce will target the mid-market and provide a “stepping stone” for SMEs to grow their business locally and internationally.
“By outsourcing fulfilment and delivery to SingPost, SMEs can better focus on business growth strategy and scale up their business across multiple marketplaces and countries without contending with fixed fulfilment costs, hence boosting both sales and productivity,” said Dr Baier.
“In addition, SMEs can also benefit from the scalability, efficiency and reliability of SingPost’s strong logistics backbone.”
SingPost is promising a simple interface for retailers to use the ezyCommerce system to bring together multiple online sales channels, centralise their inventory, automate the ordering process and provide multiple delivery options.
Retailers subscribe to the service through a monthly fee, with fulfillment costs then related to the storage, order processing and delivery needed.
The postal operator will pick, pack and deliver orders for SMEs using the system.
Dr Baier said his company has been scaling up its regional logistics capabilities with new and expanded facilities to handle the expected growth in online retail.
“From 2015 to 2018, global ecommerce sales are expected to grow at more than 15% every year, with Asia Pacific accounting for over 40% according to industry reports,” he said.
“As part of our growth strategy, we will continue to make strategic investments in infrastructure, technology and operations, and expand our end-to-end integrated suite of services to meet the growing needs of our local and regional business and end customers.”
