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Image credit: The Straits Times

Hot on the heels of moving into the Singapore market, Australian logistics tech start-up Shippit is expanding into Malaysia, which it has identified as having one of the fastest growing e-commerce markets in Southeast Asia.

It is partnering regional-serving courier Ninja Van, making the latter’s cash on delivery (COD) capabilities accessible to the unbanked and underbanked populations in Malaysia and throughout Southeast Asia.

“With 83% if its population making purchases online, Malaysia has the highest percentage of digital customers in the region, and an e-commerce market valued at approximately US$4 billion in 2020,” the company said in a press release.

It added that this figure is expected to double to US$8.1 billion in four years, making Malaysia one of the largest and fastest-growing markets in Southeast Asia.

Shippit director of market development, Lavneesh Arora, observed: “Malaysia is experiencing a surge in online retail transactions, which started when the Movement Control Order (MCO) was implemented earlier this year to curb the spread of COVID-19.

While this is a great opportunity, this brings another challenge to the fast-growing e-commerce market, as many have not been able to adapt, causing delays and negative customer experiences.”

Although Malaysians are generally digitally-savvy with an internet penetration of 80.1% and mobile commerce accounting for 47%, according to the press release, only 45% of the population is fully banked and there are some 12 million people in Malaysia who are underbanked and unbanked, with a preference for cash payments.

Ninja Van Ceo Adzim Halim added: “Through our partnership with Shippit, we will be offering Malaysians the option of Cash On Delivery (COD), thus opening up another payment method to the underbanked end customers, and allowing e-commerce merchants to reach a previously untapped segment of the market.”

As a fast-growing startup taking on Asia, Shippit has set its sights on improving retail logistics in countries like the Philippines and Indonesia. To accelerate its growth ambitions across Southeast Asia during the e-commerce boom, the company is evaluating whether it should go on a capital raising excess of in excess of RM30 million this year.

Shippit is a scalable shipping platform that can be used by enterprise-level firms, fast-growing small and medium enterprises (SMEs), as well as e-commerce businesses just starting out. It unifies order fulfilment across sales channels and leverages its proprietary allocation algorithm to connect retailers to the best delivery partner for every order.

Founded in 2014 in Australia, the logistics Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company has raised almost US$10 million, led by Asian investment firm Aura Group.

By using automation and machine learning to simplify the order fulfilment process, Shippit serves more than 6,000 customers a month across Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia, powering delivery for Sephora and CottonOn, among thousands of other leading retailers.

It recently announced the launch of its Southeast Asian headquarters in Singapore, partnering with Shopify regionally and SingPost in Singapore.

Source: https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/australias-shippit-teams-ninja-van-serve-growing-ecommerce-market-malaysia