Thai e-commerce trailblazer iTrueMart opens shop in PH

Ascend Group Co. Ltd.’s iTrueMart, one of Thailand’s leading online retailers, has entered the local e-commerce industry to mark the start of its $150-million expansion across Southeast Asia.

Ascend Group chief operating officer of e-commerce Dean Krstevski said they chose Philippines as the company’s first stop in their massive launch in the Asean Economic Community (AEC), citing big opportunities for online retail here.

Ascend Group president Punnamas Vichitkulwongsa said the company aimed to be the second largest e-commerce player by the end of the year and the most dominant by 2017 through partnerships with authorized brand distributors.

He said iTrueMart, a trailblazing e-tailer in Thailand, is set to to expand its operations next year to Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Myanmar, and Cambodia.

Through its partnership with cloud services giant Amazon Web Services (AWS), iTrueMart claims itself as one of the fastest-growing e-commerce websites in Thailand.

From only 400 orders per day in January, iTrueMart is now averaging 8,000 orders per day. At its peak, orders can reach 17,000.

iTrueMart describes itself as an e-commerce leader in Thailand. It also aims to be a retail destination for quality brands of different products, including electronics, household appliances, personal care and health and beauty products.