Southeast Asia’s e-commerce champ gears for Philippine expansion

Southeast Asia-born logistics firm and e-commerce enabler, aCommerce, will put up next year a major warehouse in the Philippines that is five times the size of its existing ones amid bullish expectations for the online market, according to a top official.

Quito San Agustin, aCommerce general manager here in the country, yesterday told reporters the firm was currently looking for a location for a large fulfillment center covering 10,000 square meters. A fulfillment center is essentially a warehouse for e-commerce platforms.

This comes on the heels of an announcement earlier this week that the firm had just signed a deal for a $65-million funding for its operations in the region. A “chunk” of this would go to Philippine operations, company officials said.

aCommerce provides localized retail, distribution and marketing solutions for over 260 brand clients by helping them put up online shops. The brands include Samsung, Unilever, Nestlé, L’Oreal, Philips and Mars.

In the Philippines, San Agustin said the firm had 25 brand partners. He said the number could grow to 30 to 40 brands next year.

The products are currently housed in two of aCommerce’s facilities, each measuring 1,000 square meters.

“We’re looking at 10,000 square meters [for the next facility]. That’s the growth we see happening in 2018,” San Agustin said.

He said the company partnered with various local logistics company to distribute the products. There are four major product categories in its portfolio: electronics, consumer goods, home and living, and fashion.

He said that consumer goods accounted for the largest chunk in terms of volume, but electronics accounted for the largest in terms of sales.