Thai e-commerce logistics firm eyes PH expansion
MANILA, Philippines — The local unit of Thailand-based e-commerce logistics firm Flash Express plans to expand its operations in the Philippines this year, establishing more facilities and hiring more workers amid the huge demand of courier services in the country.
Flash Express County People Head Alvin Chew on Thursday said they expect to increase the number of their employees in the Philippines by 50 percent, adding that they will hire more riders and warehouse personnel in 2024.
“As of now, we have about 22,000 full time employees, of which 18,000 are operations staff,” Chew said in a press conference in Taguig City.
READ: Country’s total e-commerce value may reach $24B in two years
“Site wise, we are looking to grow it by 30 percent,” he also said when asked about their facilities.
As of January, the company has 28 sorting hubs in the Philippines, as well as 736 distribution center and 27 pick-up distribution centers.
New facilities
Flash Express also has 4,819 key accounts in the country, with their major e-commerce clients including Lazada, Shopee, the Tiktok Shop, and Shein.
Chew said they are currently processing 1 million parcels daily and volume target by year-end set at 300 million.
The company expects this trend to continue, noting that the amount of goods purchased by Filipinos online is projected to increase by 42.55 percent annually from 2023 to 2025.
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Citing data from social media management platform Hootsuite and creative agency We Are Social, 38.88 million Filipinos purchased goods via the internet in 2021, while the value of these goods amounted to $3.55 billion in 2020.
“This means that the logistics business would also prosper because if there is no logistics, then these goods purchased online cannot be delivered. So, hand in hand, if the e-commerce industry would grow, the logistics business would also grow and prosper,“ said Van Thadeus Curz, the area manager of Flash Express’ business partnership unit called Flash Home.
