Levi’s, Crocs, Skechers and Reckitt Benckiser among brands using etaily commerce engine to engage consumers in Southeast Asia, a rapidly growing $230B retail market. Revenues trebled in the last 12 months as etaily targets $100m.
The Southeast Asia (SEA) ecommerce market is growing rapidly and is projected to reach $230B (in gross merchandise value) by 2026. Helping brands around the world tap this opportunity, commerce platform enabler etaily is today announcing a $17.8M series A funding round as it scales its end-to-end ecommerce entry platform for brands to seamlessly engage audiences across SEA.
The funding round was led by Chinese and Taiwanese PE firm SKS Capital and co-led by Singapore’s Pavilion Capital. Other investors are Japanese SBI ICCP Fund and Kaya Founders. The round also saw participation from the Magsaysay Family, Chan family, Foxmont Capital and JGDEV, the corporate venture capital arm of JG Summit Holdings. etaily’s cap-table also includes other renowned SEA retailers and conglomerates such as the Ayala Corporation, the Cheng family behind the department store chain Landmark, as well as renowned angel investors including Paulo Campos, former Co-Founder and CEO of Zalora and Anthony Oundijan, Managing Director and Senior Partner of Boston Consulting Group.
Headquartered in the Philippines, etaily has quickly established itself as a pathway for brands seeking to sell their goods online across SEA. etaily is powered by a proprietary operating system for end-to-end commerce technology. etaily provides unique end-to-end distribution solutions in ecommerce and omnichannel, for global consumer brands in the region as well as its own brand portfolio. This ecosystem spans the entire customer journey, from development of lifestyle products through in-house branding capabilities to delivery to a local and regional customer base from etaily’s asset light warehouse network.
Founded in 2020 by Alexander Friedhoff, former Zalora team member, etaily’s vision is to help global consumer brands selling online. Today, etaily has served more than 50 global consumer brands and processed over 10M orders on platforms such Lazada, Shopee and direct-to-consumer brand.com online stores. Gross sales at etaily in 2023 have tripled and are on track to reach $100M over the coming years. Its portfolio of exclusive brands currently comprises Levi’s, Crocs, Skechers and Reckitt, bringing its total brand count to more than 50, managed on +200 storefronts. Its own brands range from categories such as pets supplements, health, personal care and food and beverage.
Alexander Friedhoff, Founder & CEO of etaily commented: “For the last three years, we’ve focused our passion into crafting something great at etaily – an all-encompassing commerce powerhouse. From the very birth of our lifestyle products to their swift delivery through our state-of-the-art operations ecosystem. Our unique digital approach sets us apart, making etaily the architect of digital brands and retail. Today, people in the region buying something online from the leading retail and digital brands such as Crocs, Levi’s, Skechers, Fila and many others – all of it is being powered by etaily’s infrastructure.”
“With our unbeatable ecosystem, more than ever demanding online-first strategy, and adaptable digital operations, we’re poised to transform retail in the Philippines and SEA. As the tides of e-commerce reshape the retail landscape, etaily’s agile, fully digital platform promises brands a successful journey into the future.”
Bain & Co has forecasted that the number of digital consumers in SEA is projected to hit 402 million by 2027, up from an estimated 370 million in 2022 with the Philippines leading the growth, followed by Vietnam and Thailand. The Philippines is now expected to grow the fastest in 2023 among developing economies in East Asia and Pacific according to an updated World Bank growth outlook for the region. These reports come hot on the heels of the Philippines being recognised as the fastest growing ecommerce market globally in 2023 having grown 25% year on year.
There are several factors driving the ecommerce market in the region. Alexander Friedhoff added: “Unlike markets such as the US and Europe, where population growth is at a historic low — or in China’s case, declining — SEA’s consumer pool is expanding fast. In fact, the region’s working age population is set to grow by 23 million people by 2030, according to Bain & Co. and Meta’s 2022 SYNC SEA report. The Philippines already has the youngest population in SEA. At the same time, household incomes are expected to rise, with 51 million new high and upper-middle class households to emerge by 2030. This combination of a burgeoning working population and higher household incomes will lead to an uptick in consumption. SEA will add about 140 million new consumers by 2030, representing 16 percent of the world’s consumers.”
Alexander Friedhoff added: “Given the current trajectory, with ecommerce as a percentage of total sales surging, SEA may well be poised to become the ‘next China’ in terms of e-commerce growth potential. Although SEA consists of several distinct markets without the same geographic cohesion and language uniformity as China, commerce platform companies such as etaily have made it convenient for brands to sell into multiple markets through localized operations, brand, data and technology capabilities.”
etaily will deploy the fresh capital to deepen its presence in SEA, enhance its distribution platform for brands, and expand the brand portfolio including own brands and licenses of international lifestyle brands. In addition, further investments will be made into its proprietary technology stack including its operating system, data analytics and AI platform etaily clarity.
SKS Capital founder Jack Chen commented: “We are excited to participate in the exciting consumer transformation taking place in the Philippines and SEA. We are dedicated to collaborating with outstanding and promising organizations that are poised for growth. etaily’s asset-light strategy, along with their extensive knowledge of eCommerce, supply chain, and their utilization of data-driven insights to understand consumer behavior and demand, offer significant prospects for incorporating advanced omnichannel technology solutions into brand operations. This will enable substantial growth in the near future. Our brand portfolio is ready to be distributed by etaily.”
