Etaily announced its acquisition of $1.6 million in seed funding, with investments from leading businesses such as the Ayala Ventures, Foxmont Capital Partners, Magsaysay Shipping & Logistics, the Boston Consulting Group, and other renowned angel investors.
The funding is expected to spur the growth and development of Philippine e-commerce, while preventing the breakout of a “retail apocalypse” similar to what has been happening in the US and Europe.
Etaily was launched on March 2020 at the height of the pandemic, leveraging on the quick but massive migration of consumers to the digital marketplace and online shopping.
It has helped traditional merchants find their place within the brave new world of e-commerce, and used digital tools to guide them through the changing and overwhelming markets.
Using its front-end-to-back-end capabilities with multi-channel solutions, and seamless integrations with Southeast Asia-leading online channels, established businesses and upstarts can scale their brands.
The future of Philippine e-commerce was discussed in the recent webinar, “Breaking The e-Retail Ceiling In Asean” hosted by Etaily.
The unique approach will provide traditional retail companies a lifeline into the digital world and continue to connect beloved Filipino brands to their consumers.
Etaily has generated more than 1 million transactions, made more than 50,000 unique products available to the entire country and beyond such as Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore. It has managed more than 20 brands across all online channels, activated more than 10 offline retailers for online capability, and has a gross merchandise value revenue projected for 2021 to be $10 million.
“We will not allow the retail apocalypse that happened in the US and in Europe because we are giving traditional retailers the digital fighting chance to compete for the local as well as regional market. We are connecting online brands and retailers to Asean consumers by integrating their business offline and online. The most important thing there is one winner, the final consumer. And we are happy to give them a fighting chance and to support end-to-end throughout their journey,” Alexander Friedhoff, CEO of Etaily, said,
Toti Wong, CCO of Etaily, explained how their platform and processes make e-commerce user-friendly even for newbie companies who want to scale, and not just survive.
“I think most Filipino retailers are quickly learning that e-commerce is becoming more complex. The marketplaces in 2017 were totally different than the ones today. In the coming months and years, this will not get any simpler. As an e-commerce enabler, Etaily’s role is to navigate these complexities for sellers and for brands so they don’t have to learn all these things themselves. They can then focus on their core business of brand management, distribution, and retailing.”
Tatiana Cziormer, COO of Etaily, said brands can also leverage on their data to gain a more thorough understanding of their customers, strengthen their client relationship management, and increase their platforms’ buying power. She emphasizes that today’s tech can make the transition of brands to digital seamless, effective, and yet user-friendly.
