Summary: SHOPLINE, global smart commerce platform, has announced the official expansion of its operations to Malaysia. The news follows the closure of a successful US$2 million funding round earlier this year, led by CDIB Capital Group and Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund, and reaffirms SHOPLINE’s confidence in the Southeast Asia market. The start-up, originally founded in Hong Kong, enables merchants to easily set-up online stores, and offers a wide selection of shop designs, payment gateways, and shipping carriers tailored to the needs of local and cross-border merchants. It has grown over the last six years to become the market leader in Asia, helping more than 150,000 entrepreneurs, SMEs and large enterprises such as Durex, Bee Cheng Hiang and Hiwalk go digital. In 2018, SHOPLINE’s merchants reached over 200 million customers. The Southeast Asian Digital Opportunity Figures from the latest annual Global State of Digital report by Hootsuite and We Are Social revealed an explosion in online engagement across the region, with the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia all ranking in the top 10 countries on the world’s internet usage index. Meanwhile, a recent study by Google and Singapore’s Temasek Holdings predict that Southeast Asia’s internet economy will be worth in excess of US$240 billion by 2025, with e-commerce accounting for 40 percent (US$102 billion), up from 2018’s US$23 billion spend. Against this backdrop, the opportunities presented by the booming Southeast Asian digital economy are immense. However, in order to successfully leverage its potential, businesses need to not only ensure they’re in the mix, but that they also provide a seamless and integrated online to offline experience. With a strong following in its native Hong Kong, along with offices in Taiwan, Ho Chi Minh City and Shenzhen, SHOPLINE now adds Kuala Lampur to its network, and has plans to further expand its footprint across the region. Empowering businesses and merchants in Southeast Asia with smart, omni-channel tools Having already supported several launch partners in beginning their online ventures, SHOPLINE will expand its Malaysia offering in the coming months to include its range of online to offline (O2O) solutions, which enable merchants to connect across channels and optimise the customer’s shopping experience. Services will include the SHOPLINE Kiosk, a CRM tool that allows users to sign up for membership with a mobile number or email in seconds; the SHOPLINE Broadcast Center, a marketing automation tool enabling merchants to reach customers via Facebook’s chatbot, SMS and email; and Shoplytics, a proprietary smart analytics dashboard that allows merchants to visualise and analyse data related to their store’s web traffic, revenue, product performance, customers, marketing and promotion campaign performance. Later this year, SHOPLINE will further look to introduce its cloud-based point-of-sale (POS) system tailored for retailers, enabling them: to keep an accurate record of store transactions; track and manage store inventories; generate real-time sales performance reports; track staff performance and manage payroll; manage membership and more–creating a unified omni-channel solution over multiple store locations. Asia’s Biggest Smart Commerce Platform, Strengthens Foothold in Southeast Asia Likes