E-commerce operator Shopee Taiwan Co Ltd (樂購蝦皮) yesterday said it would continue to expand its operations to support anticipated growth at its newly launched business-to-consumer service.
The company expects to expand its warehouse capacity by 10,000 ping (33,058m2) in July or August following the completion of a new facility in Taoyuan and increase staff from more than 600 to about 1,500 workers by the end of next year, Shopee Asia-Pacific regional managing director Terence Pang (馮時欽) told a news conference.
Taiwan remains an important market for the company, Pang said, while denying rumors that Shopee has been hard hit by the runaway costs of its expansion into Indonesia.
However, Pang said that the company could begin to ween its users off generous shipping subsidies.
“We do not engage in or respond to irrational measures by our competitors,” Pang said, adding that there are other ways of incentivizing loyal customers, such as Shopee Coins, which can be used to apply discounts to purchases.
The company is looking to attract long-term users with a streamlined shopping experience, as opposed to attracting short-term gains through subsidies, Pang said, adding that Shopee’s mobile apps have received higher ratings in app stores compared with competitors’ offerings.
Pang expects Shopee 24h, a business-to-consumer service it launched in March, to see continued double-digit percentage monthly growth, supported by the company’s ability to attract a high volume of visitors who spend more time browsing on its app.
By leveraging its greater traffic, Shopee has superior data insights that allow vendors to place just enough inventory at its warehouses to satisfy anticipated demand, he said.
Meanwhile, rival PChomestore Inc (商店街) cast doubt on Shopee’s claim of being Taiwan’s biggest e-commerce platform thanks to average monthly convenience store pickups reaching 20 million.
PChomestore said that its monthly convenience store pickups have been averaging about 10 million units, which including Shopee’s claims of 20 million would likely exceed the total logistics capacity of local convenience store chains.
Local convenience stores have a total monthly package delivery capacity of about 30 million and it is not likely that the amount would be exhausted by two e-commerce companies, PChomestore said.
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