TV and online retailer Momo.com Inc (富邦媒) yesterday said it is scouting for land in Tainan or
Chiayi to build the company’s second automated logistics center, as part of Momo’s strategy to keep raising its competitiveness in the home market.
“We believe having more control over our logistics will enable us to increase operational efficiency and deliver a better customer experience,” Momo president Lin Chi-feng (林啟峰) told reporters after the company opened its first automated logistics center in Taoyuan yesterday.
Photo: CNA
The Taoyuan logistics center covers 25,000 ping (82,645m2) and can store more than 3.5 million items, the company said, adding that it had invested NT$4.1 billion (US$135.42 million) and spent 15 months building the center.
The investment includes the installation of automated logistics solutions, which allow the company to process as many as 14,4000 orders per day at the center, Momo said.
The company started trial operations at the center at the beginning of last quarter, Lin said, adding that the center is already operating at 70 percent of storage capacity and Momo expects to hit the limit by the end of the year.
Building the planned second logistics center in Tainan or Chiayi would not only help accommodate Momo’s expanding operations, but also help the company cut delivery times to customers in the south.
“We will make a decision very soon and if there is an [existing] plant ready for lease, we can turn it into an automated logistics center in six months,” Lin said.
Lin said he is optimistic that the company’s revenue for this quarter will outpace last quarter’s NT$8 billion, on the back of growing domestic demand, after the Cabinet announced tax reform plans at the beginning of this month.
“Momo’s sales this month rose significantly right after the government’s announcement. I think the policy is having a positive effect on the economy,” Lin said.
Lin said Momo is making final adjustments to marketing strategies for next month’s Singles’ Day shopping festival, when the company plans to leverage its strengths in TV and online sales.
The company predicts revenue this quarter will climb to its peak for the year, Lin said, declining to provide a sales forecast.
Momo has not yet released audited earnings for last quarter. The company’s combined net income rose 3.54 percent annually to NT$663.05 million in the first half of the year, with earnings per share of NT$4.73.
Sales in the first nine months of the year were NT$23.29 billion, increasing 13.87 percent from a year ago, a company filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange showed.
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