TV and online retailer Momo.com Inc (富邦媒體) is preparing to upgrade its delivery service as the company continues to shorten its supply chain.
By June this year, customers in the greater Taipei area could receive their orders within three hours, Momo chairman and president Lin Chi-feng (林啟峰) told a media gathering in Taipei yesterday.
The new service is made possible by the continuous expansion of the company’s logistics capability, Lin said, adding that the number of satellite warehouses would rise from four to 10 by the end of this year.
“Early testing has shown good results, with some packages arriving within 30 minutes, to the surprise of our customers, if the address is near one of our satellite warehouses,” Lin said.
With its new speedy delivery service, the company has the ability to infiltrate a market currently controlled by convenience stores.
“Momo is testing product mixes to fill urgent needs, such as delivering tampons and condoms,” Lin said.
The company is also exploring fresh produce as an option, he added.
However, Lin gave a reserved outlook for the e-commerce sector this year due to weakening economic growth and slack domestic consumption.
Still, he expects less-heated competition in the consumer-to-consumer e-commerce market as rival platforms are likely to refrain from using costly subsidies to attract users.
“Everybody is running out of money and seeing thinner margins as they drive for topline growth,” Lin said.
Momo.com, which focuses on business-to-consumer online and TV shopping, fuels most of its growth by attracting brick-and-mortar shoppers, Lin said.
Meanwhile, the boundaries between TV and online shopping are rapidly blurring as live streaming becomes more common, he said.
While TV shopping growth has been slowing, the company said it is working on adapting the infomercial format to live streaming on its mobile app.
The automated logistic centers and ongoing construction of satellite warehouses would boost operational efficiency, while the addition of popular international brands to the online store portal and deepening cooperation with such brands would help the company sustain online sales growth, SinoPac Securities Investment Service Corp (永豐投顧) said in a note last month.
Momo.com reported that revenue last year rose 26.4 percent annually to NT$42.02 billion (US$1.36 billion), a new record since the company’s founding in 2004.
The revenue contributions from online shopping rose 33.2 percent annually from a year earlier, while TV rose 2 percent, company data showed.
This year, the company is shooting for revenue growth of more than 20 percent year-on-year, Lin said.
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