Overseas e-commerce platform looks to enter Australian market

Internet Retailing

8th Nov 2017

Singaporean-based e-commerce business ShopBack has received $32 million from global investors, including Australian venture capital firm, Blue Sky, in part to fund its expansion into the Australian market.

The online loyalty platform plans to launch Down Under in the first half of 2018, according to a statement from ShopBack.

“As we turn our attention to further business growth and our entry into the Australian market, the funding we have received will be used to drive three key areas of development,” said Josephine Chow, head of regional expansion at ShopBack.

“We will be recruiting talent to lead our business in the Australian and New Zealand markets and to continue building our teams in Asia, launching new product features, and establishing our market leadership in each of the regions we have a presence in.”

ShopBack is an online loyalty platform that allows consumers to receive cash back when they buy products through the platform.

It also provides discount coupons and voucher codes for online shopping. It is currently affiliated with over 1,300 merchants globally and provides marketing solutions for these partners across the online retail, travel and lifestyle segments.

While the platform will remain the same across all countries, Chow said the business will use specific marketing and product strategies to address the needs of Australian consumers.

“South East Asia is the world’s fastest growing online market. The business model developed by ShopBack builds on the significant growth in online shopping in South East Asia, and it represents an effective marketing platform for merchant partners to connect with its customers,” said Ben Dunphy, investment director at Blue Sky, which marks it second South East Asian investment with ShopBack.

ShopBack processes close to 1,000 orders per hour, with an annualised sales figure of over $390 million and since its inception in 2014, over three and a half million consumers across six countries in South East Asia have signed up to the platform.

“We continue to be excited by investment opportunities domestically but also recognise South-East Asia represents a real opportunity for Blue Sky’s Venture Capital team.  We want to invest in world-class founding teams who are solving hard problems that are value accretive. Our investment last year in Thailand-based aCommerce and our investment in ShopBack is testament to this,” Dunphy said.

Other investors include SoftBank Ventures Korea, Singtel Innov8, Qualgro and East Ventures. Credit Saison, one of Japan’s largest financial services companies, led the financing round.