Retail Asia 2018 May 2018 | Page 31

E-COMMERCE E-commerce platform Kinofy launches in Asia to ease entry into China market RETAIL solutions provider Kinofy Group last month launched Kinofy, a plug-and-play, cloud-based, cross-border e-commerce platform, designed to allow international brand owners and small and medium-sized businesses to sell goods and services in China. By leveraging the platform, brands can accelerate their entry into the fast- growing Chinese market — reducing entry time to three months with official product registration approval. Built on the WeChat platform, Kinofy allows companies to access over one billion Chinese shoppers, according to the company Kawee Chong, CEO of Kino Biotech Group and co-founder, Kinofy Group thanked the Ministry of Trade and Industry and Enterprise Singapore for the support provided to build this platform. “The opportunity for Singaporean brands in China is immense — and Kinofy being smart, simple and seamless makes market entry frictionless. We are proud to welcome brands such as Naturext, Health Domain, YOHMO TONIC, GreenLife, Lipaddict, SkinSoul, SWANZ, Kinohimitsu, Fitwhey and Esthemedica to the Kinofy family and look forward to inviting more of our fellow Singaporean brands to join us on this exciting journey,” he added. The platform offers merchants a single view of their business and customers across sales channels and enables them to manage products and inventory, process order and payments, build customer relationships and leverage WeChat’s analytics and reporting. Additionally, the platform integrates multiple channels: e-commerce, social selling tools and operational management of product registration, importation, warehousing and logistics, last-mile delivery and overseas payment settlement into a single platform, allowing brands to enter the Chinese market faster and more efficiently. To ensure on-ground support, Kinofy offers warehousing and logistics solutions at the Ningbo Free Trade Zone (NFTZ) giving businesses the right infrastructure to reach China’s 613 cities. As Kinofy is a pre-approved solution supported by the SkillsFuture Singapore grant, the partnership enables local companies to construct digital business Kino Biotech Group and Kinofy Group’s Kawee Chong thanked the Ministry of Trade and Industry and Enterprise Singapore for the support provided to build this platform. channels and grow sales as well as revenue through cross-border trade. Local small and medium-sized enterprises will enjoy a 70% subsidy for their first-year subscription to the Kinofy platform through SkillsFuture Singapore — a national movement to encourage Singaporeans to embrace lifelong learning. Trainings are provided at 90% subsidy from SkillsFuture Singapore. The Kinofy Group works extensively with the government agency championing enterprise development, Enterprise Singapore to conduct outreach efforts in markets such as the US, Germany, Korea, and Thailand Guest of honour Singapore’s Minister of Trade and Industry S Iswaran officially launched the platform last month to an audience of 300 guests including some of Singapore’s top brand owners. ra Shopee initiates specific marketplace for China products SHOPEE, an e-commerce platform in South-east Asia and Taiwan, has officially launched China Marketplace recently. Users can access the new China Marketplace via a dedicated entry point on Shopee’s home page.