Bangkok-based e-commerce group WhatsNew announces its expansion in Indonesia by unveiling female-focus e-commerce platform Moxy. Backed by Ardent Capital, Moxy’s operation in Indonesia will be headed by Andrew Senduk. Meanwhile, the group also appoints Jérémy Fichet as Group’s new CEO. Fichet previously was the CEO of Cdiscount Thailand.
With optimism that Indonesia will be single biggest e-commerce economy in the region, Moxy will spearhead Ardent’s e-commerce movement in 2015. Ardent Capital’s CEO Adrian Vanzyl said, “We realized that the single largest market in Southeast Asia would be Indonesia by the end of 2015. That shift has already taken place with our portfolio companies and we have assembled an incredibly strong team in Indonesia to scale regionally.”
The rebrand from WhatsNew to Moxy will be reflected in Thailand soon. Moxy’s Regional Brand Manager Justine Hulst said, “The root definition of ‘moxie’ is to have courage or determination. This is exactly what the modern woman needs when juggling being a friend, a lover, a worker, a mother. We’re putting all the necessities in one convenient place so that women will have the time and energy to ‘have it all’.”
In Indonesia, Moxy will not only offer fashion, beauty, and baby products, but also housewares, gadgets, and Muslim fashion catalogs.
Group CMO Shannon Kalayanamitr said, “We want to build the first ‘everything store’ for the female consumer. As more women join the workforce in Southeast Asia and increase their purchasing power, MOXY will be there to serve their daily lives. Each consumer can grow with us, from the teenager putting on lipstick for the first time, to the young adult furnishing their first apartment and raising a child.”
For his appointment, Senduk commented, “One of the biggest challenges that any e-commerce player has to face in Indonesia is securing local logistics expertise. But our strategic partnership with aCommerce gives us a local advantage. We are able to lower our costs through increased efficiencies and focus on our core competencies, which are product selection and the customer experience.”
Prior joining Moxy, Senduk has six years experience in the e-commerce industry in Europe.
The whole Moxy’s fulfillment will rely on aCommerce expertise, including free shipping nationwide and cash on delivery in over 450 cities. For now, based on our observation, Moxy doesn’t accept partnership with 3rd party, like other regular online marketplace. With fulfillment fully managed by aCommerce and Moxy, it should be easier to setup expectation on delivery, return, and refund.
According to Fichet, Moxy for now focuses more on its own products. He said, “At this stage, we are more focused on buying and selling our own products. In the future, we hope to open a curated marketplace by carefully selecting vendors who have the right product-market fit for our demographic. Yes, it’s definitely part of our future plan to partner with third parties.”
At the time of the launch, Moxy is having 5000 SKUs and plans to grow it extensively, Fichet confirmed. When asked about the availability of mobile apps, Fichet answered, “Mobile is definitely something the MOXY team is focused on as it’s huge in this market but there aren’t any specifics released at this time.”
Beside COD and bank transfer, Moxy has collaborated with Veritrans to provide online payment with credit card as preferred payment method.
Appointment of new Group CEO
The group hires Jérémy Fichet to support company’s mission to build the number one online destination for women, starting in Indonesia first. Fichet has vast experience leading several e-commerce companies in Southeast Asia, including Cdiscount Thailand, LivingSocial Malaysia and Philippines, and Korea-based Ticket Monster. He served his first Asia journey in Indonesia with Rebate Networks.
About this opportunity, Fichet stated, “I’m thrilled to be part of building out our vision to target the strong growing female demographic. Women lead online shopping in our region and I believe the company has taken the right steps to capture this opportunity. With my experience scaling e-commerce businesses across multiple countries in Asia, I’m excited to work with the team and influence the company’s future projects right from the beginning.”
Previous Group CEO Bounthay Khammanyvong is still in the company by becoming Group COO and helping company’s presence in Indonesia.
“Finding people who have built e-commerce companies at scale are rare. There is only a handful in Southeast Asia running at the size of Cdiscount. To have Jérémy come over and lead WhatsNew’s growth is a massive advantage for us,” says Vanzyl, majority investor in WhatsNew.
