Southeast Asia's burgeoning online shopping industry is giving a leg up to regional e-commerce logistics companies as it opens an entirely new market for players in the field.
A UBS Bank report published in The Wall Street Journal pegs the value of the online shopping market in this region at US$21.8 billion last year, with e-commerce accounting for 0.2%.
Thailand's e-commerce market was valued at $4.7 billion, representing 0.5% of the country's $94.4 billion in retail sales.
Internet penetration in Thailand was quoted at 46% in the report.
Tom Srivorakul, chief executive of aCommerce Thailand, a regional end-to-end e-commerce logistics and service provider for Southeast Asia, said his company saw rapid rising demand for logistics and fulfilment services in the region, especially in Thailand.
aCommerce provides services including website development, online marketing, customer service, packaging, warehousing and delivery.
Mr Tom said brand owners and exporters were increasingly expanding their distribution to online channels to capture the blossoming market opportunities in Southeast Asia.
The number of people shopping via mobile is also on the rise thanks to the greater availability of affordable smartphones and high-speed wireless broadband.
Based on the report, Mr Tom said average spending on internet shopping per order had tripled in the past three years to 1,500 baht.
Some 60% of online shoppers are female. Best-selling products are health and beauty items, fashion labels and IT gadgets.
Since its inception last year, Mr Tom said aCommerce had penetrated Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines with the establishment of its own distribution warehouses to serve the upcoming Asean Economic Community.
aCommerce closed its Series A venture funding round of $10.7 million last month, making it the largest Series A for a Thai-originated venture and one of the largest in Southeast Asia.
Organised by its founding investor, Ardent Capital, the round was led by Bangkok-based Inspire Ventures with participation from NTT DoCoMo Ventures, Sumitomo Corporation Equity Asia Ltd, Sinar Mas Indonesia, Asia Pacific Digital, Cyberagent Ventures, JL Capital, venture capitalists and key executive staff.
Thailand Post president Anusra Chittmittrapap said the rapid growth of the country's e-commerce market was expected to drive its express mail service (EMS) to grow by 15% this year, up from single-digit growth.
Last year, Thailand Post achieved 4 billion baht in EMS service revenue out of 18 billion in overall revenue.
The state enterprise expects overall revenue of 20 billion baht this year.
It recently set up a new subsidiary, Thailand Post Distribution Co, with 350 million baht in registered capital.
The subsidiary was specifically set up to capitalise on the burgeoning e-commerce market.