SingPost goes big with its e-commerce ambitions

More than just your typical mail carrier, SingPost is evolving to become one of Southeast Asia’s leading e-commerce powerhouse. Singpost has expanded its suite of services to align with its e-commerce business strategy.Signalling its commitment to e-commerce success, SingPost and Chinese tech giants Alibaba Group entered into an investment agreement in last year.Working with brands such as adidas, Xiaomi, Toshiba and Philips, it now provides online marketing for brands through SingPost eCommerce’ Marketing Centre of Excellence which comprises a team of professional performance marketing executives.Pranay Mehra, vice president, eCommerce, SingPost said: "We manage our acquisition and retention marketing campaigns in-house and leverage our relationships with companies like Google and Salesforce to further enhance and optimise campaigns that we run for the brands.”Marketing channels that the company utilises include PPC, SEO, display, affiliates, email and retargeting. Besides these online channels, SingPost also has a team that drives successful partnership marketing between the brands and banks as well as telecommunications company. Mehra added: “We have seen one partnership contributed 40% to its online store’s revenue during the campaign period.”SingPost powers end-to-end e-commerce for some of the largest international brands to cater to e-shoppers who are more likely to patronise a brand for its return and shipping policies. According to Mehra, most brands see a positive impact of providing free shipping and easy returns.He said, “We encourage brands to offer free shipping above certain thresholds. Offering free shipping for very low average order values may break business case.” To resolve this, SingPost helps brand ascertain the optimal order value to offer free shipping to its customers.SingPost's islandwide reach is another feature that brands can rely on. Its extensive distribution network which includes POPStation and post offices is aimed at making returns more convenient than ever. The accessibility of these post offices makes delivering and accepting returns easy for end customers. An added service from SingPost includes a quality check to ensure that the items are in returnable condition before sending the items back to the brand.