FORAY INTO CHINA E-COMMERCE

ACCSoft to launch platform hosting sportswear products in Fujian province by August

ACCSOFT Technology Bhd (ATB), formerly known as Oriented Media Group Bhd, will launch its e-commerce platform in China by August.

Managing director Zhu GuoHe said its e-commerce platform would be fully operational by then, and would host a wide array of sportwear/footwear products from small and medium-sized manufacturers, as well as wholesalers and retailers in the business-to-business (B2B) model.

“Once the e-commerce portal is up and running in China, we will replicate the same model in Malaysia, with some minor tweaks to better suit local consumers.

“We anticipate the Malaysian ecommerce site to be up and running within the fourth quarter of the year,” he told NST Business after the company’s annual general meeting here yesterday.

ATB began its e-commerce foray by focusing on a platform for sportswear in China’s Fujian province due to its proximity to approximately 5,000 sportswear and footwear manufacturers.

According to its annual report, ATB, via its wholly-owned subsidiary Fujian Accsoft Technology Development Co Ltd (FATD), may also expand its reach to other regions in China.

The company has also signed a cooperation framework agreements with business partners in China to explore the e-commerce market.

Touching on funding, Zhu said the e-commerce exercise was budgeted in the rights issue exercise undertaken in December 2015.

“We raised RM14 million from the capital market for the e-commerce setup for both Malaysia and China.

“We have allocated between RM4 million and RM5 million for the China setup, with the balance for Malaysia,” he said.

Zhe said the Internet-based ecommerce platform operator was also in talks with small-scale local fast moving consumer goods (FMGC) manufacturers in Malaysia to expand their market into China via its e-commerce platform.

He said products such as Tongkat Ali coffee and White Coffee were very popular in China, adding that small-scale players should capitalise on the its ecommerce platform to gain entry into the Chinese market.

Apart from FMCG products, AHB’s e-commerce platform will also extend to other product categories.