V-MORE Merchants Pte Ltd is an international online e-commerce supply chain management platform. The company is headquartered in Singapore with a rapidly emerging presence in major South East Asian Markets. Having onboarded more than 500 merchants successfully, V-MORE envisions being a global leader in e-commerce and aims to brand itself as trending with the evolving urban lifestyle, offering value for high quality products.
In May 2019, V-MORE Merchants Pte Ltd approached the SME Centre with the aim of diversifying into Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Apart from other markets where the brand has already developed a significant presence, penetrating Ho Chi Minh City would prove to require a wider strategy, mobility options and localisation.
Preliminary research showed that the Vietnamese market promised an increasingly young population, with a strong purchasing power. A growing economy offering investor friendly policies and technology adoption for business also were motivating factors for a promising market entry.
Sneha, our Business Advisor from SME Centre @SMCCI and Flame Communications Pte Ltd, a Public Relations and Digital Marketing Agency appointed by V-MORE Merchants met to scope out the potential journey for V-MORE Merchants into Vietnam.
Working closely, the trio identified that there was a need for market awareness among both merchants and consumers. These included customising payment options and enhancing an existing rewards mechanism to consumers. Based on V-MORE’s product offering, merchant Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) and target market analysis, a comprehensive market penetration strategy was subsequently developed.
Foreign market penetration
V-MORE Merchants tapped on the Market Readiness Assistance Grant (MRA) to defray the costs of executing market entry strategies into Vietnam. V-MORE Merchants made their entry into Ho Chi Minh City in July 2019 by executing a PR Campaign. The MRA Grant assists qualifying companies in offsetting up to 70% of the costs of Overseas Market Promotion including but not limited to, Overseas Marketing and PR activities.
V-MORE also leveraged upon a unique in market collaboration with a Vietnamese vending machine service provider, enabling them to launch V-MORE Xpress in conjunction with their market entry. V-MORE Xpress offers both a cash and e-Wallet option to simplify the customer experience in making transactions; enabling users to seamlessly select, purchase and pay for an array of products.
“Sneha’s knowledge in e-commerce complimented our proposal. Providing details and deep insights on the MRA Grant throughout the course of the application process and beyond, contributed to the success of V-MORE’s market entry in Vietnam”, shared Mr Alfred Tan, Vice President of Business Development, V-MORE Merchants Pte Ltd
Sneha said, “V-MORE Merchants has a well charted business plan with focused short and long-term goals. Their approach to market research and in market collaborations have been key strengths in contributing to their successful international brand presence.”