Y&R Launches E-commerce Consultancy for Southeast Asia

Y&R today announced the launch of its new e-commerce strategy consultancy in partnership with Jon Sugihara, serial entrepreneur and founder of a number of companies in the US and Asia. 

Most recently Sugihara co-founded mobile loyalty and re-marketing platform Perx. Prior to that, he started PlayHawaii (acquired by CrowdSavings), SavvyCircle (acquired by Eyeona) and Kwiry (acquired in 2007). Jon was also Chief Product Office at online-grocery store RedMart and KODAKIT, a Kodak subsidiary. He is currently managing partner at Elev8tion Group an innovation and product strategy consultancy. Jon earned a B.S. in Computer Science from Johns Hopkins University.

With Southeast Asia’s fmcg and consumer goods market estimated at $185 billion, e-commerce is projected to grow from $1.1bn in 2015 to some $8.8bn by 2020. And individual markets’ e-commerce growth potential, from 2015, ranges from increasing at least 5-fold in Singapore to being 27 times greater in Indonesia by 2025. Averaged across 6 SEA countries, the region’s e-commerce worth is forecast to multiply by 15 – from $5.5bn to $87.9bn.

Y&R’s consultancy services will be offered to clients depending on their current stage of e-commerce development. These range from early-phase sales channel, assets and product pricing strategy; through growth marketing, marketing channel strategy and promotion strategy by sales channel; to product evaluation, rating monitoring and content strategy.

Sugihara explains: “Most brands are now seeing that e-commerce is no longer a question of ‘if’ but ‘when’, and find themselves facing different problems at various stages. Many players in Southeast Asia that are still in the early phases of their e-commerce lifecycle will face problems with search and categorisation, personalisation and growth marketing. Distribution and last-mile delivery can prove difficult, and payment options are still developmental in many markets. Y&R’s consultancy model is designed to help with strategy at any point within a company’s e-commerce evolution, at whatever stage, whether brands are already online, have online compatible products or are local brands with a strong offline presence.”

Matthew Godfrey, President Y&R Asia, adds: “Having started out as an old-school advertising guy, closing that loop between marketing and the path to purchase has always been something of a pipe-dream – being able to prove to clients how our work connects directly to sales. And our Y&R e-commerce consultancy helps close the loop for clients too, helping them embark and succeed on their now inevitable e-commerce journey.”