Home retailer Iuiga plans to expand into food, enter Malaysia

Singapore

SINGAPORE homeware brand Iuiga is expanding its range and reach, introducing food products and consumables in the second half of this year and planning to head to Malaysia next year, chief growth officer Jaslyn Chan told The Business Times. Its Series A funding round is set to close this May. (see amendment note)

Having started as an online retailer in August 2017, Iuiga aims to have 10 brick-and-mortar outlets in Singapore by year-end. Last year, it opened a pop-up in SingPost Centre in Paya Lebar, followed by stores in Causeway Point and Tampines 1.

Four-fifths of Iuiga's sales now come from these outlets, and offline retail is expected to continue accounting for most sales. Yet the firm's "core business" is still e-commerce, said Ms Chan. In Iuiga's profit-and-loss statement, the cost of running stores is parked under "marketing" rather than "operations", as the storefronts' main aim is to drive online sign-ups.

To make a purchase at an Iuiga outlet, a shopper must create an account. There are about 500 sign-ups a day, and a fifth of those who buy something in Iuiga's stores go on to make an online purchase.

But in Malaysia, Iuiga may take a different strategy from the Singapore approach of opening online and then going offline, she said. Iuiga is also looking for partners in Japan, South Korea, and Indonesia, though no plans have been firmed up yet.

Iuiga projects revenue of S$10 million this year, but declined to reveal FY2018 revenue and profit figures. More than 1,000 manufacturers have agreed to work with the firm, said Ms Chan, though only 200 are currently producing for it. There will be new products within existing Iuiga categories such as mother and baby, but also new product categories, including consumables such as toilet paper.

Though the firm has received flak for producing items similar to those of established brands, Ms Chan said: "It's just a different strategy . . . In the business world, there's no right or wrong, it's mostly grey."

The design rights belong not to the brands but manufacturers, she said: "(The manufacturers) tell you, 'These are what other brands have chosen, so if you want it, we can also offer it to you at a lower cost.'"

Online, many of Iuiga's items are labelled as being from the "same manufacturer" as certain established brands - though in a few cases, the manufacturer actually produces a different product for the known brand.

On Iuiga's use of other brands' names, Ms Chan said: "I'm not using it for marketing, I'm using it as a benchmark for quality online." The idea is to reassure buyers that Iuiga sources from the best manufacturers.

The brands are not named in offline stores, she said: "Offline, you can already touch and feel the products."

Amendment note: An earlier version of the story incorrectly said that Iuiga's Series C funding round is set to close in May. Iuiga has clarified that its Series A funding round is closing in May.