Reebonz opens new facility to boost operations

Singapore

LUXURY e-commerce startup Reebonz has launched an e-commerce hub at Tampines, where it will pilot new technologies to enhance operations and increase productivity.

At 200,000 square feet, the eight-storey facility is four times larger than its previous office and distribution centre in Tai Seng. Meanwhile, the capacity bump means it can also hold over 500,000 types of products, up from 45,000 previously.

Reebonz chief executive Samuel Lim said: "(The hub) sets the stage for injecting innovative solutions that provide seamless cross-border fulfullment and makes us well-positioned to engage a hub-and-spoke distribution system with our network of international marketplaces. Better productivity ultimately benefits our customers with faster deliveries."

For instance, Reebonz is testing the use of radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology to tag the inventory in its warehouse, enabling it to locate any item swiftly via the cloud. It is also mulling over other initiatives, such as the use of robotics, to speed up certain work processes.

Aside from an office and showroom, the new facility will have an incubator for local designers.

Headquartered in Singapore, Reebonz is an online platform for buying and selling new and pre-owned luxury products to its over five million member base. Since its inception in 2009, it has gone on to extend its presence to Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand and Taiwan.

Aside from a business-to-consumer retail component, it also offers a consumer-to-consumer platform that allows people to buy and sell, as well as a marketplace with inventory from merchants around the world. In Singapore, it has a physical store at Suntec City and launches pop-up stores periodically.

Speaking at the launch of Reebonz's new facility on Tuesday afternoon, Minister for Trade and Industry S Iswaran, highlighted that online shopping is gaining traction in Asean, noting that 25 per cent of the combined 400 million population now shops online. In Singapore, local e-commerce user penetration is expected to grow to 3.9 million people by 2020.

Under the Retail Industry Transformation Map, Spring Singapore has set a target of growing e-commerce's share of total retail receipts to 10 per cent by 2020, up from 3 per cent.

"The rise of e-commerce and omni-channel retailing has opened up new career opportunities and pathways for the workforce," added Mr Iswaran.

The new jobs, functions and skills will be encapsulated in the Skills Framework for Retail, which will be released later this year.

At Reebonz, orders are growing at a double-digit clip, said co-founder Daniel Lim, declining to reveal revenue and profit figures. Going forward, the company is keen to grow in markets it is expanding into such as China and the Middle East.

And while the local e-commerce sector is likely to get more competitive with Amazon's entry expected some time this year, Mr Lim reckons that Reebonz's positioning as a niche player in the luxury segment will give it an edge.

The e-commerce firm, which has carried out several rounds of fundraising, counts Temasek-backed Vertex Venture and MediaCorp among its investors.