POUNDIT.COM is expanding its reach in the online electronics retailing space using P32.19 million worth of funding from Singapore-based venture firm Cocoon Capital, with customer experience at the center of the six-man team’s operations.
Founded in 2014 by former Blackberry manager Kristian Salvo along with Rodolfo Amorsolo “RA” Rivera and Mark Reyes, the company said the funding could accelerate the business much faster than planned.
“We have 50 plus partners right now, we’ve done that with just really bare bones. So now I think we can accelerate that much much faster, and also find that the brands are looking for a viable option for them to go online and digital with,” Mr. Salvo, Poundit’s chief executive officer, said in a roundtable interview in September.
When the company was starting out, Mr. Salvo recalled how they got an exclusive partnership with Sony. At this time, the company was delivering two to three orders a day.
Now attracting around 100,000 visitors to its Web site every month, Poundit has previously had to turn down customers because it could no longer accommodate the number of orders. This prompted the company to start raising funds to support the business.
“We decided to open up our start-up for fund-raising when we were turning down customers, because we didn’t have the money to float it anymore… that was one of our problems, that we had more orders than we can fulfill,” Mr. Salvo said.
He cited an instance when a customer wanted to order 300 laptops, but had to decline because the company had no means to buy the products.
The Poundit.com executive said they can now “kill those numbers,” referring to the 100,000-monthly visitors, with the right team, marketing funds, and partnerships.
One of the strategies the company employs is the “underpromise, overdeliver” mantra, which they hope would attract people to keep coming back to the Web site.
“Our goal is to be the most customer-centric e-commerce electronic site in the country. And I think we’re the only one that sells all legitimate, electronics online. When you come to us, we’ll take care of you, and we plan to make you a customer for life,” Mr. Salvo said.
Poundit currently has only three people manning the customer service team, but hopes to add 15 more to the company’s overall operations this year.
The company is also ramping up marketing efforts to further widen the its reach.
“A massive difference for us is we’re very data-driven, and we’re using that data to provide contextual apt marketing that’s very timely… We’re also using a ticketing machine to get into the SAAS platform so we can serve them better,” Mr. Salvo said.
“We also want to do partnerships with bloggers, do a bit of affiliate marketing. Because the products that we carry are we think very sexy, so I think there can be a very symbiotic relationship,” he added.
In terms of payment, Poundit offers cash-on-delivery nationwide, credit card payments, and through bank deposits.
Asked if they are looking to expand to the Southeast Asian market, Mr. Salvo said they target to be the number one electronics marketplace in the country first before testing waters abroad.
“Our goal is to be just this one destination for technology,” Mr. Salvo said. – Arra B. Francia
