SINGAPORE-BASED logistics tech solution provider Anchanto Pte. Ltd. said its clients in the Philippines have surged by 150% since 2018 as more companies turned to digital solutions to increase their profits.

“The number of businesses we served in 2018 has increased by 150% in 2019,” Anchanto Co-founder, Chief Operating Officer and Country Head for the Philippines Abhimanyu Kashikar said in an emailed reply to questions on Sunday.

Anchanto helps its clients, including brands, retailers, e-distributors, and service providers, simplify and manage their selling operations across multiple channels by providing them with a multi-channel management platform called “SelluSeller.”

The tech firm, which established its office in the Philippines in October 2017, has grown from “handful customers to a massive base” comprising of global enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), Mr. Abhimanyu said.

The company has also developed “Wareo,” a platform that enables businesses, especially logistics and warehousing players, to manage both business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) processes.

“Businesses are increasingly adopting technology and contributing in making their customers’ lives easier. Such factors present enough motivation and guarantee that software products like ours have a bright future to make a big impact on how sellers do multi-channel and/or omni-channel business,” he explained.

However, the laxity and complacency of Filipino customers to embrace digital transformation remains a major challenge. “A lot of our potential customers still tend to go traditional ways to expand operations while some of them use traditional systems… But we have been persistently combating this scenario by spreading awareness,” Mr. Abhimanyu said.

Apart from the Philippines and Singapore, Anchanto also operates offices in India, Malaysia and Indonesia, and over 7,000 businesses subscribed to its platforms to manage their 11.11 (Singles’ Day) sale day operations this year.

“While last year’s 11.11 day clocked around $30.8 million GMV (gross merchandise volume), this year is expected to be even bigger,” Mr. Abhimanyu said. “We are supporting these 7,000+ businesses through the Live 24/7 War Room setup across five countries.”

“Due to the highly stable and scalable nature of our platforms, our customers are able to seamlessly manage any number of volume without any hassle. To present an idea, one of our biggest customers in Philippines who processed more than 100,000 transactions on our platform during this sale last year, is projecting to process double the volume this 11.11,” he said further.

The company is also hoping to start its expansion into other markets in the coming year. “We are currently in the process of evaluating our next target markets, and Middle East and North Africa are surely on the list,” Mr. Abhimanyu noted.

“As for our long term goal, we are looking to establish a clear #1 position and become the most customer-centric Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) technology company in our domain across Asia-Pacific region. We intend to touch every third eCommerce order and make eCommerce multichannel selling and logistics seamless for businesses of all sizes. And with our global team moving steadfastly towards achieving out audacious goals, we are surely on our way!” he added. — Arjay L. Balinbin

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