Founded in Brazil, VTEX is part of the ecommerce transformation taking place in Latin America and around the globe, now expanding across the Asia-Pacific region (APAC)
VTEX is a software-as-a-service digital commerce platform that allows you to sell online, integrate and manage orders across channels, and to create marketplaces so you can sell third-party products or services.
It was nominated by Gartner as a Visionary and has been recognized by the International Data Corporation (IDC) as a Leader and is the fastest-growing digital commerce software platform in the world, according to IDC Market Share data.
It was nominated by Gartner as a Visionary and has been recognized by the International Data Corporation (IDC) as a Leader and is the fastest-growing digital commerce software platform in the world, according to IDC Market Share data.
Ecommerce in APAC
Ecommerce in the Asia-Pacific region is expected to almost double by 2025, reaching US$2trillion. Experts predict that it will account for half of the growth in global consumption in the next decade, so many businesses are turning their attention towards this rapidly expanding market.
The speed of ecommerce growth in APAC is leading to new approaches as many Asian customers are mobile natives. By 2025 it’s estimated that there will be almost 3,340million smartphone users in Asia.
Baby boomers born in the 15 to 20 years following WW2 are expected to drive 30% of consumption growth in Asia for the next decade. They like to have conversations with sellers and typically ask for information directly rather than searching online.
As a result, conversational commerce and on-demand commerce are likely to feature strongly in online growth in the APAC region.
Customer expectations in APAC
Asian consumer behavior has evolved and expectations are high, specifically for:
- more information about products such as detailed size charts and high-resolution lifestyle images
- product reviews
- low prices and high quality
- fast delivery with free shipping.
There’s also an expectation for around-the-clock frictionless customer service. Nine out of 10 Companies in APAC believe that consumers are more impatient than ever before. Half say that digital customer experience is their top priority.
VTEX tools you need for APAC
VTEX’s approach to composable commerce allows you to select, assemble and use solutions to meet your specific commercial needs. You can build your ecommerce platform using VTEX Commerce in the cloud using the VTEX IO development platform to connect data sources and create applications quickly and flexibly.
Intelligent search – the power of VTEX AI-driven intelligent search can improve the whole online shopping journey, from product and information searches to placing orders, payment and delivery tracking.
Live shopping – with the Live Shopping app you can join the live streaming revolution across the region. You can run live events on your ecommerce site to promote product collections and improve customer experiences which can include live chat during the event. It can all be managed via VTEX Admin, including scheduling and creating collections of products for your live sales events.
Business messaging – to meet the region’s demand for conversational ecommerce you can also take advantage of business solutions from messaging super-apps such as Facebook for Business, WhatsApp for Business, and WeChat for Business. To use them effectively, it’s important to integrate them with your ecommerce platform. While your customers can find you using many different channels, they will often switch channels mid-way through their journey with you, so you will want their experience to be consistent. You can take advantage of VTEX’s API-first approach to achieve a seamless experience.
Payments – payments need to be frictionless so you can take advantage of VTEX’s partnership with Stripe, which has plans to expand across the region and includes links with leading local players like GrabPay. You can provide technologically-advanced payment processes, even for unbanked customers in your growing market. You can also offer buy now pay later options like Hoolah as an alternative to credit.
Chatbots – you can also add customer service chatbots to provide personalized service whenever your customers want to ask a question.
VTEX for ecommerce expansion in Asia-Pacific
VTEX is a powerful ecommerce platform with integrated commerce, marketplace and order management. It’s a software as a service (SaaS) solution with in-built templates and headless customization options that you can combine to accelerate your time to market in the fast-growing APAC region.
It provides flexibility and powerful ecommerce features for business to business (B2B), retail (B2C), and local stores. There are also many more VTEX tools available in the App Store.
As a VTEX strategic partner, Williams Commerce is joining them on their rapid growth trajectory in Asia.
Speak with one of our experts to discover more about VTEX composable commerce for businesses in the APAC region.
