Carousell Philippines, an online buy-and-sell platform which closed 2021 with a USD 100M investment from STIC Investments, a leading Korean private equity that invests across Asia, is bullish about 2022 with the expansion of the e-commerce and online classified ads landscape,
The company, whose stock received an added boost with the acquisition of Ox Street, one of the leading end-to-end marketplaces for authenticated sneakers and streetwear in Southeast Asia, is poised to create innovations to strengthen its business in the country in 2022.
“The pandemic provided customers with access to a significant variety of products from the convenience and safety of their homes,” said Carousell Philippines’ general manager Djon Nacario, who recently laid out the plans of his company in an online media event.
“We see this shift as an opportunity and inspiration not only to make Carousell even better but most importantly, to serve Filipino customers better,” he explained.
Carousell served as a helpline for a number of Filipinos when users set up community pantries funded by items sold on the Carousell app to aid those left most vulnerable by the pandemic, Nacario said.
During Typhoon Odette, sellers initiated a donation drive by selling secondhand items and donating the proceeds to families and communities that were heavily affected by the typhoon. Listing views and monthly active users also increased in 2021 as more users turn to Carousell to buy medical supplies and secondhand clothing, while some users started selling on the platform to supplement their income.
Property 24 merger with Carousell
Up ahead is the merger of Property24 with Carousell, set to happen on March 8. According to Nacario, this will provide an effective online platform for leading real estate developers, agencies, and brokers to help them showcase their property listings to a wider audience of qualified prospective buyers, including the 4.62 million monthly visitors on Carousell.
Carousell is also working on initiatives to improve the user’s experience on its platform to ensure that customers are able to find every kind of home for every kind of family.
“This is something that we’ve been planning forever since OLX merged with Carousell Philippines, Nacario said.“
Excellence in the property industry
Carousell will also bring together the country’s real estate developers and their developments in the Carousell Property Awards to be launched in March. Among the nominees are some of the most celebrated real estate brands in the Philippines including Suntrust, Camella, Crown Asia, and Lumina, among others.
Recognition for entrepreneurs
Many Carousell users are micro-, small- and medium-size entrepreneurs. The company is set to launch the Caroupreneur Awards that will recognize the outstanding achievements of Filipino entrepreneurs over the past year. This will range from entrepreneurs who started or scaled their businesses online, to brick-and-mortar SMEs who digitalized their businesses, and everyday Filipinos who gave away good quality preloved items for free.
Caroupreneur Awards will also have sustainability-themed categories such as Heroes of Green, and other categories including Best in Carousell – Autos (Used Cars), Autos Workshop and Services, Property, Home Services, and others. Winners will be announced later in the year.
Recommerce market
The event also highlighted the insights from the Recommerce Index 2021 Report, which is Carousell’s green initiative to highlight the importance of sustainability in the gSoutheast Asia region.
According to the report, the Philippines is the most receptive Southeast Asian market for recommerce, or the practice of buying and selling brand new and previously owned items.
The report also shows how consumer behaviors have changed especially during the pandemic.
Carousell Recommerce Index is covers findings from four Carousell Group brands namely Carousell, Chợ Tốt, Mudah.my, and OneKyat, across eight markets—Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Vietnam, involving over 3,000 buyers and sellers.
