“The e-commerce unit is not growing as fast as we expected and as a small startup, we think it’s better to use our capital elsewhere,” says its founder Natavudh Pungcharoenpong

Ookbee Mall

Ookbee Mall Thailand will bring the curtain down to its e-commerce business, ookbeemall.com, from March this year due to heavy competition in the market, its founder Natavudh Pungcharoenpong told e27.  

Launched in November 2015, Ookbee Mall is a joint venture between Japanese BPO company Transcosmos and Thai e-book store Ookbee.

“We launched this (Ookbee Mall) two years ago as a separate company, in partnership with our investor Transcosmos. This was an experiment to see if our low customer acquisition cost on digital business can convert to physical business. It turns out it’s not,” he told us.

Also Read: Tencent and Ookbee launch joint venture to grow digital content in Thailand

According to him, running an e-commerce business in the country requires large scale of operations and investments. Large global players are using subsidised promotion strategies to acquire customers, which Ookbee cannot afford to do. “We can no longer afford the losses. Our capital can be better used in other area mostly digital products,” he added.

In his view, Ookbee’s e-commerce business is not that bad and it’s growing. “But it’s not growing as fast as we expected and as a small startup, we think it’s better to use our capital elsewhere.”

He, however, added that the closing down of the e-commerce business will not hurt Ookbee’s digital business (e-book store). “Many people in Bangkok are panicked and called us to cancel their digital subscription, as they confuse e-commerce with our core business. Our core business is e-books and it will remain intact.”

Ookbee Mall was established as a one-stop e-commerce portal for magazines and books, beauty and cosmetics, and products sourced directly from Japan. The company was betting big on the rapid growth of e-commerce in Thailand, along with its love of Japanese culture and products. 

Last year, many e-commerce firms in Thailand shut down due to the intense competition.

The post Thai startup Ookbee to shut down e-commerce unit due to stiff competition appeared first on e27.