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CNI breaks traditional business model with 11street

11street parcel CNI Partnership eCommerce Malaysia news - Retail in Asia
Chuljin Yoon (left), Chief Operating Officer of 11street and Kelvin Koh (right), Chief Executive Officer of CNI at the signing ceremony

 

The ever-changing nature of Malaysia’s business landscape resulted in a shift from a traditional brick-and-mortar model to an e-commerce one. As one of the leading online marketplaces in Southeast Asia, 11street recently entered into a partnership with CNI Holdings Berhad, a traditional homegrown business, with the aim to help the latter transition onto the online sphere. The partnership arose from CNI’s objectives to engage a younger and more tech savvy crowd; simultaneously address the needs of an evolving consumer market in the country.

11street’s Chief Operating Officer, Chuljin Yoon said: “As online shopping takes a forefront in Malaysian retailing, brick-and-mortar businesses must consider to adopt omni-channel strategies. This is important because as the market shifts, businesses need to deploy creativity to reach out to more consumers. By partnering with 11street, CNI has opened another channel to reach the masses, and boosted their 11street sales by 30% over the past six months. We believe that these numbers will continue to rise as CNI introduces more of its best-selling products on our platform.”

Since the partnership began in January 2017, CNI has introduced a variety of its products on 11street, ranging from nutritional and health supplements; personal care items and cosmetics; food and beverage; auto care; and household consumer products.

SEE ALSO: Malaysia’s online sales set to quintuple by 2025, fashion leads

Taking the digital leap

CNI’s Chief Executive Officer, Kelvin Koh explained: “The decision to go digital with 11street came from the need to adapt to the local business environment. By latching on to a robust Malaysian e-commerce landscape, we are able to branch out with complete confidence in 11street’s ability to help amplify the reach of traditional businesses like ours.”

“Since January, we have seen a significant increase in sales as well as the strengthening of our brand positioning. This is evident through an increase in product exposure of our more popular products such as the SEHATI CNI Tongkat Ali Ginseng Coffee, Co-Go II Crawling Insect Spray and Nutrimoist. With such positive responses, we expect to list more of our products to 11street shoppers in the coming months.”

Established in 1989, the founders of CNI – Dato’ Koh Peng Chor, Tan Sia Swee and Law Yang Ket – came from humble beginnings. They shared a vision to start a business with minimal capital; but at the same time wanted to empower budding entrepreneurs to grow their businesses at their own pace. Almost thirty years later, CNI’s catapult into e-commerce anchors its aspirations of strengthening its market penetration and growing its consumer base in Southeast Asia.

SEE ALSO: H&M Beauty is coming to Malaysia this Fall 2017

Honing sharp e-commerce acumens

“Today’s robust market demands higher flexibility and adaptability from various forms of businesses. This is why we encourage all forms of traditional businesses to join the e-commerce movement, as it provides greater awareness as well as convenience for consumers today,” Yoon elaborated.

CNI’s Chief Executive Officer, Kelvin Koh concluded: “11street presents an opportunity for businesses to grow together through its unique structure and ability to reach out to the online masses effectively. We hope to continue leveraging the 11street platform to grow digitally, in line with current trends and contribute towards the digital economy in Malaysia.”