Report from The STAR (Malaysia) dated 12 July 2011 :-

Group-buying on the pick up

CHECK THIS OUT: Wang (left) and Kang showing how the group buying site, Everyday.com.my works.

PETALING JAYA: Malaysians have typically been adverse to shopping online but the trend is expected to change now that the online-coupon business is picking up.

These coupons offer attractive discounts on various products and services to Malaysians willing to sign up for them in groups over the Internet.

Many are willing to purchase online coupons for discounts on the products that they are interested in, said Edwin Wang, chief executive of Integrated Methods Sdn Bhd, which owns the group-buying site Everyday.com.my.

He said Everyday.com.my has about 400,000 subscribers. With that kind of encouragement, Integrated Methods is trying to double its share of the Malaysian market by year end, from 20% now.

It also wants to boost its annual revenue to RM10mil in the same period.

"Our goal is to expand our operations to every major city in every state, including East Malaysia," Wang said.

The website currently offers coupon deals for three states - Selangor, Penang and Johor.
Integrated Methods was recently acquired by Ticket Monster, the largest group-buying company that is based in South Korea.

Frank Kang, Ticket Monster's international growth director, said Malaysia is its first overseas expansion exercise.

He said the country would be the company's regional hub in South-East Asia and would act as a springboard into nearby countries, including Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines.

"Relevant localised and customised deals is the key to success and we are working closely with Integrated Methods to bring the best deals to Malaysian customers," Kang said.

"Our approach is that we target the smaller retail businesses and not just the high-end product and service providers."

Ticket Monster hopes to become the most powerful marketing engine for small businesses in Malaysia. "We want to help these businesses get more exposure and provide interesting experiences for our customers," said Kang.

But that does not mean it is adverse to partnerships with big businesses, such as fast-food chains and hypermarkets.

"We have a corporate business development team to source these kinds of partnerships," he added