JD-backed Thai fashion e-commerce start-up Pomelo is set launch its fashion technology platform Prism.
The women’s fashion firm, which started as an online business in 2013, plans to launch its business-to-business (B2B) unit, Prism, next month to offer services like demand planning and logistics for other fashion and lifestyle brands. The plan comes as physical store sales and traffic have dropped.
Store traffic in Thailand plummeted 71 per cent in the first quarter this year and about 20 per cent in its other markets, said CEO David Jou in an interview with Reuters, adding that e-commerce was strong.
The start-up has raised a total of $83M from investors including Thailand’s largest retailer Central Group and competes with companies like Japan’s Uniqlo. Retailers are accelerating digitisation due to the pandemic, creating demand for the service, he said.
Local brands, which already know their customers, can get support in product development, textile sourcing, and supply chain management, Jou said.
Pomelo will continue to sell its own apparel brand and is planning to add 44 more physical stores on top of its 25 existing locations.
