[Taipei] As we bid farewell to the year 2020, ETMall, a subsidiary of Eastern Media International Corporation (2614), reported today (12th) that the annual consolidated revenue of ETMall (merged with Strawberrynet) was NT$24.68 billion, with a profit of NT$1.445 billion, representing a 132% increase in profit over the same period last year, and EPS reached NT$14 for the year, achieving brilliant results. With the stimulus of the Double 12 event, the single-month consolidated revenue of December was NT$2.51 billion, with an annual growth rate of 22%. In the fourth quarter, consolidated revenue was NT$7.14 billion, with an annual growth rate of 21%. Looking ahead, ETMall will continue to develop and expand its self-operated products and EC channels, and strive for an annual revenue of NT$40 billion (including strawberrynet).
Gary Wang, chairman of ETMall, said that the EPS of ETMall was NT$14 last year, and they hope to become the most profitable e-commerce company for their shareholders. The rapid growth of the business is mainly due to the stable operation of ETMall with multiple channels in parallel. ETMall includes ETMall online shopping, Her, Connected Network, TV shopping, telemarketing, mobile commerce, catalog, MOD, and Strawberrynet—an overseas, cross-border cosmetics e-commerce platform. With over 9 million members in Taiwan and supplemented by ET coins and self-operated products, ETMall has made significant achievements in membership growth and sales.
ETMall started to deploy its self-operated products in 2015, including: Toilet paper, laundry detergent, and other household products, as well as skincare and cosmetics products from Eastern Natural Beauty. This year, self-operated retail services have already accounted for 30% of revenue and 60% of profits.
Since the launch of the market-exclusive “ET Coin”, which has an equivalent value in cash, in August 2018, 11.7 billion ET coins have been issued to date. In particular, VIP members hold 43% of the coins, which shows that the ET coin strategy has worked not only to increase CRM, but also to improve member engagement. Last December, the first-ever ET Coin Lucky Draw for a car was held, and the lucky winner from Kaohsiung, Ms. Lee, drove home a TOYOTA SUV with a market value of NT$799,000, after purchasing drinks on ETMall and placing just one bet with 100 ET coins. To welcome the Lunar New Year, ETMall also launched an ET Coin Raffle for iPhones. Only 100 ET coins are needed to enter the raffle and you might be the lucky winner of the latest iPhone 12 Pro Max 256G (market price NT$41,400). A total of ten phones are up for grabs, and the higher the bet, the greater the chance of winning. The draw will be taking place on the ETMall channel live on February 2nd.
Looking ahead to the new year, Gary Wang said he is optimistic about the retail sales of the first quarter, which should have a growth of at least 50%. In addition to the online e-commerce platform’s continued growth in performance, the strategic deployment of ETMall will be focusing on the fresh produce e-commerce market this year. Launched last year, the Eastern Farm program has invited 13 county and city government leaders to jointly market Taiwan’s premium fresh produce, and ETMall will continue to develop new product sources and bring in more customers this year. In addition, in November of last year, ETMall acquired the Happy Shopping Grocery Shopping website, and will be aiming to double its orders within six months and become the number one brand in the fresh produce e-commerce market.
Eric Yang, CEO of ETMall’s E-Commerce Division, said that in the first quarter of this year, the company will launch a major “online shopping mall project”, which will allow for more flexible and diversified cooperation between the company and the vendors in the future. Vendors will be able to operate their own brands and products on the ETMall platform, while also integrating online to offline (O2O) channels. Branding, marketing, and big data will be used in tandem to meet members’ shopping needs and increase checkout rates. It is expected to drive 30% of sales.
Chairman Gary Wang said: “In the future, we will provide more and better exclusive limited food products and daily necessities and services to all members, and our next step will be to promote the products in Asia and around the world.”
Traditional dishes celebrating the Lunar New Year are in great demand now. In the past, many Taiwanese people would go abroad during the Lunar New Year holiday, and fewer people would stay home for the Lunar New Year festivities. Correspondingly, the products sold were mainly low unit price “5-dish combos”. However, not only is travelling no longer possible, many Taiwanese living abroad have returned home due to the pandemic. As a result, the company launched a range of “big combos” of celebration dishes (8 or more dishes) with an average unit price of NT$1,000 to NT$2,000. The pre-order campaign will end on January 31st, and sales have already exceeded NT$10 million, which represents a significant increase of 70% compared to last year.
Looking back on the past and looking ahead to the new year, Gary Wang said that ETMall had performed excellently in 2020. In 2021, the threat of the pandemic still exists, we should still do our best when it comes to pandemic prevention by washing our hands and wearing masks. ETMall hopes to uphold the “warmest” service spirit. This year, ETMall will forge ahead with the development of new retail and we will continue to expand our self-operated brands. We will integrate our resources to bring the most convenient and comfortable shopping experience to all our members.