As part of its Philippine expansion, Society Pass (SoPa), a Vietnamese loyalty points company, is acquiring four to five local e-commerce businesses in the next few months.听
听鈥淟et鈥檚 say you go to Manila on a business trip. You can go to a restaurant in Manila and redeem the loyalty points you earned in a restaurant in Vietnam,鈥 said听SoPa听founder, chairman, and CEO Dennis Nguyen, in a Dec. 9 press briefer. 鈥淭he model of our business is to turn data into loyalty and revenues.鈥澨听
The beta version of its loyalty app, for both iOS and Android, will roll out to Filipino customers听and merchants听before the end of the year.听
SoPa听has already hired a Philippine general manager and head of human resources, both of whom are based in Manila.听听
Mr. Nguyen said the Philippines was a 鈥渇avorable prospect鈥 due to its young, educated, English-speaking population, as well as听its high Internet penetration rate.听听
听from 70% in 2019 and 76% in 2020, according to Trade secretary Ramon M. Lopez.听听
SoPa听is the first Vietnam-based company to complete听. Its 1.5 million registered users to date earn universal loyalty points from over 3,500 registered merchants.听听
听The company has seven interconnected consumer-facing and merchant-facing platforms that generate universal loyalty points for customers, and revenue for merchants.听听
听Aside from the loyalty app and loyalty marketplace website, its听five other platforms are the听Leflair听app and marketplace website, an e-commerce marketplace in Vietnam; the #HOTTAB point-of-sale solution that offers financial support packages for small and medium-sized enterprises; and the #HOTTAB biz app and administration website that provides order management for听SoPa鈥檚听merchant partners.听听
The company spans verticals such as food and beverage, lifestyle, beauty, travel, and merchant software. It will focus on the first two in the Phliippines, as per Mr. Nguyen.
Apart from developing its own loyalty points ecosystem, the Singapore-headquartered company plans to differentiate itself by actively acquiring growing ecommerce platforms in the region.
鈥斕Patricia B. Mirasol听听
