▲ ETMall showed an overall stellar performance in 2019, with members and performance both growing significantly. Gary Wang, president of ETMall, said that the driving force of “ET coin” was indispensable. (Image/Supplied by ETMall)
Eastern (2614) reinvested in ETMall, from January to December 2019, the consolidated Strawberrynet annual revenue grew 22% to reach NT$20.4 billion, breaking the 20 billion mark. The overall performance of the entire channel was particularly outstanding, mainly due to the effectiveness in promoting ET coins through the integration of the Group’s resources. Since its launch, more than 5.4 billion ET coins have been issued, becoming the largest “King of Coins” out of all retail and e-commerce channels, and the results have driven other industry operators to follow suit.
In order to comprehensively improve the membership service of ETMall, since the issuing of ET coins began in August 2018 up to December 31, 2019, more than 5.4 billion were issued in 17 months. Out of which, 2.8 billion have been used and the utilization rate is over 53%. Not only do ET coins have the highest circulation out of domestic e-commerce coins, but it’s also the earliest currency to be issued on a virtual channel. Currently, ET coins can be obtained in four ways, including: member birthday gift, shopping rewards, joining the Eastern Direct Selling Connected Network membership to immediately get 500 ET coins, or downloading the ETMall app to play the treasure hunt games and earn ET coins.
▲ It is easy to get ET coins, and it can be obtained through member birthday gift, checking-in, and shopping rewards. From now until January 31, you can enjoy up to 20% ET coin rewards when you spend on the channels of ETMall. (Image/Supplied by ETMall)
Since one ET coin is equivalent to NT$1, it can be redeemed at the time of cart check out. It can also be obtained by playing games and taking part in lucky draws on the ETMall app. With its many uses, ET coins have driven the growth of ETMall memberships and performance in 2019. Statistical analysis shows that the percentage of new customer growth and old customer revival for all-channel members has reached 9.3%, of which VIP growth accounted for 30%. The customer return rate increased from 8.9% in the past to 10.8%. The number of purchases before the ET coin issue jumped from 10.78 million items to 13.53 million items after the issue, with an increase of 26%.
Gary Wang, president of ETMall, said that since the issue of ET coin, the number of orders for ETMall has increased by 19%, the number of items has increased by 26%, the turnover has increased by 33%, and the discounted amount has increased by 56%. The number of VIP members in November 2019 was 434,000, showing a significant increase of 30% compared with 334,000 in the same period last year. The total number of ETMall VIPs was 433,000 in November 2019, who generated a total of NT$12.58 billion in spending, accounting for 73.5% of the total channel revenue. Both the number of people and revenue have reached a new high in five years, with ET coins playing an instrumental role in this success. Looking ahead, the Group is aiming for an overall revenue target of NT$130 billion in 2024.
The one aspect of ETMall that has remained unchanged for 20 years is EHS Select. What has been constantly changing is the unending pursuit of innovation. ETMall currently has television, catalog, telemarketing, MOD, APP, and OTT channels. In recent years, the Group has been actively developing diversified channels, including mergers and acquisitions of Natural Beauty, Strawberrynet, and ETtoday Pets. In addition to elevating Eastern’s reputation, the integration of resources between various channels also played a multiplier effect on the implementation of ET coin, and strengthened online to offline (O2O) marketing through the support of big data. In the future, the focus of operations will be on offline. With the establishment of the Eastern ecosystem, ET coins will be promoted from online to physical stores, such as Eastern Natural Beauty and ETtoday Pets, under the mutual guidance of the members across the channels for successful O2O marketing to provide even more, as well as the best services to consumers.