OMNICHANNEL (media and advertising) and a digital ecosystem-driven PUC Bhd has unveiled Malaysia’s first retail store concept which combines a retail mart along with e-commerce fulfilment and courier services in a single outlet.
This follows the roll-out of the PrestoMart Near U outlet – a partnership between PUC’s unit Presto Universe Sdn Bhd and logistics service provider Near U (M) Sdn Bhd – at SS15 in Subang Jaya, Selangor.
The concept is expected to revolutionise the retail industry by having multiple services integrated into a single physical store where consumers are able to purchase snacks, food and gadgets in addition to carrying out their e-commerce and courier transactions simultaneously.
“The purpose of setting up these stores is to bring our E-commerce warehouse nearer to our consumers, thus enabling deliveries to be fulfilled on a next hour basis instead of the next day,” commented Presto’s group CEO Cheong Chia Chou.
“The profound impact of the pandemic has changed consumer shopping habits and we believe that E-commerce is moving towards Q-commerce (‘Q’ stands for ‘Quick’).”
In line with such trend, Presto and its logistics partner FMX Sdn Bhd (which operates Near U) have incorporated a decentralised warehousing and last-mile delivery model into their distribution strategy.
“We will work with FMX to jointly deploy this project as their involvement will optimise logistics costs and speed,” explained Cheong. “This set-up will also meet the nationwide delivery requirements of many frozen food manufacturers and we look forward to partnering with them.”
Near U’s managing director K.K. Yau expects 600 PrestoMart Near U stores to be rolled out by end-2023, primarily in strategic city locations to cater to the busy urban population who are always on the go and looking for added convenience in their retail experience.
“We have received positive responses from entrepreneurs and potential business partners who are interested to venture into the O2O (online-to-offline) business with us,” he enthused.
In their partnership, Presto will manage the mart services as well as the O2O (online-to-offline) Q-commerce activities while Near U will manage the courier and logistical services.
As part of its expansion plans to strengthen its position nationwide, PrestoMart Near U will be opening two more outlets in SS2 Petaling Jaya and central Johor Bahru.
At the close of yesterday’s (Feb 17)’s market trading, PUC was down 0.5 sen or 2.94% to 16.5 sen with 23.96 million shares traded, thus valuing the company at RM244 mil. – Feb 18, 2022
