Kaidee, an e-marketplace under the UAE-based EMPG, aims to attain profitability in two years by focusing on the growth of the property and automotive segments.
The local online marketplace was acquired by EMPG two years ago as that firm looked to expand its e-commerce reach in Asean.
"EMPG believed there was a growth opportunity in Asia and Thailand was identified as one of the few countries worth taking a plunge," Mark Nosworthy, chief executive of Kaidee, told the Bangkok Post.
EMPG leverages the Kaidee brand and its customer base to create value in two main sectors -- the real estate and automotive fields, which are the strong category segments for EMPG, he said.
Mr Nosworthy said there are still challenges in running business in the local market.
The internal challenges include adapting to different cultures, different mentalities and localised solutions while the external ones cover the pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, supply chain constraints and the impact of inflation on buyers.
Kaidee has 14 million visitors a month, of which 6.5 million are unique customers or individuals who visit the platform regardless of how many times.
Kaidee sees more than 4 million visits through its app per month. Each user visits the app more than four times per month on average.
In the first quarter of this year, Kaidee's revenue grew 100% from the same period in 2020 despite the pandemic and economic challenges, he said, adding Kaidee expected to see profitability over the next two years.
The firm's core business is driven by marketing solutions for users to advertise their products on Kaidee. The service caters for individuals, businesses, dealers and real estate agencies.
For the auto field, the platform has inspection services to provide greater levels of trust on vehicles and test drive bookings.
Regarding the property segment, the platform has an in-house sales team that works exclusively with developers in selling their products while the firm will earn "a success fee".
It has Kaidee Money, a lending facilitation service through collaboration with financial institutions.
It also has Kaidee Pay, which is the country's first escrow solution securing and de-risking the transaction when making a purchase. A 3% fee is applied in this service.
Product listing remains the biggest revenue source for Kaidee, Mr Nosworthy said. Other revenues are from commission and success fees as well as additional services.
Mr Nosworthy said he is aware of the competition from regional players, including those from Singapore and Malaysia, in the auto segment.
He indicated the used car segment still sees no one dominating the market. Thailand saw 1.7 million used cars on sale in 2021.
Kaidee has 1,500 used car dealers in its network nationwide and 30-40% of cars listed on the platform were posted by individuals.
Regarding the property market, he said its competitors still do not have transaction services on their own while focusing only on working with agencies and earning from listing fees.
"There is an oversupply in the property market," said Mr Nosworthy.
"Developers need sales and marketing solutions to help them grow their business. This is the opportunity for us."
Last year, property was the most popular category of Kaidee with 37% of its customers engaged in the purchase, followed by cars at 33%, motorcycles at 33%, mobile phones at 10% and amulets at 6%.
