Checkouts are changing. In the midst of this pandemic, restrictions have brought us online for our shopping therapies whether for essential or non-essential items as we keep our distance from physical stores. E-commerce is now growing faster than ever – up to 18.6% growth per year up to 2023 in Southeast Asian markets according to JP Morgan E-commerce Payment Trends Report – but one thing remains, the way we do our purchases with cards, e-wallets, bank transfers or even cash through cash-on-delivery.
Yet, e-commerce penetration is still in its infancy and is far from its peak. Given that most of the Southeast Asian population are already shopping online, this may appear peculiar but due to limited spending across the board by each individual shopper. For example, one might have started ordering takeaway meals but still be reluctant to make their first online t-shirt or flower bouquet order. Drilling down further to its root cause, we observe friction apparent that is right from product selection to delivery. All of which collectively prevent the acceleration of e-commerce penetration, but the thing to highlight is how we checkout, the fact that we cannot checkout with a tap of the card like how we’d do in person is one of the largest barriers to penetration and contributors to cart dropouts.
Win (Chaichana) Vareekasem, Co-Founder and CEO of Beam, says, “We adopt various payment methods that suit our lifestyle needs and preferences but when we are online, none of those methods are as seamless as they are in-person with just a swipe, a tap or a scan.”
“Credit cards & bank transfers are fantastic innovations that weren't built for e-commerce but are predominantly used online by most of us today. The friction apparent along each shopper's experience journey is holding us back from more without fully realising.”
“Today’s consumers need a solution that is built for modern-day e-commerce, one that allows us to shop anywhere, on social commerce or on any site within a click or a couple of clicks.”
“On the other side, online stores are building their own capabilities to sell direct-to-consumer to preserve their margins and cultivate customer relationships. SMBs are adopting one or two D2C e-commerce enabling solutions each as a norm across the region, actively searching for ways to optimise profitability & curate the best customer experiences.”
“At Beam, we’re reimagining every little detail to deliver the simplest checkout experience for online shoppers. We are building One-Click Checkouts in collaboration with the strongest payment service providers globally, believing this would be an immense helping hand for shoppers, merchants, and the internet economy for years to come.”
“The payment industry is tending towards a utility, analogous to the early years of human access to clean water, electricity and phone calls. Therefore, to ignite adoption to a whole new level, payments will need to minimise its friction with One-Click Checkouts, similar to how we needed the invention of the mobile device for almost all our calls today.”
The startup is co-founded by Win, together with Nattapat Chaimanowong (CTO) and Chinakrit (Mike) Piamchon (Business Development Director). Billionaire angel investor Thiraphong Chansiri backed the enterprise in its mid-2021 pre-seed round.
Beam is setting the new standard for online shopping with One-Click Checkouts. Aside from simplifying every shopper’s checkout process, Beam’s merchants will benefit from streamlined internal processes – connecting to existing solutions if any, and instantly issuing a checkout link to the shopper’s phone.
Merchants selling online can register in minutes to start, with zero integration and work towards achieving the highest sales conversion rates possible. Beam will be driving the mass adoption of e-commerce initially in Singapore and Thailand.
Register at www.beamcheckout.com for a frictionless customer experience on your social messaging platforms and website.