Singapore, August 21st 2014 – Defying a global downturn, South-East Asia’s economies have boomed over the past years and alongside this noticeable growth, a growing share of the population are making their purchases online. Pricepanda´s recent survey found that prices for consumer goods can differ up to 30 % between varying locations and retailers. Since only about 50% of online shoppers used price comparison websites within the last two years, there is a great potential for increasing the penetration of price comparison sites in South East Asia.
South-East Asia has emerged as the new Asian tiger at a time when China’s economic growth has weakened. In fact, the 10 member countries of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Brunei, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Burma and Singapore) have a combined population of 620 million people and a GDP approaching USD 2 trillion. Their combined economies have grown 170% over the past decade and have a 6.5% growth rate on average, according to new UBS research. Over the last few years, the number of regional online retailers has steadily climbed, with the SEA making up the biggest share of the emerging market.
However, this massive growth in the emerging markets of SEA has not yet translated into significant benefits for consumers in terms of easy access to products and low prices. The price differentials in South East Asia are among the highest in the world, which puts consumers at a disadvantage if they don’t have information about lower prices elsewhere. Therefore Pricepanda wants to improve the market situation by providing daily objective product information on product specs and prices across all online shopping options, so that users always get the best product at the best price.
Pricepanda brings transparency in pricing and is beneficial to consumers in markets with many retailers but none established as clearly the cheapest. Pricepanda assumes that many consumers do not realize the full benefits of a price comparison platform due to the soaring price differentials on consumer goods. To give them a better understanding, Pricepanda offers a price comparison service across product categories ranging from mobile phones to consumer electronics, and updates the website constantly with new products and new features from various vendors.
About PricePanda
PricePanda (www.pricepanda.com) is the leading price comparison website for emerging markets. It provides users with a transparent overview of prices for the latest gadgets and other products. In addition, the PricePanda website displays professional reviews about its listed products as well as shop reviews. PricePanda was founded in 2012 and is currently available in Argentina, Colombia, Indonesia,India, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore and the Philippines.
PricePanda is now available on the go via app for all Android and iOS devices.
About Asia Pacific Internet Group
The Asia Pacific Internet Group supports some of the leading internet companies in the region such as PricePanda. Founded by Rocket Internet in 2014, the APIG’s mission is to promote innovation and entrepreneurship throughout Asia and the Pacific and to support the development of a vibrant online culture. APIG’s network currently consists of 10 companies, which are operating in 15 countries.