CompAsia, which is championing the recommerce of mobile gadgets in Southeast Asia, is forecasting strong growth for its operations in 2022, largely fuelled by growing consumer preference in purchasing second hand devices, and confidence in the high-quality and product assurance traded on its platform.
The company is targeting to more than double its revenue this year from 2021, with its e-store segment leading the way, which has seen a 2,500% growth in business over the last two years. CompAsia registered a nine-figure overall revenue last year heavily attributed by its pivot to a more B2C and C2C approach in coping with the COVID19 pandemic.
“We traditionally provided a B2B buyback and trade-in solution with major telcos and phone manufacturers in the region, but the pandemic created an upsurge in demand for affordable, quality gadgets especial smartphones due to movement restrictions, which forced people to learn- and work-from-home,” said Julius Lim, Founder and CEO of CompAsia, which currently operates in nine markets in the region and partners with over 50 mobile and financial related companies.
“CompAsia launched its first ever e-store in Malaysia during this period where we saw the biggest potential and market demand in the region. We also have new channels in Singapore and Thailand joining the fray last month, and we are looking at expanding our remarketing businesses into more markets this year,” he said.
In 2020, CompAsia sold 500,000 mobile gadgets globally, while 2021 saw an increase to over 600,000 units. The company trades in repurposed second hand gadgets such as smartphones, laptops, and smartwatches.
CompAsia is also currently the only recommerce company in the world offering a full suite of solutions to complement its ecommerce platform with seamless financing and device care support. ReNew+ is the first device financing with instant credit scoring in Asean, while InstaCover provides the fastest digitalised device care in the region.
With deep expertise in the device business, CompAsia provides access to high quality gadgets that are backed by responsive after-sales service support unlike anything found in regular second hand phone retailers or platforms, and “these value-added options allow us to build an ecosystem that offer consumers a safe, convenient and stress-free space to trade in,” he said, adding that CompAsia’s 32-step quality check that every device goes through, along with the secure data erasure, which comply with International Standard DoD 5220.22-M to protect both buyers and sellers alike, have also proven to be leading reasons for its growing consumer base.
“For 2022, we will look at offering our remarketing, ReNew+ and InstaCover solutions in countries we already operate in, while we evaluate new markets in the region and beyond. We also foresee higher market acceptance for preowned gadgets over the next two to four years as consumers transition to 5G-ready devices in line with network upgrades that will be happening in various stages across different countries.
“In readiness for market changes, we are looking to further develop our consumer fronting businesses. Our aim has always been to maximise affordability, so as we improve on our systems, we are looking to be more cost effective; making affordable become even more affordable for our consumers,” Julius said, stressing further that the company will also look at doubling its talent across the region and beyond from its current 250 employees to support is planned growth.
