Zyllem, an enterprise SaaS leader in solving distribution challenges, has announced its further expansion into the Philippines amidst a rapidly growing ecommerce market. Ecommerce in the Philippines experienced a 93% growth in GMV from US$9 billion in 2020 to US$17 billion in 2021 while the logistics transport services sector represents a US$11 billion market opportunity that is ripe for disruption through digitalisation.
The supply chain industry has had to keep pace with the growth to meet this exponential demand.
Selected by the World Economic Forum as a Technology Pioneer in 2021, Zyllem is a state-of-the-art cloud-based software that allows companies to manage and operate their entire logistics distribution network in a more efficient, simplified, and transparent way. It counts pharmaceutical giant Zuellig Pharma, Metro Drug Inc, logistics firm Airspeed, wholesale grocery distribution company Suy Sing as key clients in the Philippines and is actively looking to acquire more players in the market.
Lisa Nguyen, Chief Operations Officer and Co-founder at Zyllem shared, “Southeast Asia’s digital economy has been spurred on by the rapid pace of digitalisation from consumers and businesses and has witnessed unprecedented acceleration by the pandemic. Zyllem is poised to capitalize on this growth as more businesses are seeing the necessity to provide better and faster services, and look to optimize their logistics network to meet their customer’s orders. As the fastest growing digital economy in the region, the Philippines is an important market for us to achieve that. The Philippines presents an exciting opportunity to help companies digitize and optimize their logistics network, eliminating legacy systems, despite the numerous unique logistical challenges that the country presents.”
Logistics in the Philippines represents a tremendous challenge due to its geographic makeup which relies heavily on maritime transport to move goods domestically and internationally, which is further complicated by inconsistent regulations between port authorities. While road transport is mainly used for the movement of goods to and from ports within each island, infrastructure is still poor with congested urbanized areas. Furthermore, Cash on Delivery is still a common method of payment for customers and businesses. All of which makes for a low-output environment where shipment delays are frequent, customers are unsatisfied, and providers are performing poorly.
“Logistics networks are often fragmented with companies having to manage multiple third party logistics partners and middlemen. Zyllem solves operational pain points with data gathered and fed into a unified dashboard, where customers will be able to take control of their logistic network and streamline their operations. We are able to optimize routes and reduce time spent on planning by 85%, allowing drivers to complete up to 30% more deliveries per day. With more predictable deliveries and real-time tracking, we also enhanced the experience for the end customer and eliminated the need for any customer calls,” said Joanna Pawluczuk, Head of Sales at Zyllem.
Rosemarie Rafael, Owner at Airspeed International Corporation added, “One of the best decisions I made was to get involved in the process of choosing the technology to invest in. We as business owners must get involved because we know best our strategies and goals. It is important to choose a provider that understands your processes, stays with you, and supports you throughout the journey. When it comes to costs, it is important to consider the things you cannot afford not to have. Through our partnership with Zyllem, we have been able to streamline our logistic operation and monitor all shipments in real time. We are impressed with Zyllem’s ability to radically improve our set up and make it more efficient and resilient.”
Since its go to market in 2017, Zyllem has been working closely with pharmaceutical, logistics, retail and F&B brands to solve their supply chain problems across Asia. Headquartered in Singapore, Zyllem has presence in eight countries in Asia and manages two million monthly delivery orders, with 20% coming from the Philippines. Zyllem is funded by Philippines conglomerate JG Summit Holdings and leading early-stage venture capital firm Wavemaker Partners.
Paul Santos, Managing Partner at Wavemaker Partners, highlighted, “The pandemic has acted as a catalyst for the digitization of supply chains. Zyllem uniquely enables enterprises to have full control of internal and third-party logistics providers on a single platform. Today, the company helps manage over two million deliveries per month, which we expect to more than double again this year.”
