Lazada Seller Stories – Killiney Kopitiam’s Success

Prior to their venture on Lazada, Killiney Kopitiam had little understanding of using the platform as they were very new to the world of e-commerce.

Today, with over 17,000 followers on their flagship store on Lazada, we spoke with Jade Yeo from Killiney Kopitiam’s Business Development team to know more about their brand, what they sell, and how their e-commerce experience had been on Lazada.

Established in 1919 on the existing shopfront along Killiney Road, the quaint yet humble Hainanese coffee shop served traditional bread toasts with coffee and tea. Loved by many, the shop was bought over by a regular customer, Mr Woon Tek Seng, in 1993. Mr Woon renovated the storefront and then named it Killiney Kopitiam. Since then, the brand has not only expanded across Singapore, but has stores across the world.

On top of serving quality food and beverages in their stores, Killiney Kopitiam has also expanded into the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) scene.

“We aim to bring the Killiney experience to consumers so that they can enjoy it at the comfort of their own homes,” Jade shared. This diversification away from their brick and mortar stores sees Killiney Kopitiam launching traditional premium instant beverages, modern capsule pods, and ready-to-cook food paste.

Customers can now enjoy premium beverages such as white coffee and matcha latte or cook conveniently with mee siam and curry pastes at home simply by purchasing these from Killiney’s Lazada flagship store online.

Jade shared that Killiney Kopitiam accelerated their decision to go into the e-commerce scene due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Building an online presence has helped us greatly as people gradually recognised that we offer a wide range of food merchandise products apart from just being in the physical stores,” she let on.

Bringing the brand onto an e-commerce platform such as Lazada has also “allowed for more accessibility,” as their customers can easily purchase their products online and have them delivered to their homes within a few days.

With this added accessibility and reach, Killiney Kopitiam has also benefitted from Lazada’s active user base. “It has helped us reach a wider audience, especially the younger generation, and at the same time allowed us to gain better visibility on both the product and branding fronts,” Jade said.

Easy-to-use features on the Lazada Center are also tools that Killiney Kopitiam used regularly. Creating “special promotional vouchers for our customers” are attributed to helping the brand boost sales and drive traffic to their Lazada store.

Even for an established brand like Killiney Kopitiam, the learning curve is steep when the brand launched an online storefront for the first time.

“But with the comprehensive guides that were provided to us, and the help from our Key Account Manager (KAM), we picked up the skills pretty fast and leverage them. We actually work very closely with our account manager on certain exclusive launch campaigns.”

A new product can be unfamiliar to both the public and their most loyal customers, but “thanks to Lazada’s strong marketing efforts and visibility,” Jade let on that the brand could introduce their new Killiney Cafe Au Lait to a wide audience with no issues.

“On mega campaigns, we can see 20 to 30 times of sales uplift, and that’s why, with the exposure and high conversion rates, we always make sure to participate in the campaigns that Lazada has to offer,” Jade shared. Killiney Kopitiam’s best sellers on their Lazada flagship store include the brand’s familiar 3-in-1 Premium White Coffee and their newly-launched Kespesso pods.

Working closely with the brand’s KAM was an important factor that contributed to Killiney Kopitiam’s rapid growth on the platform. Promotions and marketing efforts are never one-size-fits-all, and Jade echoed this sentiment. She stressed that the brand’s close relationship with its account manager helped Killiney Kopitiam in their consistent and successful marketing outreach, on top of leveraging Lazada’s wide range of marketing tools to assist the brand in boosting its sales.

“We were also able to have wider access to the tools available (on Lazada Center), one of which is a CEM tool where we were able to send personalized messages to different targeted customer segments. So with this tool, we were able to engage our customers by introducing them to our latest product launches, sending them special vouchers, as well as cut out reminders, which has proven to be very effective, especially during mega campaign periods.”

With a variety of resources and tools to help new sellers kick-start their e-commerce business, brands who want to grow exponentially are also encouraged to start their flagship stores on Lazada.

“As the saying goes, if you never try, you never know,” Jade said. “And while taking the first step is the hardest, you’ll never really be able to see what’s going to come out of it if you don’t even try in the first place.”

Know someone who wants to kickstart their e-commerce business? Get them to sign up as a Lazada seller today!