Arrow saves online shopping carts in Southeast Asia – TechCrunch

Even in markets with high credit card penetration, shopping cart abandonment remains a major concern for online sellers. Now imagine the situation in Southeast Asia, where many countries have dozens of electronic wallets, buy now pay later services and other forms of payment. Bank transfers are also a popular option for online shopping, but involve multiple steps, increasing the risk of cart abandonment.

Arrow wants to make the payment process easier by acting as a layer on top of payment gateways. It supports over 50 different payment methods, including all the major ones in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia (including Atom, GrabPay, Boost, and GoPay).

The company today announced that it has raised $4.8 million led by Sequoia Capital India, with participation from Alpha JWC and Zinal Growth. Angel investors including AIG and Maxis board member Ooi Huey Tyng, Paysend COO Steve Vickers, and Coinbase Southeast Asia director Hassan Ahmed also participated in the round.

Launched 15 months ago, Arrow was founded by Liat Beng Neo and Sebastian Roervig and is now used by 100 merchants. Liat Beng Neo told TechCrunch that a major reason for cart abandonment is that “current checkout processes in the region fail to account for its incredible diversity. Southeast Asia is made up of eleven different countries, each with their own e-commerce habits and nuances.

For example, he added that some regions have poor internet connectivity, so customers may abandon the checkout process if it involves clicking through multiple web pages. Even common payments, like bank transfers, involve multiple steps, and each step means the risk of a customer changing their mind about a purchase.

In addition to payment methods, Arrow also integrates shipping information and affiliate loyalty programs, so customers see everything on one checkout page. Arrow can be integrated with shopping platforms like WooCommerce or Magneto or through APIs that allow merchants to replace their existing storefronts with Arrow. For social commerce, retailers receive a payment link that they can send to their customers.

Arrow can be used by all kinds of merchants, but focuses on fast-moving consumer goods and other discretionary goods and services, Liat Beng said, because these tend to have high cart abandonment rates. It is also particularly aimed at merchants who process high order volumes, as they would benefit the most from improvements in cart abandonment rates, he added.

Arrow is currently active in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, and plans to focus on these three markets for now, while planning expansion into the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

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