SimplySiti Sdn Bhd aims a 50% year-on-year (YoY) sales growth as it looks to expand its presence in the region, beginning with Indonesia by the second half of the year (2H19).
Its group CEO Azuddin Rahman said the company is expecting around 50% YoY growth in sales from current figures when it begins to export its products this year.
“In terms of sales growth, we are targeting 50% in the coming year against the recorded growth of 38% in 2018,” he said at the signing of a collaboration agreement between SimplySiti and CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd.
He said the company hopes to see the ratio of exports to local markets to shift to 60:40 from the current 5:95, with the company’s current presence in Brunei.
“We are also present in Brunei, but it isn’t contributing much to our sales,” he said.
In order to kickstart the shift, the local brand has targeted its Indonesian expansion to begin by 2H19, supported by its collaboration with CIMB Islamic.
SimplySiti president and founder Datuk Seri Siti Nurhaliza Tarudin (picture) said there are difficulties to penetrate the Indonesian market due to its stringent process.
“We are focusing on the Indonesian market this year. We have been aiming for it from five years ago. “The process has been somewhat difficult and we are only able to attempt the penetration this year,” she said.
“Everything is going smoothly, save for a few small kinks to settle, considering the country (Indonesia) is buzzing with its upcoming general election.
“We hope that once the general election is settled, SimplySiti products will be already in the market, and I’ll be heading down to Jakarta to continue promoting our products there,” she said.
Singapore is another market that SimplySiti is looking to venture into soon.
“We are currently thinking of the best way to penetrate Singapore and expand there by looking for a partner that is very invested in the beauty industry, whereby to reach the Middle East is also one of my biggest dreams, which is part of my plans within two years or so,” she said.
The Malaysian Reserve previously reported that the local beauty and wellness industry posted a turnover of RM5 billion in 2017.
According to Statista, the current global halal cosmetics market value is expected to reach US$54 billion (RM219.81 billion) in 2022.
Meanwhile, CIMB Islamic CEO Rafe Haneef said SimplySiti is the bank’s first partnership for the year and it intends to scale up more companies.
“We have dozens of companies looking to go beyond Malaysia and for them to be successful outside of Malaysia, they have to first be successful here, so we are helping them to be stronger,” he said.
He added that SimplySiti is able to refine itself through the ups and downs of its business life in Malaysia and thus has proven its worth to expand elsewhere.
“While there are plenty of opportunities for growth, the main challenge for homegrown businesses, and small and medium enterprises today is how to scale up,” he said.
The homegrown brand will leverage on the Islamic bank’s end-toend banking and transaction support of its CIMB-Asean Halal Corridors and its regional network that provides customers with a strong value proposition.
As of 2018, Malaysia’s halal product exports stood at over RM45 million.
