7-Eleven Malaysia expands in-store services

KUALA LUMPUR: 7-Eleven Malaysia Holdings Bhd's subsidiary 7-Eleven Malaysia Sdn Bhd expects to maintain a 10% growth in commission for its in-store services as it rolls out Touch 'n Go reload services and point-of-sales activated (Posa) gift cards at its outlets.
7-Eleven Malaysia deputy CEO Gary Brown said in-store services captured a commission of RM57 million in 2013 and new services coming onboard will only see this grow.
"We've been growing our in-store services strongly over the past years. On average it has been more than 10% and we expect that momentum to continue," he told reporters after a signing ceremony involving 7-Eleven Malaysia, MOL, Incomm and Touch 'n Go here yesterday.
Brown said 7-Eleven Malaysia will continue to engage and expand its in-store services to include payment of utility bills as well as an e-commerce platform, which will enable online purchases and payments in-store at 7-Eleven.
"There are many applications that could be suitable for this platform, including airline tickets and online shopping," Brown said, adding that it has a number of ongoing negotiations in this area as it hopes to make it a reality in the foreseeable future.
"In-store services are a significant profit contributor to our bottom line and will be a major contributor to our growth moving forward as these services do not require significant floor space in our stores and allow us to grow revenues without incurring significant costs," added Brown.
7-Eleven Malaysia yesterday rolled out Touch 'n Go reload services at all its outlets in Peninsular Malaysia. The service was previously available only in selected outlets. 7-Eleven Malaysia will also be enabling Touch 'n Go as a payment option at all its outlets by the end of the year.
Yesterday also saw the convenience store chain enter into a joint distribution agreement with Incomm for the rollout of Posa gift cards, which are expected to be available from the third quarter of this year.
The Touch 'n Go and Posa gift cards services are provided in partnership with payment service provider MOL.
Prepaid products and transaction services company Incomm's partnership with MOL to supply 7-Eleven Malaysia with Posa gift cards represents the first Posa gift card launch in any retailer in Malaysia.
MOL group CEO Ganesh Kumar Bangah said the rollout of Touch 'n Go reload services and the signing with Incomm are an extension of its long-term partnership with 7-Eleven.
MOL's partnership with 7-Eleven started 12 years ago when it began distributing MOLPoints, its pioneering currency for digital games through 7-Eleven stores in Malaysia. This partnership later expanded to include distribution of mobile reloads through the MOLReload terminal infrastructure and recently to include payments for e-commerce services through the enablement of MOLPay cash payments at 7-Eleven outlets.
"Posa gift cards is a huge billion dollar industry in developed markets such as the United States with Incomm being the pioneer and leader in this industry. In these markets, Incomm distributes gift cards for global brands such as Apple, Starbucks and Google.
"7-Eleven Malaysia is the first convenience store chain in Southeast Asia to sign with MOL and Incomm to roll out Posa gift cards and we hope to bring some of these global brands to Malaysian shores soon," Ganesh said.
Gift cards and added payment convenience with Touch 'n Go will be a further attraction to shoppers and further complement 7-Eleven's recent rollout of offerings such as wider and better range of fresh food, innovative additions to its merchandise mix, improved store appearance, feel and layout with free WiFi and seating areas as well as more consumer programmes.