Marking its first major venture into the APAC market, mobile technology firm Gigs has partnered with rewards company ShopBack as it eyes expansion upon its existing western markets with a new growth strategy into Asia.
Building upon its operations in North America, Latin America and Europe, Gigs targeted companies that have three key attributes for customer profile: having a large captive audience, a unique ability to distribute digital services, and being an established, well-loved brand.
Asia is seen as a key growth market opportunity for Gigs, as the region is home to plenty of digital natives and strong engagement with digital brands, as well as a growing love of travel.
Through this new partnership, ShopBack now offers its customers seamless global connectivity powered by Gigs' infrastructure. Adding instant global connectivity to its broader travel services, which include flight, taxi and accommodation bookings, creates a more holistic travel experience for users.
ShopBack's offering follows a "one eSIM for life" model: customers download the eSIM just once and can then use it seamlessly across 160+ countries, without having to reinstall or swap between eSIM profiles. This contrasts with the current experience of competitor providers, where travellers typically install a separate eSIM for each destination.
"Let's say I'm going to Singapore, I get a SIM card for Singapore," said Rafa Plantier, Vice President of Growth, Gigs.
"I happen to be doing a layover in the UAE, and then I get another SIM card for the UAE. Initially, this was also like moving the actual plastic SIM in and out of your smartphone.
"Now there's a digital version of that. But up until now, most people would have had different eSIM installations for each region. We think that's unnecessary friction in customers' lives.
Part of Gigs expansion into a new market will be identifying the right partners. The APAC region sits at the intersection of the world's most advanced fintech ecosystems and consumer super-apps, and its mobile-first infrastructure and appetite for frictionless digital experiences make it uniquely positioned to become the global leader in embedded connectivity adoption.
Gigs' platform is built to enable tech companies to launch mobile products across both travel eSIMs and local plans, with full support for the local compliance, pricing, and carrier relationships each market requires. This is precisely the kind of environment where Gigs thrives.
"There's a narrative here with Gigs, ultimately we're serving the tech buyers, not the telco buyers, but the tech buyers as they want to scale," Plantier said.
"So what gets us super excited about APAC is the proliferation of very high quality, deeply embedded, highly localised tech buyers in the region. I think that APAC is probably a foreign region for other entrants."
Expansion, of course, also brings with it challenges relating to legal, regulatory and compliance matters. A new continent will present different challenges, as travel connectivity is run through international agreements that can distinctly vary from local telecom rules and regulations.
However, while acknowledging that these new international parameters will need to be adjusted to, Plantier is confident that Gigs is well prepared for its expansion as it adds new partners in Asia.
"On the travel side, a lot of the complexity that we help our partners with is around billing, payments, tax collection, and of course, all things telecom," Plantier said.
"In terms of local, there are nuances, but the good thing about telecom is that those nuances all fit into a global taxonomy. It is a competency to do this over and over again. As we have launched local plans in multiple markets, we understand the requirements and can programmatically solve that through our API."