In this edition of Weekly Focus APAC: Ohmyhome Developing 'Singlish' Chatbot; Alibaba to Digitise Beijing Theme Park Experience; Zalora Looks to Improve Logistics with FarEye; Singapore P2P Payment Gains Billion-Dollar Traction; and Gojek CEO Leaves to Be Civil Servant.

Ohmyhome Developing 'Singlish' Chatbot

The property services online site is developing an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot that will be trained to interact in English as well as colloquial Singaporean English, or Singlish.

Ohmyhome said the chatbot, named Joy, would serve as a virtual agent to help buyers and sellers complete an entire transaction on their own. The range of property services available on the online platform includes renovation, conveyancing, and agent services.

The Singapore startup aim to launch the chatbot next quarter.

Ohmyhome said the AI tool would be trained "based on the needs and concerns" of local tenants, landlords, buyers, and sellers. Joy would analyse large datasets to assist customers with their queries on housing ownership policies and past transacted prices, amongst others.

With its natural language processing capabilities, the chatbot would be built for accuracy and speed as well as "friendliness". The aim was for the AI tool to eventually be able to recommend partner service providers needed to complete the home purchase.

Ohmyhome's COO and co-founder Race Wong noted that homebuyers typically spent most of their time researching, including exploring new listings, establishing their financial posture, and ascertaining their home ownership eligibility.

Since its debut in 2016, Ohmyhome said its platform processed more than 4,500 home transactions, representing a total value of more than SG$1bn (£566.74m). It launched in Malaysia this July.

Alibaba to Digitise Beijing Theme Park Experience

The Chinese e-commerce giant has inked a deal with Universal Beijing Resort to digitise operations at the theme park as well as create a "seamless experience" for guests using smart technology.

Slated to open in 2021, Universal Beijing Resort would tap Alibaba Business Operating System, encompassing a suite of services and digital tools, to digitise the operations and management of the theme park.

Alibaba's online travel platform Fliggy, for instance, would be integrated to enable visitors to buy tickets and book hotels through the Universal Beijing flagship store using their mobile phones. They also could use Alipay's facial recognition technology across the theme park, including for park entry, to access storage lockers, and to get on express lanes.

Alibaba's local service app Koubei would offer recommendations for food and beverage based on guests' preferences as well as facilitate online meal purchases to reduce wait time.

In addition, Alibaba's online marketplace Tmall would serve as the resort's e-commerce sponsor and carry out joint marketing initiatives. The former's digital marketing platform Alimama and online video service Youku also would be tapped to provide content about the resort and access to Universal movies.

Alipay mini apps could be used to enhance guests' overall experience including trip planning and parking. Alibaba's technology and consumer insights would be further tapped to deliver improved park services and customised services for guests.

Alibaba Cloud would support the digitisation and technology infrastructure of the theme park.

Zalora Looks to Improve Logistics with FarEye

Online fashion site Zalora has partnered software vendor FarEye to improve its logistics operations and make more cost efficient deliveries.

FarEye said its tools enabled Zalora to automate logistics processes and fine-tune delivery operations, ensuring the job orders were created automatically and sent to delivery managers through a mobile app once parcels were scanned.

The software was integrated with Zalora's own warehouse technology system and digitised delivery processes, which included generating run-sheets and allocating tasks to the operations team. This ensured products could be seamlessly moved from warehouses and distribution centres to customers, FarEye said.

It added that Zalora customers could receive real-time updates on delivery status as well as details of the courier, enabling deliveries to be personalised.

Zalora Group's CTO Silvia Thom said: "FarEye's platform is…helping us provide delightful delivery experiences to our customers by making delivery processes transparent and personalised. FarEye improved the number of successful deliveries that we do in a day while reducing overall logistics expenses."

Singapore P2P Payment Gains Billion Dollar Traction

Singapore's peer-to-peer (P2P) payment transfer service, PayNow, has exceeded SG$1 billion (£566.74m) in monthly transactions for three consecutive months up to September.

As of September 30, just under three million mobile and national identification (NRIC) numbers had been registered with PayNow, according to the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS). To receive or send funds via the payment platform, consumers can link their bank account to either their mobile number or NRIC number.

The business version of the service, PayNow Corporate, also had chalked up more than 120,000 Unique Entity Numbers (UENs) since its launch in August 2018. The service enables businesses to pay and receive funds by linking their UENs to their local bank account.

Funds transferred using PayNow are processed in real-time. Nine banks in Singapore currently support the payment service including United Overseas Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, and Bank of China.

Nadiem Makarim, co-founder, Gojek

Gojek CEO Leaves to be Civil Servant

Nadiem Makarim, co-founder and CEO of Indonesian ride-sharing operator Gojek, has left the company to assume a position with the government, becoming the country's education minister.

The announcement came shortly after Joko Widodo officially kicked off his second term as Indonesia's head of state.

A company spokesperson confirmed Nadiem had accepted an appointment as a member of the new cabinet. Gojek's president Andre Soelistyo and co-founder Kevin Aluwi now lead as co-CEOs.

Speaking to reporters outside the presidential palace, Makarim said the two government officials had discussed how to drive Indonesia's development with increased investment and reformed bureaucracy.