Taipei Times
Date: Mar 14, 2018
By: Lauly Li  /  Staff reporter

Eastern Home Shopping & Leisure Co Ltd (EHS, 東森購物) yesterday said it plans to launch its own cryptocurrency by June in a bid to increase the liquidity of its customer loyalty program and improve customer retention amid escalating competition in the nation’s retail industry.

“Japan’s Rakuten Inc is to launch its cryptocurrency, Rakuten Coin; Line Corp will also tap into cryptocurrency transactions… We need to accelerate our pace to catch up with the global trend,” Gary Wang (王令麟), chairman of Eastern Media Group (東森集團), the parent company of EHS, told a media gathering after EHS’ e-commerce forum in Taipei.

EHS’ operations include TV, catalogue and online shopping, as well as a shopping channel on Chunghwa Telecom Co’s (中華電信) multimedia-on-demand platform.

EHS last year issued approximately NT$10 billion (US$341.86 million) worth of loyalty points to customers, but the redemption rate was low, as too many companies have launched loyalty programs or issued small-value vouchers, causing consumers to forget to use them, Wang said.    [FULL  STORY]