Consumer electronics technology evolves rapidly. As new features become available, they often command higher prices from consumers today.
PRISM+ is a Singapore born-and-bred company that’s bucking this trend. The company seeks to make premium technology accessible to the masses. Founded in 2017 by Singaporean Jonathan Tan, PRISM+ made a strong entry into the country with its curved performance PC gaming monitors and built a following with its affordable products. Since then, the company has grown significantly, steadily expanding its lineup with monitor arms and TVs.
Despite the pandemic and uncertain economic conditions in the past two years, PRISM+ grew its revenue by 1100% from 2019 – 2021. More Singaporeans were spending more time at home due to the restrictions and were buying PRISM+ products for work and leisure. In 2022, the company introduced even more premium electronics into its lineup, such as organic light-emitting diode (OLED) and quantum dot LED (QLED) TVs, and soundbars with Dolby Atmos technology. Now, PRISM+ is working to expand its reach, opening three brick-and-mortar stores in Singapore while venturing into Malaysia, the Philippines, and Australia.
How did a local company succeed against numerous competitors, survive the pandemic and win – even against other global organisations that have been in the industry for years?
Keeping a laser-focus on affordability and customer needs
PRISM+’s formula for success lies in offering premium features, like high refresh rates and large curved screens, at wallet-friendly prices. The company’s higher end offerings are often 15-20% more affordable than major brands brands, even as it launches more premium products like QLED Smart TVs and Dolby-powered soundbars.
The company’s direct-to-consumer model enables its premium products to be highly affordable, minimising or even eliminating the middleman to pass the savings on to consumers. PRISM+ also does extensive research and builds its devices only with features that make the most impact on consumers. For example, PRISM+ delivers its 2023 QLED TVs with a focus on image quality and user experience with Google TV instead of offering emerging technologies, such as high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) 2.1’s high refresh rates for console gaming, that not many consumers use at the present time.
“When we design products and localise our offerings, we go global but focus on local. We enter the country, set up our own offices and spend time understanding our local buyers’ mindset. It’s a culture that started from Singapore and something that we’ll carry with us as we expand across the region,” said Jonathan Tan, Managing Director and Founder of PRISM+.
Overcoming growing pains
PRISM+ faced challenges as it sought to expand beyond Singapore’s borders. In Australia, the company had to deal with larger supply chains and establish more warehouses to serve consumers across different locations. The sheer size of the continent made it challenging to transport larger products, such as TVs, quickly and reliably.
To solve these challenges, PRISM+ teams up with logistics providers. PRISM+ is doubling down on working with partners to streamline its supply chains. With Amazon.sg, the brand leverages Fulfillment by Amazon’s (FBA) resources to safely pack and ship its orders – while providing consumers with peace-of-mind via Amazon’s established courier service.
In Singapore, PRISM+ scaled its support teams to continue expanding its local presence sustainably. The company grew its customer service team through the pandemic from 30 to 80 people - offering 24/7 omnichannel customer service, supported by innovations like chatbots. PRISM+’s products and dedication to customer service have won it numerous plaudits, most recently topping the Straits Times’ poll for Singapore’s Best Customer Service in 2022/23 for an Online Consumer Electronics Brand.
“Customer service is one of the most important parts of our business. During the pandemic, we expanded our customer service teams by 100% to ensure that inquiries are responded to within 60 seconds during working hours. And as we expand our footprint today, we’re rapidly scaling up our logistics teams to ensure that our devices get delivered to customers quickly and safely,” said Ghim Hock Lee, Chief Operating Officer, PRISM+.
Extending PRISM+’s reach with Amazon.sg
To accelerate its growth further, PRISM+ teamed up with Amazon in Singapore starting July 2022 to advance its regional and global reach. The company currently sells monitors, TVs and soundbars on Amazon.sg and Amazon.com.au. With Amazon.sg, PRISM+ can potentially reach out to thousands of customers in Singapore. With over 200 million Prime members and over 300 million shoppers on Amazon worldwide, PRISM+ is well primed to gain more exposure for its products.
Furthermore, Amazon’s Prime membership allows PRISM+ to connect with customers who tend to spend more. The company can also leverage events like Prime Day and Black Friday to further accelerate sales of its products online. During Prime Day 2022, PRISM+ - which just launched its store on Amazon.sg - saw impressive sales impact equivalent to the company’s previous big sales events.
“In Singapore, our Prime customers have grown on average 40% year-on-year since we launched in 2017. We’re glad to see PRISM+ actively reaching out to this customer segment with their new products,” said Leo Laforgia, Country Manager, Amazon Singapore.
Additionally, as PRISM+ expands its reach across the world, Amazon Brand Registry helps the business better protect the intellectual property (IP) of its products. Amazon Brand Registry unlocks a suite of best-in-class tools, like proactive automated protections that can detect and prevent bad listings and infringements from unauthorised sellers, helping PRISM+ to protect its brand and build a better experience for customers.
Plans for further expansion
With Amazon, PRISM+ is reaching customers in Singapore and Australia. As the company expands its home entertainment lineup, it is now well positioned to expand its reach across the globe.
“Amazon is a company well known for its customer obsession and gives our consumers security, especially when buying bigger ticket items. PRISM+ is happy to work with such a brand and we look forward to seeing what we can do together on the global stage,” said Jonathan Tan, Managing Director and Founder of PRISM+.
Get premium electronics at affordable prices from PRISM+ here.
