We covered the imminent arrival of a new fuel retailer in the country that went by the name of Five. We’d prefer a five per cent discount but will have to settle with variety being the spice of life.
Well, after successfully receiving its licence from the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry on 15 January 2020, the homegrown Five is officially announcing the launch of its brand with the first station opening for business this month in Kalumpang, Selangor.
We hoped they would launch with five stations because… you know, but disappointment has been the recurring theme of 2020 so far.
Five will be managed by the same team that built Seng Group; a prominent player in the local fuel retail business. Established in 1971, the Seng Group is a leader in the petrol retail business for nearly five decades that supplies and manages distribution services to petrol station operators, including the construction of new stations.
However, the pump fuel at Five will be supplied by Petronas and branded as Ultimaxx. In fact, the retailer will be taking quite some inspiration from Petronas with the services on offer.
Part of that includes the integration of next-generation technology and innovation. Just like Petronas and its Setel app, Five will make available its own mobile app for cashless payment and will include partnerships, rewards and loyalty features into the app as well. This will include the retailer’s convenience stores dubbed Woo! Mart.
In a bid to expand its market share exponentially, Five will be supporting smaller and easier station setup for new entrepreneurs to help revolutionize Malaysia’s petroleum retail market. This creates new enterprise opportunities for all Malaysians as it lowers the entry requirements for would-be petrol station operators. It also means stations can be opened in more remote areas, bringing much-needed fuel supply to more accessible locations.