B2C platform, another cross-fire field in Southeast Asia e-commerce.

This article is from English station KrASIA, author Zhixin Tan, original title:A clear demand for quality branded products in Southeast Asia : Jing Yin, president of commercial at Lazada

Point Tip:

  • Imitate Taobao and put on the “Tmall”: Lazada’s B2C platform LazMall’s initial development reached expectations, with 6,500 brands on the line, featuring genuine and famous products to attract users

  • Business “Treasure Box”: Interactive features, data analysis tools, online shopping festivals help brands build user loyalty, more than 25% of merchants have annual sales of over $10 million

Log in to the B2C battlefield

The Southeast Asian e-commerce platform is diversified, and the difference between the two markets of B2C and C2C is more obvious. And quality brands that promise genuine products and provide a better user experience are emerging from a small number of small stores and dealers.

Many Southeast Asian e-commerce companies have added B2C services. Bukalapak, Tokopedia, Shopee and Lazada have set up B2C business lines BukaMall, Tokopedia official store, Shopee Mall and LazMall. Even the name with the development route has followed the path of China’s e-commerce development: Alibaba’s large-scale shopping platform in addition to Taobao Taobao, and Tmall Tmall.

LazMall celebrates the first anniversary of the establishment of Southeast Asia. Laking Group Business President Yin Jing shared some of the latest news from the group. Yin Jing said that the number of merchants on the LazMall platform has tripled this year, and a series of new features have been introduced to help merchants better interact with consumers: a full set of pre-sale solutions, brand-specific coupon code customization tools As well as some new experimental features, such as adding a live stream with shopping features to the Lazada app, LazMall likes to call such activities “shoppertainment”.

The following is an excerpt from KrAsia’s interview:

Q: Convenient to share with us the main achievements of LazMall in the past year?

A: We have succeeded in doubling the number of brands on the platform. Currently, there are 6,500 brands on LazMall. LazMall has become a partner of genuine and famous products all over the world. In the past year, we have signed 15 memorandums of understanding with well-known electronics, FMCG and beauty products companies, including Estee Lauder, L’Oreal, Procter & Gamble, Amore Pacific, Cool Open and more. Many brands have chosen LazMall as their gateway to the Southeast Asian e-commerce business. Last year, we also launched the “Corporate Business Consultant” feature, which provides near real-time information for 70 group companies and 1028 brands. Between August 2018 and July 2019, more than 25% of merchants sold more than $10 million on LazMall.

Q: Lazada’s parent company, Alibaba, has a variety of online shopping festivals with huge discounts, such as Double 11. LazMall is now also planning to build a shopping festival on September 9. Why did you choose September 9?

A: We created LazMall on the eve of the 9.9 shopping festival last September, so we see September 9 as an anniversary of LazMall. 9.9 The shopping festival is actually the testing ground and user training period of the merchant. They took the opportunity to recruit customers with new activities and strategies.

Business “treasure chest”

Q: How does Lazada plan and manage brands and businesses for LazMall?

A: LazMall is a “brand direct sales” platform, which means that we have to work with the brand and its official distributors or distributors to connect with genuine sources. One of the great advantages of Lazada is that we take over the international business of the big brands and the local business of local brands. In the area of ​​regional business, we have already identified which internationally renowned brands should be introduced on the platform. For example, in the near future, we are working with BMW to launch exclusive sales activities. In terms of local business, our employees are well versed in the personal needs of emerging designer brands and domestic people. They are responsible for bringing these emerging brands to our platform.

Q:LazMall is committed to providing merchants with more ways to build brand loyalty than Lazada’s regular C2C platform. What are the specific measures?

A: WeA variety of features and tools are available for merchants to help them provide customized shopping experiences in their branded stores. In addition, we also provide near-real-time data for merchants, and quickly analyze the marketing activities to facilitate the merchants to understand their consumer group behavior and adjust the strategy according to the customer base. I believe that sharing data with merchants can help them better differentiate between new and existing customers. Merchants can use our tools to repeatedly target groups and repeatedly reach consumers, thereby increasing brand loyalty.

Q: As of today, what is the development momentum of LazMall?

A: Although e-commerce is growing rapidly, it is still too short a year. It is hard to say that LazMall is a big success. However, we can use some indicators to measure our development, such as the number of new businesses, the current development momentum is strong, we are also very satisfied with the progress made. In terms of the number of merchants and customer engagement, we have exceeded our original goal.

Short-term development goals

Q: What kind of short-term planning does Lazada have for LazMall in the future?

A:LazMall is still in its infancy. We will continue to explore adjustments and try to attract customers in a variety of new ways. First, we will continue to introduce more international brands, cover a wider range of consumer needs, and build a truly eclectic ecosystem in e-commerce. In addition, we will continue to improve the merchant tools to improve the platform experience and help businesses better interact with customers. As far as I am concerned, I will always strive to make LazMall maintain its vibrant brand image to attract consumers. E-commerce is a fast-growing industry, and it is impossible for brands to remain unchanged for two years.

Q: Will LazMall be like a Chinese Tmall, split into an independent platform?

A: We don’t have such a plan yet, but we still want to keep it simple. We founded LazMall because the Southeast Asian market has a very clear demand for quality branded products. However, we want our consumers to be able to reach all types of merchants on one platform, rather than having to switch between different platforms. Moreover, it is too early to say that LazMall can be separated from Lazada for independent operation. LazMall has just been established for a year. As a result, LazMall and Lazada will continue to use the same front-end platform, our Lazada app, to attract customers.