Cao Zhen

    caozhen0806@126.com

    LAZADA Group, a leading online shopping platform in Southeast Asia, hosted its annual Seller Conference in Shenzhen on Friday to lure Chinese sellers to tap into the region’s lucrative consumer market.

    “Lazada currently operates online in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam and there are 550 million consumers in the six countries. Although we have spearheaded online shopping in Southeast Asia, there is still tremendous room for growth when you consider that e-commerce accounts for less than 1 percent of the total retail market in the region,” said Lazada Group’s founder and chief marketing officer, Aimone Ripa di Meana.

    He noted that Southeast Asia’s e-commerce market is still underdeveloped, fragmented and diverse with different countries having different consumption habits and logistic conditions. He said that by combining its regional presence with locally tailored capabilities in areas such as supply-chain, last-mile delivery and payment options, Lazada has developed solutions for Chinese brands and sellers wanting to enter this rapidly growing region.

    Meana said there are a total of 50,000 sellers on Lazada’s platform and that there are already 6,000 Chinese sellers. To promote year-end sales, Lazada launched an annual shopping spree in 2012 and this year the promotional period is from Nov. 11 to Dec. 12. He said that throughout the event, sellers will receive training and support from Lazada in selecting the best promotional deals to scale up their sales.

    Friday’s Seller Conference attracted more than 300 Chinese sellers, brand representatives and business partners who were interested in learning about entering the Southeast Asia market.

    A seller from the Fashion Deal company in Guangdong said: “During last year’s Lazada Online Festival, we saw sales go up 10-fold compared with what we usually achieve. Lazada supported us every step of the way, assigning a dedicated account manager who constantly provided advice and suggestions on how we could maximize sales. Because of the success we made last year, we’re aiming high this year, I hope that sales will increase by 15 times or more.”

    Launched in 2012, Lazada features a wide variety of products in categories ranging from consumer electronics to household goods, toys, fashion and sports equipment.