Southeast Asian e-commerce platform Lazada appoints Dong Zheng as CEO, continuing to invest firmly in localization

The reporter learned that Southeast Asian e-commerce platform Lazada today appointed James Dong as the CEO of Lazada Group , who will also serve as the CEO of Lazada Indonesia. Former CEO Li Chun will continue to serve as a director of Lazada .

It is understood that the 42 - year-old Dong Zheng has worked at Lazada for many years. As early as 2016 , he was responsible for Alibaba 's post-investment management of Lazada . Since then, he has served as the CEO of Lazada Thailand and Vietnam. He is very familiar with the local business market and merchants and consumer operations in Southeast Asia . This organizational upgrade means that Lazada will continue to firmly invest in localization.

Figure: Lazada continues to strengthen localization investment with organizational upgrades

A Lazada employee recalled that when he first took the position of CEO of Vietnam and Thailand , Lazada 's market share in the local countries was not high, and its growth rate lagged behind other peers in the local countries . After Dong Zheng took office , he started a series of actions to increase local supply and serve local consumers, and the business volume and product experience quickly improved significantly . At present , Lazada's business growth in Thailand and Vietnam has maintained a leading position for several consecutive quarters . Many internal employees who have worked with Dong Zheng commented on him: young and energetic, clear-minded , and willing to expand territory.

Public data shows that Lazada's annual order volume has grown strongly over the past year, with a growth rate of 60% , making it one of the fastest growing businesses in the Alibaba system. As of the end of September 2021 , Lazada's annual active consumers have increased by 80% in the past 18 months to 130 million, and monthly active users have increased by more than 70% in the past 18 months to 159 million. In addition, in March this year, Lazada 's monthly active sellers also hit a new record high, exceeding 1 million .

Behind these figures is the fact that over the past decade, when Southeast Asia's digital infrastructure was not yet perfect , Lazada insisted on taking a path of heavy infrastructure, heavy investment, and refined local operations, with continued investment in technology , logistics, payment and other fields. Now , these investments have begun to feed back into business development and show dividends.

In fact, Lazada started building its own logistics as early as its establishment in 2012. At present, Lazada has the second largest B2C logistics network in Southeast Asia, and it is also the largest logistics network built by e-commerce platforms in Southeast Asia. Last September, Lazada's average daily package volume exceeded 5 million, of which about 80% of the first kilometer and about 50% of the last kilometer were fulfilled through Lazada's self-operated network. In terms of logistics fulfillment costs, in recent years, Lazada has upgraded its logistics technology system and warehousing operation system through the implementation of the "Apollo Project", achieving a 20%-30% reduction in the average delivery cost of local order packages.

In terms of payment, Lazada provides various bank card payments through the "Lazada Wallet" in consideration of the differences in development stages and payment habits among Southeast Asian countries. It also pioneered the "cash on delivery" model in Southeast Asia , allowing consumers in some underdeveloped areas of Southeast Asia who are not used to using bank cards to shop without any obstacles. In terms of technology, Lazada has restructured its full-stack technology through projects such as "Voyager" , providing consumers with a smooth e-commerce shopping experience.

Localization has always been one of the strategies that Lazada has always adhered to. Lazada is the first e-commerce platform to introduce the concept of e-commerce promotions such as Double 11 and Double 12 to Southeast Asia. Combining the characteristics of Southeast Asia's developed social media and a large proportion of young users, it creatively integrates strategies such as games and live broadcasts into the platform shopping environment, which is loved by local consumers . Alibaba's latest financial report also mentioned that the main reason for Lazada 's strong growth is that Lazada continues to implement its localization strategy, increase the supply of local and global products, and provide value-added services such as free shipping .

Lazada was founded in 2012 and currently operates in six countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Lazada Platform

Southeast Asia