Photo credit: Tech in Asia.
Lazada has little to worry about in the way of funding. Backed by Chinese ecommerce titan Alibaba, the Southeast Asian marketplace is well-positioned to dominate the regional ecommerce market. Except for one, multi-billion dollar caveat: Amazon.
In a fireside chat during Tech in Asia Singapore yesterday, Max Bittner, CEO of Lazada, addressed the elephant in the room – Amazon’s highly anticipated entry into Southeast Asia. In fact, Bittner believes that Amazon Prime Now, the US tech giant’s two-hour delivery service, is slated to launch in Singapore as soon as this month. That prompted them to roll out LiveUp, Lazada’s own customer loyalty program, in the city-state last month.
“So we’ve heard May 28th – let’s see if that’s true,” he said, referring to Amazon Prime Now’s launch in Singapore. “They’ve been delayed a few times, but maybe they’ll get it right this time.”
Bittner believes that Amazon Prime Now is slated to launch in Singapore this month.
Tech in Asia reached out to Amazon and has not yet heard back.
Bittner explained that LiveUp – which offers benefits across Netflix, Uber, Redmart, and other services – has been designed especially for Singaporean users. The other advantage Lazada has going for them in defense of Amazon is “the other 800 pound gorilla in the room” or Alibaba, he said.
“We can fall back on [Alibaba], and not have to raise money every six months like our competitors,” he said. “We can really focus on building a fundamental core difference.”
As for Southeast Asia’s other markets, Bittner said that he wouldn’t speculate when and how Amazon will enter them.
The 800 pound gorilla
Photo credit: Alibaba.
Alibaba’s US$1 billion injection into Lazada, which was announced last April, is already starting to make a difference. The Southeast Asian marketplace now offers Chinese products from Taobao, Alibaba’s bazaar-like ecommerce site, where anyone can open their own shop and start selling goods.
Lazada is also integrating its payment solution, HelloPay, with Alibaba’s financial affiliate, Ant Financial. The Chinese fintech firm operates Alipay, the leading mobile wallet in China. Last month, Ant Financial and HelloPay announced their merge, which will rebrand HelloPay’s regional identity in Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia as Alipay.
Lazada does not take 30 seconds to put a product online. It will take a few days.
Stay updated on the go with our mobile app.
Get latest insights with smoother, more personalized experience through TIA mobile app.
