Is Lazada becoming a super app?

The ride-hailing service of Singapore transport firm ComfortDelGro is now available on the app home page of ecommerce giant Lazada for users in the city-state.

Photo credit: Lazada app

The service, called CDG Taxi, is positioned alongside Lazada’s main offerings, which include LazMall, Taobao, RedMart, and LazLive.

A Lazada spokesperson told Tech in Asia that they had started discussion with ComfortDelGro some time ago to identify synergies between transportation and ecommerce services beyond just transactional sale of of vouchers. The spokesperson added that the partnership in Singapore will offer direct app integration between the two companies, and allows Lazada shoppers to have a “seamless user journey that encompasses an all-in-one transportation and shopping experience.”

This development comes after ComfortDelGro added 25 private-hire cars in January as part of a month-long trial of its ride-hailing service, taking on Southeast Asian giants Grab and Gojek.

The Alibaba-owned Lazada provides services including commerce, logistics, and payments in six countries across the region: Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines. The company also aims to serve 300 million customers by 2030.

Last year, it also added a flight-booking feature to its offerings for users in Singapore and the Philippines.

CDG Taxi’s eye-catching placement within the Lazada app suggests that the ecommerce player is trying to evolve beyond its core service to become more of a super app like Grab and Gojek.

But while Lazada users in Indonesia and the Philippines can pay bills and top up phone credits – services also offered by Grab and Gojek, among others – the taxi-hailing feature on the Lazada app isn’t available outside Singapore.

This is not the first team-up between Lazada and ComfortDelGro. In April 2020, ComfortDelGro worked with RedMart to help deliver groceries in Singapore amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

In late 2020, Lazada also formed a partnership with Grab in Vietnam to integrate both companies’ offerings on their respective local platforms. The tie-up allows Vietnamese users to access on-demand meal delivery service GrabFood from the homepages of Lazada’s app and website. Lazada’s platform can also be accessed through links embedded in Grab’s campaign banners.

For the quarter ended December 31, 2020, Lazada achieved a triple-digit year-over-year growth and pulled in US$1.5 billion, along with Alibaba’s other international commerce retail businesses.

Meanwhile, ComfortDelGro says it has a global network of over 40,000 vehicles. It operates in seven countries: Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Australia, China, UK, and Ireland.

Last month, the company launched a lifestyle and mobility app called Zig. It allows users to book taxis, plan trips, make dining reservations, and find attractions and entertainment outlets, among others.