Rocket Internet is continuing its rapid-fire expansion into Southeast Asia. It has launched — that’s right — an Amazon.com clone called Lazada, in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. It will open in Malaysia soon.
Besides books, the e-store is selling home appliances, mobile devices, computers, video games, and more.
Lazada is just their latest in a string of copycats businesses; they have launched a Pinterest clone called Pinspire, and before that, a Zappos clone called Zalora.
The news was confirmed by GigaOm when a job ad was placed on job recruitment site Jobstreet Indonesia calling for a senior HR manager.
Rocket Internet’s activities have polarized the tech community.
While some have scolded them for being rip-offs — right down to the identical design details of the websites — as well as for their brutal corporate culture, they’ve also been praised for being efficient and masterful executors.
Whatever your opinion of them, it looks like their entry into Southeast Asia could give the local startups a run for their money.
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