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Hi there,
As the year draws to an end, I feel an urgent need to break out of the mold. Routine can kill creativity.
This is perhaps something that could also apply to the tech industry, which has been reeling under a slew of bad news. Uncertainties abound even though history has shown that some great companies were born out of economic recessions.
To survive this downturn, we need to be innovative. After all, isn’t that what the tech industry is about? As Alibaba Group chair and CEO Daniel Zhang said, the focus is now about “creating user value rather than just scaling.”
He was talking about AliExpress and Lazada. But that point also resonates with Lazada’s biggest rival in the region, Shopee.
The Sea Group-owned ecommerce firm has been under unprecedented scrutiny this year, and it has probably implemented all the cost-cutting measures that are on the table. It’s facing a looming (self-imposed) deadline of 2023 to break even. But is laying off staff and shutting market operations sufficient?
This week’s Big Story, written by my colleague Putra, talks more about whether the recent quarter’s encouraging results mean that Shopee is out of the woods.
In the Hot Take, I note that Lazada also needs to reinvent itself to stay competitive in the long haul.
For both marketplaces, the clock is really ticking.
– Huong
THE BIG STORY
Shopee tries to right ship after a turbulent 2022
Image credit: Timmy Loen
The ecommerce giant has come through the first phase of the storm. Can it stay on track for 2023?
THE HOT TAKE
NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW
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