If the Philippines has the world’s biggest Facebook penetration, then it could also be a leading e-commerce market, according to the top chief of Lazada Philippines.
Inanc Balci, Chief Executive Officer of Lazada Philippines. PHOTO BY: LAZADA
“There are 57-million Facebook accounts. Not the most number of accounts but in terms of penetration, which is the number of accounts divided by the number of Internet users, the Philippines is number 1. Why don’t we do the same for e-commerce. If someone can create an FB account, they can also buy online,” said CEO Inanc Balci.
With Lazada reaching a record high 91% market share in the Philippine e-commerce category, Balci is optimistic about the outlook of e-commerce in the Philippines. In fact, the company is celebrating its 5th anniversary this week with a three-day sale dubbed “Lazada’s 5th Birthday Surprise.”
Balci says Lazada Philippines is bent on pursuing its objective of taking the Philippines to a significantly high level in terms of e-commerce penetration, and becoming a technology-driven platform to empower sellers and brands for their customers in the next five years.
Balci adds, “Our objective is to make the Philippines (maybe) number 1 in the next five years so we can make the Philippine economy more efficient for everyone to benefit from a very strong and huge e-commerce market. More and more people can create business and benefit from the growing economy.”
The local e-commerce industry represents a mere 1% of all retail sales, which is far behind the e-commerce performance of other developed countries and even Taiwan that has 18% share in the world’s market penetration. However, as Balci said, Lazada will implement initiatives and embrace social media, one of the most powerful tools for marketing, to easily reach and connect with customers and further boost e-commerce penetration.
Balci noted that their aim is to increase seller rate without competing with shopping malls and other stores. “What we will do is to offer additional sales channels to all businesses in the Philippines so they can reach out to everyone.”
Citing the 57-million FB accounts in the Philippines, Balci advised sellers that if they want to reach out to everyone in the Philippines, they can either open stores in all islands or join Lazada platform so they can start increasing the number of customers and generate more sales.
Biggest entrepreneurial opportunity in the Philippines
Lazada is the biggest entrepreneurial opportunity in the Philippines. “You don’t need any big investment in order to reach millions of peso sales. You need an Android phone to start selling on Lazada and reach our merchants only after a successful delivery,” said Balci.
Balci also said that Lazada is a level playing field wherein small merchants get the same rates as those given to large companies. “The opportunity is there. We have massive number of sellers and everyday, more people are approaching us to sell on Lazada.”
The creation of innovative tools that can help merchants grow their business is very important for Lazada. This online shopping and selling destination has started the Instagram Shop where sellers who sell on Instragram can make an Instagram account on Lazada, making it easier to connect all their accounts and have a lot of sellers. Apart from this, the company has recently launched the Alibaba’s seller center for their merchants.
“We make it easier for our merchants to grow their business and if they have problems, we will make sure that we will solve the problems for them,” said Balci.
Social media for building brand awareness
Social media platform also serves as a channel for building brand awareness. This is very significant for Lazada as they have an increasing number of brands for their customers. Today, more than 14,000 brands can be found in Lazada. They are also doing a one-on-one marketing partnership, which as of the moment, has reached to over 60 one-on-one co-marketing partnerships with top brands in the Philippines.
Aside from this, Lazada is also trying to come up with innovative things so their brands can engage better with millions of Filipinos online.
“We are doing a lot of Facebook Live executions. We will also be launching another Lazada Live feature soon so key opinion leaders and celebrities can do their platform on the Lazada website together with brands they support. We will do a lot of co-marketing activities,” Balci announced.
Customers are valuable to Lazada as no company can survive without them. For them, Lazada has 6.3-million products that are available and can be bought in the Philippine site. This number is fast increasing, according to Balci.
“As we get more merchants, more brands and supplies, this number will skyrocket,” said Balci. “By the end of the year, it will be a double-digit million number.”
Right assortment at the right price
Balci also said they will offer their customers the right assortment at the right price. Today, customers have a lot of products and brands to choose from as Lazada has 18 product categories with the addition of product lines for pets and groceries.
Balci relayed that when Alibaba became a majority investor in Lazada in 2016, it acquired Singapore’s RedMart, a grocery e-commerce company which continue to integrate their operations in the region.
Lazada continues to offer better customer experience which makes customers repeat customers. To serve them more, Lazada came up with more innovations. Foremost of which is the nationwide cash-on delivery so there’s no need for customers’ credit cards in making purchases. For those with a minimum purchase of P1,000, their items are delivered free nationwide. There is also free delivery without any restrictions for Metro Manila, free returns for customers, and 24/7 access via Lazada website or mobile app.
Lazada’s 5th Birthday Surprise will start on the midnight of March 21 until March 23, where the company expects 10-million visitors in its website who can avail of discounts of up to 90%, flash sales where markdown prices are offered on top items, exclusive product launches, deals on branded products, and even raffle prizes.
