E-Commerce, The Future of The Retail Industry
E-commerce as an industry has grown to play a crucial role in Southeast Asia’s economic condition.
In 2015, the ASEAN e-commerce market was valued at around USD 5.5 billion, and in 2020, the market value has exploded, increasing by almost 7 times to a staggering USD 38 billion in just under 5 years according to TheAseanPost.
It is projected that by 2025, this figure will almost quadruple to USD 150 billion and this trend will keep on increasing until the foreseeable future.
That means that in only a decade, the ASEAN e-commerce market is increasing in value at an astonishing average rate of 38.18% per year.
One of the Biggest E-Commerce Platforms in South East Asia
Currently, there are a lot of e-commerce platforms in Southeast Asia, such as Singapore-based Shopee, Indonesia-based Tokopedia, and many others.
However, one of the most prominent platforms in the region is Lazada, as the Alibaba-owned e-commerce platform has consistently remained at the top of the Southeast Asia e-commerce hierarchy for years.
In 2018, Lazada’s recorded an average of just over 200 million monthly visits from the region of Southeast Asia for its website and mobile application and experienced a peak of 250 million visits in the month of February 2018.
At the time, other platforms such as Shopee reported averages of 126 million visits and peaked at around 170 million. Currently, Lazada is the #2 e-commerce platform in Malaysia, according to iPrice.
Lazada and How It Became One Of The Biggest E-Commerce Platforms in Southeast Asia
Originating in Europe, Lazada was founded by Maximilian Bittner alongside the support of Rocket Internet in 2012.
Lazada was created with the intent to be the Amazon.com of Southeast Asia. In 2016, the Chinese supercompany, Alibaba, bought the rights to Lazada Southeast Asia for USD 1 billion.
Since its inception in 2012, Lazada Southeast Asia has accumulated billions of U.S. dollars in the marketplace of 7 countries (Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, and Hong Kong).
With an annual GMV (Gross Merchandise Value) of more than USD 650 million in Q2 of 2019 alone and more than USD 4 billion in investments from the Alibaba Group, Lazada is set to be one of the biggest e-commerce platforms in Southeast Asia.
Why Do People Choose Lazada Over Other E-Commerce Platforms?
Lazada offers plenty of unique features that have attracted a large number of sellers to the platform. Some of the most important features that Lazada has includes:
- Lazada University for current and future sellers
- “Fulfilled by Lazada” feature
- A separate mobile application for sellers and buyers to make things less complicated for both parties.
Lazada University
Lazada University is Lazada’s official online website that you can visit at www.university.lazada.com.my.
Essentially, Lazada University is an online course offered by Lazada that provides tips and insights on how to be a great Lazada seller.
As the name suggests, there are a lot of features that can help you to understand how Lazada works.
There are livestream lectures and courses on much important knowledge for you to start your online business such as Branding and Marketing, Basic Store Operation, Growth Center, and many other courses that you can take advantage of to improve your online store.
All of these online classes and live streams are free and accessible for anyone as long as they already have a Lazada account.
There are also testimonies of other successful sellers that use Lazada in general as their e-commerce platform.
Just like an actual university, Lazada University also has a timetable on what courses are going to be live-streamed, you can choose to join your desired subject and there will be a Q&A forum so you can ask if you still feel like you don’t understand something.
So if you’re brand new to the world of e-commerce, this is a perfect opportunity for you to learn more!
Fulfilled by Lazada
Fulfilled by Lazada is Lazada’s own consignment system. Within this system, sellers put their item in Lazada’s warehouse itself so that Lazada can guarantee the fastest and most convenient delivery service for the buyers.
Once the seller has dropped off their items at Lazada’s warehouse, Lazada will store, pack, and directly ship the products to the buyers, ensuring that the packing and delivery process is done in a timely fashion.
This may be particularly beneficial for sellers on Lazada since it helps to increase customer satisfaction results, save time and costs, increase sales, and helps to expand your online business. (sellercenter.lazada.com.my)
Separate Mobile Application for Sellers and Buyers
Like many other e-commerce platforms, Lazada also has a mobile application that is available to download for free both for Android and IOS.
However, Lazada is unique due to the fact that it has a separate app for sellers and buyers on the platform, which can be beneficial in eliminating confusion as well as improving the management of the platform.
Within Lazada’s seller application, there are a lot of features that can help sellers on selling their products such as a dedicated page for monitoring the seller’s store so they can track things such as how many orders they have or what feedback has been given for a particular product.
There is also a “Feed Generator” button that can generate a feed for the seller’s store, which helps to increase the store’s popularity and sales. Amongst all the e-commerce applications, Lazada has a great mobile application that has plenty of useful features.
What’s the Downside of Selling on Lazada?
As one of the biggest e-commerce platforms in Southeast Asia, Lazada’s marketplace and competition are among the biggest in the region. Naturally, this means that there are plenty of other sellers that you will have to compete with since the platform is so popular.
After all, you’ll not only be competing with local sellers but with international sellers as well.
Plus, plenty of other sellers on the platform are also likely to be selling products that compete in the same market as yours, meaning that you’re likely to face a fair amount of competition if you decide to sell on Lazada.
Nonetheless, the reach and support offered by Lazada will definitely make it easier to sell on the platform as opposed to going at it on your own.
So long as you’re willing to keep learning and improving your e-commerce skills, you’re bound to find success selling on Lazada!
How Do I Start Selling on Lazada?
When you want to begin selling on Lazada, you’ll first need to know what type of seller category you would fall under.
On the platform, there are 3 different types of sellers, being:
- LazMall seller
- Local seller
- LazGlobal seller
LazMall seller
- Brand owner/Authorized distributor
- Exclusive access to special LazMall campaigns
- A higher position in search rankings
- Extra seller tools
- Payment of commission on sales only
Local seller
- Based locally (within the country)
- A wide array of seller tools
- 0% Commission
LazGlobal seller
- Based in China/Korea/Japan
- A registered business
- Ship products to Lazada’s overseas sorting centers
- A wide array of seller tools
- Payment of commission on sales only
Now that you know what category of seller you fall under and what benefits you can expect to get, you can now sign up to be a seller on Lazada through either their mobile application or on their website.
How to Become a Seller on Lazada’s Mobile Application
- Search and download “Lazada Seller Center – Online Selling!” on your mobile device. The app is available both for Android and IOS.
- After your download completes, open the application and sign in. If you don’t have an account you can sign up using the “Create an Account” button.
- After signing in, go to the “Me” page by clicking the “Me” bottom right corner of the home page.
- Select “Seller Account” and fill in the information that is required.
- After completing the “Seller Account” go to “General Information”.
- Fill in the required information for each of the categories.
- Once the information is filled, you will need to wait for Lazada’s team to verify your information before you can start selling.
- Once your account is verified, you can start selling by clicking “Add Product” on the “Home” page.
- Select your Main Image for the product. You can also edit your image using the built-in image editor.
- You add up to 7 additional pictures and even a video to make your product page more interesting.
- Fill in your details and select the category for your product. Make sure that your product is described accurately.
How to Become a Seller on Lazada’s Website
- Open your browser and type in sellercenter.lazada.com.my
- Sign in to your account or create a new account.
- Go to “My Account” and “Profile” and fill in the required information in “Seller Account”, “Business Information”, “Bank Account”, and “Warehouse Address”.
- You need to wait until the Lazada team verifies your account so that you can sell your products.
- After you get verified, go to “Products”, then “Add Products” to start selling your products.
- You will need to enter the product name and fill in the other required information regarding your product. You can select your images on “Price & Stock”. You can add up to 8 images and a video.
- After you fill in the necessary information, click “Submit” and you’re done! Your item is now listed on the Lazada marketplace.
Tips for Selling on Lazada
Use Lazada’s Lorikeet Product Page Designer
Lazada has a product page customization tool called Lorikeet that lets you customize your product page to your liking. This can be useful if you’d like to change the theme of your product pages to be more eye-catching, potentially leading to higher conversion rates.
Provide free shipping to entice buyers even more
We all know how much everyone likes free shipping!
When selling on Lazada, it would be beneficial for you to utilize this information to increase the likelihood of people finalizing their purchases by offering them free shipping on some or all of the products in your store.
Create bundle deals for your products
If you sell products or items that typically come together or are commonly paired with one another, then it would be great to create bundle deals since this could make the deal you offer that much sweeter.
Having bundle deals will provide an extra incentive to potential buyers to make that final decision to buy.
Don’t forget to obtain KKM approval for health/beauty products
If your store sells health or beauty products, make sure that they’ve obtained approval from KKM (Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia) before you list them on Lazada.
If you don’t have approval, you run the risk of having your product listings taken down.
Make sure the product information is always accurate
To avoid issues on various ends, it’s always best to make sure that any and all information you list about your product is accurate.
This ranges from the color of the product to the product dimensions and specifications such as height and weight.
Ride along with Lazada’s frequent promotions
One major benefit of selling on a popular platform like Lazada is that you get to ride along with plenty of their site-wide promotions.
When these happen, it can drive plenty of traffic to the website, which also helps sellers since they get much more product views and purchases than usual.
So, don’t forget to take full advantage of any promotional campaigns that Lazada runs!
Now is Your Moment!
So now that you’re aware of how and why you should consider using Lazada as your e-commerce platform, should you take this chance to start your online business?
The answer is a resounding yes.
As long as you have the time to manage your online business and learn along the way, you should definitely give selling on Lazada a shot!
After all, you can take advantage of Lazada University to learn how to become an excellent seller and make money out of it.
So what are you waiting for? Download the Lazada app on Google Play Store or Apple App store, or visit their official website at www.lazada.com.my.
Need Help Setting Up Your Lazada Store?
If you do need help, contact us today for a free consultation on how we can help you!
If you would like to know how we can help you out, do check out our services page.
Want to know more about Lazada’s biggest competitor Shopee? Check out our complete guide to selling on Shopee!