Following the solid showing and interest of Singaporeans and Malaysians with products from Taobao, Lazada is bringing the collection to three other markets in Southeast Asia: Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand.
With Taobao now available on Lazada's platform, consumers from the five markets will be able to access millions of additional products in areas such as fashion, sports, travel, electronics, home, and beauty.
Also read: Singapore's e-commerce biz dominates despite Amazon, Alibaba invasion
According to Lazada Group chief marketplace officer Aimone Ripa di Meana, the products will be curated to fit the local tastes and interests in each of the new markets. These products will also be offered in local languages on the Lazada Sites.
Taobao Collection will be launched in Indonesia on 25 September, the Philippines on 11 October, and Thailand on 1 November. Across the region, Lazada currently has 175 million products from international and local-country brands and merchants, with Taobao Collection contributing about 8 million per country and adding breadth to Lazada's assortment particularly in fashion and home & living.
"There has been very strong interest in Taobao Collection products from Singapore consumers since introduced six months ago. This is a true testament to the way the Lazada and Alibaba teams have come together to build the business in a fast and efficient way combining consumer insights, technology know-how and local expertise," di Meana said.
This came with amidst the heated competition amongst e-commerce players in the region. Players are waging war to grab a slice of the market of 600 million people who can potentially contribute to the e-commerce industry of the region.
One of the recent happenings in the e-commerce scene, as reported by Reuters, is Alibaba's additional US$1 billion investment in Lazada to boost its stake to 83 percent.
More so, Amazon launched its Prime Now quick delivery service in Singapore in July. In Thailand, JD.com and Central Group formed a US$500 million partnership in e-commerce and fintech.
