Lazada returns with wilder Online Revolution

Alexandre Dardy

Is this the first time Lazada and a Vietnamese bank have co-operated on payment services?

We strike partnerships with other banks all the time to facilitate our promotions. For example, we managed to carry out a 10 per cent price deduction on orders paid through VietinBank accounts. However, regarding international arrangements, this is indeed the first time Lazada co-operates with a Vietnamese bank.

What benefits could this partnership offer in terms of payment methods?

More than 90 per cent of our customers pay by cash on delivery (COD), so now we attain a new mechanism for Vietnamese customers to pay via cash for cross-border goods. Especially, during the December 11-14 mega sales, customers will be given more payment options than only Visa and MasterCard. Lazada will be the first online shopping website that enables customers to purchase cross-border products with the COD method.

Since the COD payment method could pose a threat to our website and damage our suppliers, we decided to shorten the time window between customers deciding to make a purchase and the orders’ arrival. It has come to our notice that customers have the tendency to have second thoughts during this time period, so we are doing our best to minimise the delivery time. This way, our customers will be less likely to cancel orders.

How is Online Revolution different from sales campaigns run by other online shopping platforms?

Let me briefly introduce the concept of Online Revolution. In its essence, it is simply when Lazada partners up with plenty of brands, merchants, and marketing partners to make sure the promotion and the assortment of prices will be exceptional during the event and the rest of the year. There is no actual difference between this year’s and last year’s campaign, as we consistently manage to supply the most sought-after products at the most reasonable price.

The concept remains unchanged except that we have partnered up with more brands and more merchants this year. As a result, while the concept is fixed, the website of our business alters from one year to the next, offering better performance and faster operation.

In 2018, I will tell you the same about our Online Revolution, only with a longer list of striking achievements. Our plan for 2018 is to continue growing with an impressive speed as previous years to attract more people to go shopping online, and in order to complete Lazada’s mission to improve the quality of the Vietnamese’s life.

The reason behind our seemingly unattainable objective is that over the last four years of our operations in Vietnam, the one thing I am certain of is that Vietnamese people’s mindset has changed incredibly. Also, also the sheer scale of the e-commerce market holds great promise for the industry.

Alibaba has recently become the owner of Lazada. Could you share what has changed at Lazada since the acquisition?

Of course, there is a huge difference. Obviously, as the main shareholder, Alibaba now wields a lot more influence over Lazada’s strategy and vision. Fortunately, there is not much of a difference between the visions of the two parties, which is to eventually develop the economy and support the community as an online shopping mall. Alibaba is one of the leading e-commerce platforms in the world, meaning they have considerable experience and expertise, which will definitely come in handy in picking Lazada’s strategy in the future.

I firmly believe that Lazada stands only to gain from all that Alibaba brings to the table in this partnership which is an open and clever entrepreneurial mindset.

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