Lazada: Record-Breaking Sales on Double Eleven

The head of the Singapore branch of Lazada, a Southeast Asian e-commerce platform, said recently that its sales hit a new record during Double Eleven. With the Double Eleven shopping carnival gaining momentum in China, many Southeast Asian retail platforms also appeared and celebrated the event, offering customers big discounts and promotions on November 11 every year.

In an interview with Street Signs Asia of CNBC on November 12, James Chang, CEO of Lazada Singapore, said, “On Double Eleven, 40 million consumers accessed the Lazada APP, and more than 400,000 sellers made deals during the event.”

Despite Lazada didn't separately disclose its gross merchandise volume (GMV) during the shopping carnival, Chang said in the interview that the company’s sales achieved more than $100 million within the first hour of the event (i.e., midnight to 1 a.m.). He said, “In achieving the goal, it is three times faster than last year, and generally speaking, it's a remarkable achievement.”

Chang added that among the 400,000 sellers in Southeast Asia, more than half of them are local SMEs and small retailers. He explained that many countries have locked down cities and restricted travelling as a result of COVID-19, thus making it difficult for these brick-and-mortar shops to maintain performance. Many small retailers are trying to increase their online traffic as much as possible.

Alibaba, Lazada's parent company, announced that during the 11-day promotion this year, the company's GMV totaled $74.1 billion.

Southeast Asia has become a popular emerging market for leading Internet companies due to its large young population and rapidly-growing number of Internet users. It is estimated that the total size of the Internet economy in Southeast Asia will reach $100 billion by 2020 and triple to $300 billion by 2025.

E-commerce is predicted to be the major driver of the Internet economy in Southeast Asia. Moreover, COVID-19 has also made consumers in the region more inclined to shopping online, ordering delivery and paying bills online. These changes in users’ behaviors will continue even after the epidemic were eradicated.