Lazada brings Taobao to Singapore

SINGAPORE — China’s Alibaba Group has teamed up with online retailer Lazada to bring popular shopping site Taobao to Singapore, in a move to deepen the reach of the Chinese e-commerce giant into Asia ahead of US rival Amazon.

Last year, Alibaba made headlines with a US$1 billion (S$1.4 billion) deal for control of Lazada, giving the Chinese retailer greater access to South-east Asia and closer to a goal of shedding its home-market reliance.

The dedicated online store, Taobao Collection, went live this week, and links shoppers in Singapore directly to Taobao through Lazada’s website (taobao.lazada.sg).  

The collection targets shoppers in Singapore who want to shop directly from Taobao and are more comfortable with a local connection.

Some 400,000 items, from electronics to home products, will be specially curated for the Singapore market, Mr Alexis Lanternier, CEO of Lazada Singapore told TODAY. 

The customised range is selected based on top selling products and customer reviews, from the existing line-up of about 1.5 billion offerings on the Taobao website, he said.

The idea, according to Mr Lanternier, is to address some of the challenges that shoppers here face while shopping from Taobao, such as lowering shipping fees. By doing away with external agents, Taobao Collection is able to offer a flat delivery rate of S$2.99 per order. 

“Lazada is aiming at solving difficulties that currently exist when shopping from Taobao, enabling an effortless way for them to shop. The site will be translated into English (from Chinese) and shoppers don’t have to worry about shipping, payment methods and returns. Shoppers can also track their orders end-to-end on Lazada and can shop exactly as they would on Lazada Singapore,” Mr Lanternier said. 

Taobao’s entry into Singapore, according to industry players, is likely to have far-reaching implications even as it expands the playing field for e-commerce and creates a more dynamic landscape for retailers. 

“It will definitely require online retailers to continuously think on their feet to come up with new and fresh offerings, in order to keep their customers engaged. To ultimately drive Singapore’s weakening retail sector, online and offline retailers should synergise with — instead of cannibalise — each other,” said Mr Hyun Wook Cho, Qoo10 Singapore country manager.

With more than 2.5 million registered users in Singapore, however, Qoo10 remains confident of its future prospects as an online shopping platform for Singaporeans, as it offers affordable products and understands the local market.

“Singaporeans are highly savvy online shoppers who no longer only go for attractive prices, but also look for value-added services to have enjoyable shopping experiences,” Mr Cho added, highlighting the company’s interactive Live10 app which serves as a community chatroom where users can broadcast live demos or shopping tips to their followers.

Meanwhile, avid shoppers in Singapore welcomed Alibaba’s move to bring its largest shopping platform much closer. 

“We now hope to have access to Taobao products much faster and expect them to be cheaper with no agents in between. Earlier, it used to take almost a month to get the products,” said 19-year-old Siglap resident Mr Nguyen Duc Thanh who buys electronic products for himself and others from Taobao at least once a month.

“I would want to shop more now that Taobao is easily accessible through Lazada. I have always wanted to do so but given the language and other issues (related to agents), I was hesitant,” said Dakota resident Mr Andrew Fang, 30, who is keen on buying more home products. 
According to Qoo10’s Mr Cho, e-commerce players who successfully create lasting experiences that resonate with their user bases will be the ones to survive today’s increasingly competitive landscape.