The retail environment in Asia Pacific is a diverse yet busy landscape for beauty buyers. Pop-up stores are becoming a popular hybrid choice for brands, which are looking to develop strong brand awareness while presenting consumers with convenient opportunities to try before they buy, and interact with their favourite products and services.
O2O strategies are also getting a revamp as the 2.0 version of the core marketing approach in Asia Pacific requires an understanding of shoppers lifestyle habits and targeted campaigns based on the actual needs of consumers.
Alibaba investment
E-commerce powerhouse, Alibaba, recently upped its investment in the Southeast platform and dedication to retail in Southeast Asia by providing an additional $2 bn (€1.6 bn) in Lazada.
Alibaba's latest investment reflects its acceleration plans and strives to deepen Lazada’s “integration into the Alibaba ecosystem”.
In total, Alibaba will have invested $4 bn (€3.2 bn) into the Southeast Asia region’s top e-commerce platform. Alibaba acquired control of Lazada, which operates in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, in 2016 following an investment of $1 bn (€811 mn). Its stakes increased to 83% in 2017 after ploughing in another $1 bn (€811 mn) of investment.
"With a young population, high mobile penetration and just 3% of the region's retail sales currently conducted online, we feel very confident to double down on Southeast Asia. Lazada is well-positioned for the next phase of development of Internet-enabled commerce in this region, and we are excited about the incredible opportunities for supercharged growth," highlighted Lucy Peng, who currently serves as Lazada's Chairman, and who will assume the additional role of Chief Executive Officer to drive Lazada's growth strategies.
"Lazada has been an extremely entrepreneurial organization led by Max Bittner. It has achieved rapid growth over the years and created a tremendous amount of shareholder value under Max's leadership. I want to thank Max for giving Alibaba the opportunity to continue its success and develop the company from solid foundations into the next phase of growth," Peng added.
"Alibaba's new commitment to capital and resources is good for Lazada and good for the Southeast Asia e-commerce market,” relayed Bittner.
Next in O2O
Lazada has strengthened its online-to-offline (O2O) presence by bringing the online shopping experience to the offline shopping centre. Partnering with 20 global brands and local sellers to broaden its engagement with Singapore shoppers, Lazada offered shoppers flash deals and giveaways worth up to $120,000 (€97,000)
The two-day event, held between 13th-15th April 2018, marked Lazada's 6th birthday celebrations. It was complete with on-stage performances, booth activities and 6,000 giveaways. Following the birthday party, Lazada will launch a sale that starts on 24th April on Lazada.SG.
Renowned beauty name Mamonde, L'Oreal and Origins will offer free professional makeovers, skin consultations, and hand massages.
Utilising the power of mobile commerce, Lazada is also set to unveil its new 'Shakin' Deals', an in-app game. This will launch on the final day of the event to enable shoppers to win vouchers of up to $120 (€97) by shaking their phones to engage and enter.
Alexis Lanternier, Chief Executive Officer and Head of New Retail, Lazada Singapore emphasised that according to a recent study entitled Digital in 2018 in Southeast Asia, by We Are Social and Hootsuite: "78% of Singapore's internet traffic is on mobile devices".
"We see similar increases in our app usage, and have introduced initiatives like Shakin' Deals this Birthday Sale to engage the mobile shopper," Lanternier added.