BEFORE the date 11.11 or single's day became a global phenomenon especially for the ecommerce industry, it used to be an occasion celebrated among singles in China.
In China, the date is an unofficial holiday and a shopping season celebrated by people who are not in a relationship.
Today, 11.11 has become a shopping date to remember.
Dubbed as the most important ecommerce event of the year, 11.11 – the mother of all online sales – was first introduced by Lazada to South-East Asia in 2014 to boost ecommerce and change customers’ ambivalence towards online shopping.
Since then, the 11.11 effect has set trends for the entire ecommerce industry.
With the pioneering spirit to trailblaze the future of ecommerce for the country by popularising double-digit mega sales and making the digital economy accessible to the local community of customers, brands, and sellers, Lazada has helped to grow the local ecommerce industry into the multimillion dollar market that it is.
More than just another sale
Being one of the first major ecommerce players in Malaysia that shaped the thriving modern-day digital economy, Lazada has been a key driver of digital transformation for both local small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) as well as large corporations.
Through its ecosystem of first-to-last-mile logistics, innovative seller tools, comprehensive Lazada University training and of course the highly-anticipated sales campaigns such as 11.11, Lazada has upskilled and flattened the barriers of entry for local entrepreneurs at the grassroots level by empowering local SMEs with access to the digital economy.
This gave rise to the next generation of homegrown online businesses.
Joining Lazada has helped Mok Chee How grow his music store business better than his physical shop.
Mok Chee How who ran a store-cum-music school selling musical instruments and offering repair services for 15 years decided to explore a digital presence on Lazada in 2016 after finding that it was much easier to manoeuvre there compared to other available platforms.
“I managed to sell an item priced at RM5,000 within the first three months of listing it on Lazada. It has been easier to sell on Lazada, compared to my physical store,” said the owner of 724ROCKS.
Lazada’s reliable features have been helping his business grow leaps and bounds in terms of gaining traffic and new customers.
“I am using Lazada business advisor to plan my stock inventory, gain traffic and engagements for O2O business (online to offline, offline to online).
“During lockdown, I got great sales via Lazada and was able to cover all my retail store expenses even though the physical store was closed.
“One of the sale campaigns that I always look forward to is 11.11, which is the biggest yearly one-day mega campaign by Lazada. This is the time of the year when I get to boost sales and get increased traffic to gain store followers.
“From previous records, 11.11 was always the highest in sales compared to other campaigns,” said Mok.
Lazada enabled Fully Fishery to accelerate its sales by leaps and bounds.
Online groceries platform Fully Fishery joined Lazada in June 2020 and experienced a 250% uplift in sales within two months.
“Lazada supported us with marketing exposure, and allowed more customers to know our brand. Additionally, Lazada’s payment system ensures secure transactions between seller and buyer.
“We love the flash sales feature as it generates the highest exposure and traffic for us as well as attract return customers,” said Fully Ecommerce Sdn Bhd director Fiorella Ng Yuen Kuan.
“During our first 11.11 event with Lazada, we saw a 800% uplift in sales. The platform voucher and perks helped loads in converting sales, achieving up to RM1.2mil sales throughout the whole campaign period.”
Ng added that Fully Fishery is working on offering more product variation including bakery items.
“We are looking forward to converting our store into a mart to allow self-pickup for customers,” said Ng.
A RamsHomeDecor personnel conducting live streaming on Lazada.
RamsHomeDecor joined Lazada in September 2017 and was among the first to sell fragile items then.
When Brijesh M. Suresh Kumar Ratnani mooted bringing the family’s retail business onto an ecommerce platform, his father was skeptical.
“We made RM500 in the first month and that was enough to prove to my father that fragile items can be sold online.
“With the helpful features and support by Lazada, we noticed that our Lazada store complements our physical store by providing rapid brand exposure.
“11.11 is the biggest of all the sale campaigns online so we take this opportunity to establish our brand and increase product awareness while working out competitive prices to reward our customers,” said the ecommerce manager.
New sellers such as Rizqi Enterprise founder Muhammad Naqib Othman found Lazada with its wide array of tools and resources a very useful ecommerce platform.
“I wanted to enjoy the flexibility of running my own business and spending more time at home,” said Muhammad Naqib, who recently left a decade-long career in the film industry to set up shop on Lazada selling children’s clothing.
Aside from being able to set up this store with very little capital, Naqib has benefited from many forms of support offered by Lazada, including training courses hosted by Lazada University as well as various marketing and promotional tools.
These resources enabled him to get his business off the ground fast. Despite only launching in June, he has already participated in several mega campaigns including 11.11, which wrapped up to resounding success.
“I thank Lazada for giving new sellers like me the opportunity to attract customers and boost sales with their continuous support,” he added.
Sellers prepare for anticipated growth
According to Lazada’s latest Digital Commerce Confidence Index (DCCI) report, 76% of South-East Asia’s online sellers say they are optimistic about future growth despite a challenging operating environment.
The findings also indicated that businesses are looking to ramp up their inventories and staff levels as they gear up for the year-end online shopping festivals such as 11.11 and 12.12.
With 900 sellers participating the survey, four out of five sellers (79%) surveyed revealed that they are increasing inventory levels, and almost half of those surveyed (47%) looked to increase their headcount for this period as well.
“We are delighted to see the continued positive momentum and resilience among South-East Asia online sellers, despite economy uncertainties,” said Chief Executive of Lazada Malaysia Magnus Ekbom.
“Driven by strong optimism, online sellers are actively looking to hire more staff in Q4.
“It is very encouraging to see from our study that the growing digital commerce industry is acting as a powerful catalyst to open up opportunities for job creation, propelling the recovery of local economies,” said Ekbom.
