History
In 2012, Maximilian Bittner founded Lazada with the intention of establishing an Amazon-like business model in Southeast Asia, to take advantage of the nascent online consumer market and Amazon's weak presence in the region.[15][16] Lazada's e-commerce websites soft launched in 2012, before iOS and Android mobile apps for its platform were launched in June the following year.[17][18]
The company commenced operations in Singapore in May 2014, where it is currently headquartered.[19][20] In 2014, Lazada recorded $152.5 million in net operating losses, with net revenues of $154.3 million, although the percentage of losses—relative to gross merchandise value—was lower than the previous year due to growth in marketplace sales to $384 million that year, compared to $95 million in 2013.[21][22]
Lazada faced challenges in 2015, when consumer preference for brick and mortar shopping was high. Less than 1% of people shopped online, compared to the international average of 10% at that time. This meant that Lazada had to tackle issues associated with the lack of credit cards, the concomitant requirement for cash on delivery systems, and the need for reliable delivery—especially in rural regions.[23]
In March 2016, Lazada claimed it had become the largest e-commerce player in Southeast Asia, after recording $1.36 billion in annual gross merchandise value across the six markets it operates in.[24]
In November 2016, it is reported that Lazada was set to acquire, Singaporean grocery startup, Redmart for US$30–40 million.[25]
In September 2018, the company introduced LazMall on its platform to encourage its users to purchase from authentic brands. New services such as a 15-day return policy and next-day delivery options were also put in place.[26]
In October 2019, Lazada partnered with Citibank to launch a new credit card, first in Malaysia, and subsequently in other countries.[27]
In 2023, Alibaba was restructured internally into six business units held by a holding company in response to China's regulatory pressure to decentralise its business power.[28] and Lazada was placed under the Alibaba International Digital Commerce (AIDC) business unit.[29][30] In 2022 Lazada received $378.5 million from new shares from Alibaba Singapore which was the largest investment since June 2020. Alibaba has recently made plans to expand Lazada to Europe in order to diversify its presence beyond China. In Europe AliExpress and Alibaba are present due to cross-border sales with China.[31] AIDC would inject up to US$1.8 million into Lazada in 2023.[32]
Since 2023, Lazada had conducted several rounds of retrenchment. In October 2023, it had a small retrenchment exercise.[29] On 3 January 2024, it had another round of retrenchment.[33]
On 3 January 2024, Lazada began retrenching an undisclosed number of employees from its Singapore headquarters. Despite its workers being unionised, the union, Food, Drinks and Allied Workers Union (FDAWU), was not consulted by the company about the retrenchment exercise.[34] It was reported that the company would expect to reduce its Southeast Asia headcount by 25%-50%.[35] The retrenched workers were given 2 weeks of pay for every year worked with them.[36] Lazada later published an apology statement, stating it would consult the union for future retrenchment exercises. The union though accepted the apology, found that the retrenchment benefits was not satisfactory, and were in negotiation with Lazada for a better retrenchment benefits for the affected workers.[36][37] Later it came to light that the retrenched workers are being locked down by a set of 12-month non-compete clauses if they wish to retain their vested stocks.[38] The non-compete clauses include the prevention of working in an extensive list of companies such as in the supermarket chain NTUC Fairprice.
