LAZADA PHILIPPINES chartered two flights from Hong Kong for the fast delivery of purchases made during its 12.12 Grand Year-End Sale — a first in the e-commerce industry.
“We are marking another milestone not only for Lazada but also for the country’s e-commerce industry. This is just one of the many ways we are ready to take to deliver on our promise of a seamless shopping experience,” Juan Pavez, chief executive officer for operations/logistics of Lazada Philippines, said in a statement on Tuesday.
“The chartered flights, meanwhile, allow for the shipment of large volumes of parcels at once and, thus, enable Lazada to deploy them for last-mile delivery at the shortest time possible,” he said.
The first of the two already arrived on Dec. 18, while the other is scheduled to arrive by Dec. 21. These flights carry 200 tons of parcels which contain items bought from the company’s Taobao Collection and other overseas purchases. The Taobao Collection, which offers curated items, was introduced in the country by Lazada a year ago.
With the conclusion of Lazada’s 11.11 and 12.12 shopping festivals, the company said it recorded a total of 1.3 billion visits from consumers, and for the first time, deliver over one million parcels in a day.
The strong performance seen during one-day sale last November was also the same case for the three-day sale in December, where each day had its own theme: Dec. 10 was Best-sellers of 2018, Dec. 11 was Holiday Shopping Finale, while Dec. 12 was Lazada’s Top Picks. These days featured 55 million deals and exclusive discounts.
As a result, Lazada said its total sales for 12.12 was twenty times its normal-day gross merchandise value.
Top brands in the Philippines were Huggies for diapers, Maybelline for make-up, Olay for skincare, and Xiaomi for mobile phones. These brands were also the top-selling brands during the 11.11 Shopping Festival. Other top-selling brands were Promil for milk formula, Union for home appliances, and Fitflop for fashion.
The company also saw increased use of its application. It said nine out of ten shoppers in Southeast Asia placed their orders through the Lazada app, which indicates the fast shift of the growing middle-class consumers in the region to the use of smartphones.
“Year after year, we have advanced to the forefront of the country’s e-commerce industry through the years, driven by our commitment to improve shoppers’ experience and to enable sellers to reach bigger markets,” Raymond Alimurung, chief executive officer of Lazada Philippines, said in the statement.
“We are delighted by the unwavering support of Filipinos in making 2018 another great year for Lazada. Going into 2019, we will continue building and strengthening our platform to provide more value to our sellers and shoppers alike,” he added. — V.M.P. Galang