THE EXPERIENCE: Lazada becoming the Amazon of South East Asia? Is it trusted?

So Lazada wants to become the Amazon for South East Asia? Is Lazada really sure they could do this? As far as I see it, yes they are capable of dominating the online market. Here’s some Wiki I found!

Lazada Group is a privately owned e-commerce company headquartered in Singapore that was founded by Rocket Internet in 2011 with the goal of being “the Amazon.com of Southeast Asia.” As of 2014, Lazada Group operated sites in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam and had raised approximately US$647 million over several investment rounds. In 2014 Lazada’s net operating losses were $152.5 million on net revenues of $154.3 million; however the percentage of its losses relative to its Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) was smaller in 2014 than in 2013 due to growth in its GMV from $95 million to $384 million.

Its sites launched in March 2012, with a business model of selling inventory to customers from its own warehouses. In 2013 it added a marketplace model that allowed third-party retailers to sell their products through Lazada’s site; the marketplace accounted for 65% of its sales by the end of 2014.

NOTE: Even though this article is towards the satisfaction of a customer, this article is not sponsored by Lazada in any form. I have experienced Lazada both as a seller and a customer. Which brings me the idea of sharing the ups and downs from Lazada.

 

01| Design & Content

Navigation

I’d break this down into two categories, first the Navigation and second, the ease of finding what you’re looking for.

  • Navigation on Lazada is a pleasant clean experience and destroys the competition websites in the design department. Categories are well arranged, and I do like the idea for them showing off floors as categories. Lazada’s homepage gives you that feeling that now you’re in a realm of good high-quality products than a knock-off. The point isn’t calling other websites a knockoff, but it’s just to show a user’s first impressions on Lazada’s site.
  • Searching on Lazada, it’s a real disappointment to say that searching on Lazada is a pretty tricky task to do! For an example, go and search for “Full HD monitor” or something that doesn’t have a model of something and you’ll end up scratching your head.
  • Filtering stuff to find what you want is a good option to have but doesn’t always work as fortunate. You can narrow down a product by setting a brand, price limits and some more options specific for some categories. The problem isn’t the filtering, but it’s that sellers other than Lazada that don’t accurately describe the attributes of the product they are trying to sell. The way how Lazada works with 3rd Party sellers is by reviewing the new product by the 3rd party seller, if approved it’ll appear onto Lazada’s site otherwise will be rejected.
  • Always choose COD when you can! it’s been many times when 3rd Party sellers are unresponsible and don’t update their stock inventory is what I hate! Just to be free of any issues, I do prefer the option of COD when possible. If your order is cancelled by any means, you’ll be worry free of Lazada returning your money.
  • Content on Lazada needs further checking and more information should be added when needed. Lazada’s Quality Control should also look up the product details before approving a product if possible.

Lazada isn’t as bad as the sentences above are, actually yes it is the best online marketplace Malaysia may have. I guess in my opinion the main problems on Lazada arise from the 3rd Party Sellers. I just wish Lazada improves on some core factors which will make it the ultimate Online Marketplace. I also do wish for Lazada to force 3rd Party sellers to update their inventory every week or two.

02| Pricing

Pricing

In my opinion, pricing is good on Lazada. They may seem a bit high compared to other websites or local shops. But you need to realise there are coupons available on Lazada, you just need to find them. For an example, some products such as the RAM above can be taken as an example. Apply a coupon and you’ll beat the competition in most cases. Some people may ask, “Why are the prices shown high in the first place? Is it because Lazada is giving us a coupon?The answer is “NO”. Lazada charges 3rd party sellers for every single order by a percentage (ranging from 2% to 15%) and also charging the merchant for shipping for the 1st kg which is the reason you would have to pay a low shipping fee or no shipping at all.

So the conclusion for this is, Lazada beats the competition if you find a deal or a coupon. Which is always available around Lazada which is the reason I buy almost all my parts for my PC from there. Lazada won’t always show you coupons. You just need to find them.

 

03|Payment Options

Lazada has a lot of Payment options which is what I love. They offer credit/debit card option, COD, Paypal, Online Banking and “Credit Card on Delivery”??

 

04| Shipping time

Shipping

So shipping time is pretty good on Lazada. However, Lazada Malaysia uses 3PL (3rd Party Logistics) couriers such as Skynet, GDEX, Ta-Q-Bin and Nationwide Express. Lazada does show 5-8 days on delivery time on most products but in most cases the delivery time is faster than that. In most cases, if you order on a Wednesday or before you’ll get it on a Friday in most cases.

I haven’t personally experienced their own courier which they use in some countries know as Lazada Express since in Malaysia they only use 3rd Party Logistics. I have also experienced some dealys in the shipping regarding problems created by 3PL, such as truck breakdowns and more. But that usually doesn’t happen.

05| After-sales support

After Sales

For a customer’s trust, Lazada is trying to do everything from COD to 14 days free return plus they return your shipping fee if your order didn’t satisfy you.

I have had a recent problem on Lazada too and I was amazed by the Merchant and Lazada’s conversation with me on email and by phone. Here’s my experience!

“I ordered an FX 8320 with a coupon for a low price, I recieved the order and was skeptical about the seal being open and about some yellow fingerprints inside the CPU. I didn’t open the box yet. I sent back the product to Lazada and then I received an email from the merchant refusing to take back the Fx8320 for a replacement. I immediately called Lazada and they knew the whole situation thanks to their ticket number system, they were immedaietly able to track my issue’s progress. After having a bit of a conversation Lazada told me that will arrange a replacement on their own cost. I was shocked by hearing this”

Please do not expect Lazada to do the same with you. But Lazada seems to understand the situation of the customer and arranges well measures to keep a customer happy as of what I’ve seen. I have bought about 20 items from Lazada this year and around 3 I had problems with. I was never ever disappointed by their support. I do not think any other site or local shop will let you return a faulty product after 14 days. Even though no matter what, it’s unfair if Lazada continues like this. Whenever a product is returned, Lazada’s Quality Control then inspects the item for 3 days for any issues and approve or reject the claim by the customer.

I think that Lazada is a true winner here in after sales support, they are providing some features that many sites and local shops cannot afford to provide you.

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