Lazada Review: A Gift to Filipino Local Online Consumers

A gift to the local e-commerce market, Lazada Philippines successfully made it in the households of many Filipinos. It reached out to all types of Filipinos, young and old, poor and rich, men and women. It left no market untapped as it created an online environment perfect both in products, rates, promos and services.

Lazada is a fruit of Rocket Internet’s labor. Over a decade ago, Rocket Internet started its journey to where it is now, the second biggest online venture builder in the world. And last year, it made its way to Southeast Asia steering towards the Philippines and its neighboring countries. Lazada currently has ventures in Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and our mainland, the Philippines. It celebrated its one-year anniversary this year of May. And since then, it has become considerably one of the best online shopping malls in the country. For one award giving body, it’s the only one. The Golden Globe Annual Awards gave recognition to the young online venture by hailing it as the Best Online Shopping Mall for 2013 proving once again that anything Rocket Internet puts its hands on is bound to gain victory.

In celebration of its first year and the success it continuously is receiving, it hosted more promos, discounts and service overhauls. This is to make the shopping experience in the website something completely invigorating that you wouldn’t want to do anything else but come back for more. It once held a promo that reached to almost a hundred percent discount on selected items. It also increased the frequency and the number of its products put on sale. More sections were added like Editor’s Picks, Season Features, etc. Its additional services included an installment payment option, more service centers, mobile application and many more.

The installment is made possible by the online shopping mall’s partnership with Banco De Oro. Customers however can only avail of this payment of method when a minimum purchase for a single receipt worth P3000 is made. Customers after can choose among 5 time frames that would be the sole basis of how his or her payables will be equally divided. The time frames available are as follows: 3, 6, 12, 18 and 24. Customers can pay for as low as P125! It’s a deal that you won’t be able to find elsewhere. On top of this great deal, delivery that normally rates between P55 and P99 depending on the delivery location will be stripped off the total. Because all purchases no lower than P1000 are eligible for free delivery anywhere in the Philippines. All delivery services are made possible by both LBC and 2GO.

It currently has funding coming left and right from international investing companies including the likes of J. P. Morgan Asset Management and Summit Media. But the success of Lazada as a general entity has become apparent to some investors that it reached out to all ventures existing giving the whole brand a chance to further progress and improve as a unit.

The Inevitable Effect of Lazada in the Local E-commerce Market

Who wouldn’t want a shopping mall that collects all necessary items, puts it in storage and sells it in affordable prices?

I sure wouldn’t mind. And thankfully, Lazada feels exactly the same and actually did something to make it happen. Now counting down to its second year, it has expanded both on product selection and customer service. No complaints here. Early last year, it was launched getting rave reviews on both the quality and affordability of its products. But the shopping website did not stop there. It became better over time as it continued to improve its services establishing partnerships with many of the most sought out companies in the country including LBC, 2GO and BDO to name a few.

The e-commerce shopping mall is making more buzz now as deemed one of the fastest-growing online shopping website in the Philippines. After receiving funds worth over a whopping $100,000,000 from several international investors, Lazada wasted no time on improving all aspects of its website and services making it undeniably the Best Online Shopping Mall for 2013. A title that the Golden Globe Annual Awards willingly gave out to the young venture. The e-commerce sensation made headlines after J.P. Morgan Asset Management along with Summit Media were named as just some of the many investors that saw potential in the said online endeavor backing up not just the Philippine branch but all other counterparts in Southeast Asia..

The German-owned shopping website has been regarded as a venture that closely resembled the likes of successful international ventures like Amazon and Ebay. Rocket Internet, primarily based in Berlin, Germany made a statement after over 100 successful online ventures including businesses in Southeast Asia namely the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia all of which Lazada proudly calls home. Its goal was simple. It designed its website to be a Filipino favorite providing nothing but the best without stretching one’s wallet. Its 100% Customer Satisfaction rating has allowed it to exhaust all of its resources in the effort to give Filipinos a comfortable virtual shopping space capable of providing every possible consumer goods they need from household equipment, furniture, baby clothes to men and women’s fashion apparel. 

As a customer who seeks nothing but only the best quality, it can get frightening sometimes to check tags. But Lazada Philippines made it clear as crystal that this wasn’t a concern its customers would have to worry about. As part of its determination to win over the hearts of Filipinos all over the country even abroad, it hosts promos on a regular basis on top of its daily discounts on selected items. Its products are priced lower than what it normally would cost when sold elsewhere.

It allows payments both in cash and on credit giving more room for a wider array of customers. Its Facebook following of more than one million is a testament to just how far it has come in so little time. And what’s interesting about is that it’s only just beginning.

The Best Online Shopping Mall, Lazada, Continues to Win Hearts Nationwide

A great example of a successful and young online venture would be no other than Lazada. It has proved itself worthy of Filipinos’ trust after being acknowledged as the Best Online Shopping Mall for 2013 by the prestigious award giving body, the Golden Globe Annual Awards. In a little over a year, the internationally owned e-commerce website was successful in not only winning the hearts of critics but the hearts of Filipino online consumers as well. A huge feat for a website that knew very little about the Philippines’ culture as compared to an online website directly owned by Filipinos themselves. But apart from being recognized by organizations from the same industry, it has also been featured multiple times in top of the line media channels like ABS-CBN (Channel 2), GMA (Channel 7), Mega Magazine and The Philippine Daily Inquirer. Its current affiliates are Zalora Philippines and Price Panda.

But giving credit to Lazada alone would be selfish and unfair. Because the products it currently holds for its customers to enjoy played a huge part in making it the success story it is today. The services though were the cherry on top of the high tower ice cream sundae I closely associated it with. It showed 100% determination to produce only the best kinds of services available online. A quality that has been observed in all of Lazada’s branches namely Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Its delivery services are provided exclusively by LBC and 2GO. And for any purchase no lower than P1000, the delivery is for free. Normally, shipments cost either P55 or P99 depending on the delivery location. Payment Methods available include Cash on Delivery, VISA or MasterCard credit card, BDO Installments, Paypal and MegaLink. But don’t feel any bit threated regarding the security of the information you submit to the site. The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard or PCI DSS has approved it as safe.

It has over 20,000 in products that Filipinos thoroughly enjoy not including the handful of services it offers. And as the saying goes, “The Customer Is Always Right”, Lazada certainly makes its customers feel in control each time. As a matter of fact, a customer who changes his mind last minute after personally receiving his order is eligible for a return with either a refund or an item exchange.

Who wouldn’t seek refuge in the virtual walls of the popular online shopping mall? With the variety in products it offers, it seems uncanny for an online shopper to look elsewhere putting into the equation the fact that most of items come in cheaper prices compared to when bought offline. It has a knack for getting its customers excited for all its future endeavors whether it’s a season promo or just a simple daily sale. You’re unlikely to not find something in the website that doesn’t interest you in any way. Saying the website is irresistible would be an understatement.

The shopping website now has a mobile application now available on Google Play. This makes shopping more adaptable especially to those always on the run or jetsetters.

Lazada has become a Local Powerhouse Online Shopping Mall

Although some say that it is inevitable and no one can blame the market for increasing its prices, I say that somehow, there are still shops out there that overprice its consumer goods making it impossible for Filipinos on a tight budget to adjust. One day, it’s affordable. The next day, well you get the picture.

A problem that many companies have tried so hard to work around is the need to increase its goods to make room for profit given the increase in almost every single thing in the market. Thankfully, there are still many companies that for some reason, can manage to do both sell affordable products and not be buried in debt because of lost in return of investments and revenue.

I have noticed how online stores have become very successful in this. Not only does this form of selling make shopping in general a lot easier but it also provides a wider array of products in very affordable prices. Lazada is quintessentially the most visited online shopping mall today. But it wasn’t its award as the Best Online Shopping Mall for 2013 that made it such a big hit to many online consumers. Even before becoming an award-winning e-commerce website and being acknowledged as one of the most talked about consumer brand on Facebook, Filipinos have seen its great potential and hurriedly made itself a part of many households.

Lazada started its excellent service last year of February after its affiliate Zalora, an e-commerce website owned by the same company as Lazada was launched. Both e-commerce shopping malls did great individually and since then it has become a very evident news headline how online shopping is progressing as the next best thing. And how can you not be sucked in the exciting trend? Discounts over discounts and promos after another. If there was one thing the popular online shopping website was good at, it was making its customers keep coming back for more. A quality that a lot of e-commerce sites can only dream of possessing. But Lazada was able to effortlessly capture many hearts with its very user-friendly website interface, outstanding customer service and inexpensive and diverse selection of items.

Another interesting fact about the website is it’s not even owned by a local businessman. A multinational company based in Germany called Rocket Internet owns the shopping mall favorite. Although it has more than 50 offices all over the world, the international online venture builder has mastered the art of learning a completely different cultures and making its ventures irresistible. Lazada has counterparts in four other countries in Southeast Asia including Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand. With the help of the top players in online marketing, it was successful in making its content a perfect match and fit to Filipino online users. It has service centers in over 800 locations giving Filipinos better access to high quality customer service. It has been featured in A-list media channels both on TV and print. As far as getting its name out there, the award-winning shopping mall did more than what was expected of it.

Lazada’s Journey in Philippine Territory

Lazada Philippines is a venture created by Rocket Internet, an international company that was created in Berlin, Germany by three brothers. Now, it has over 100 ventures in 50 different countries including 5 in Southeast Asia that Lazada also happens to currently have ventures in. It has counterparts in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. All of which perform the same function, which is to provide an online shopping mall that meets the expectations of its customers in hope of providing 100% customer satisfaction.

Each venture counterpart sells its products using its residential country’s currency making it extremely personal and exclusive to its respective customers. Filipinos no longer have to settle for online stores that only sell in American dollars or European pounds because now, the Philippines has its very own shopping mall it can proudly call its own. It consists of over 20,000 items that comprises the distinct categories of the website. Its categories include watches, toys, consumer electronics, computers, clothes, beauty products, home furniture and many more. It is a perfect alternative to actually going to the mall because it has just about every item you could possibly look for. But its edge comes with the prices of its products that normally are rated below the normal market price. It holds promos and discounts on a regular basis as part of its aim to provide the cheapest and most affordable products.

Our own version of Lazada was honored as the Best Online Shopping Mall for 2013 by the Golden Globe Annual Awards giving it a bigger edge in terms of credibility among its competitors that were launched around the same time it did. It also became the most talked about consumer brand in local Facebook during its celebration of its first year anniversary. Its popularity reached new heights when even outside investing companies saw its profitability. International companies helped fund the award winning company and now over $100 million are used to the improvement of the said e-commerce shopping mall.

It won the hearts of many Filipinos not just because of the availability and affordability of its products but also because of the services that came along with each purchase or transaction. Service like free delivery is applicable to all types of transactions with a minimum amount of P1000. The payment method in partnership with Banco De Oro that allows monthly installments (up to 2 years) simply requires a minimum purchase worth P3000. And since it also is above a thousand, the delivery automatically becomes free of charge as well. It also gives customers a leeway of 14 days to return any item that does not reach the quality of their expectations or items that malfunction or do not perform correctly.

As a young online venture with very little experience, it has been extremely proactive to its customers needs. And with the help of its investors, it can improve its already outstanding services and gain even more recognition that would elevate its status as an e-commerce website.