The Lazada One regional headquarters at Bras Basah Road. Photo credit: Alibaba Group

This week, Alibaba Group’s flagship e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia Lazada cut the ribbon on its Singaporean headquarters located at the heart of the city’s university district.

In other news, Alibaba logistics platform Cainiao Network expanded its reach in Malaysia with three weekly flights to London and five to Hangzhou.

Looking to the week ahead, Alibaba Chief Marketing Officer Chris Tung will speak at a webinar on sustainable consumption in China, where the role of e-commerce platforms in promoting sustainability will be discussed.

Lazada Opens Regional Headquarters in Singapore

Alibaba’s flagship e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia officially opened Lazada One, its regional headquarters and Singapore office, this week.

Lazada One is located near higher institutions of learning in the central Bras Basah district. Spanning 109,000 square feet, the office space is designed with a future hybrid workplace in mind.

“Establishing Lazada One in Singapore, the gateway to Southeast Asia, reinforces our commitment to support the growth of the digital commerce industry,” said Chun Li, Lazada’s CEO at the opening ceremony on April 11.

Josephine Teo, Minister for Communications and Information of Singapore, was also in attendance.

At the event, Chun also announced the launch of the Lazada Foundation, which aims to award scholarships and provide growth opportunities to empower women and youths across Southeast Asia, secure education opportunities in the digital economy and close the digital divide.

Cainiao Touches Down in Malaysia

The logistics arm of Alibaba expanded its direct flight network in Malaysia this week, increasing cargo trips from Kuala Lumpur to London and Hangzhou to boost efficiency.

A new thrice-weekly direct flight to London will reduce air freight time by 30% and cut merchant logistics costs by 10%, according to the platform. Likewise, a plane flying five days a week to Mainland China will reduce expenses by at least 6%.

“The expansion of the hub’s direct air freight network will play a pivotal role in supporting the increase in trade flow from Malaysia to key global markets,” said Au Yeong Shong Kwong, General Manager for Cainiao eHub Malaysia, in a statement.

Export merchants outside of Malaysia can also ship their goods to the hub for transit before exporting them overseas, reducing clearance time by up to 97%, from 24-48 hours to 1.5 hours, using digital customs clearance systems.

There are plans in the works to expand this network of direct flights from Malaysia to Singapore, Brunei, Australia and New Zealand. 

The Sustainability Conversation You Don’t Want to Miss

Ahead of Earth Day 2022, Alibaba Chief Marketing Officer Chris Tung will participate in a webinar on sustainable consumption in China hosted by global research firm Coresight Research.

Together with JuE Wong, CEO of professional haircare line Olaplex, and Deborah Weinswig, CEO of Coresight Research, they will share insights into the role that e-commerce platforms can play in advancing green consumption and how brands are sharing their commitment to sustainability with consumers in China.

Join us for what we expect to be a lively and informative discussion on sustainability on April 20 between 9AM and 9:30AM Beijing Time. Register for the event using this link.

Alibaba Mobilizes Resources to Keep Shanghai Supplied During Lockdown

Alibaba is mustering resources across its ecosystem to keep food delivery and distribution up and running as Shanghai enters its third week under lockdown. 

A shortage in food and other essential goods has become one of the most pressing issues for the city’s 25 million residents, so the group’s platforms are pooling resources to lend a hand – with some help from robotic friends.

Alibaba has brought in its automated delivery robot Xiaomanlv for last-mile delivery. Over a dozen automated delivery robots were running in Shanghai to address the last-mile delivery challenge in communities.

Alibaba’s robots shave 30 minutes on average off of the delivery process, but they won’t be doing all the heavy lifting. Roughly 3,000 couriers and warehouse workers are being brought in to address the shortfall of delivery capacity in the city.  

“Our priority is to improve delivery capacity… and build up urgent delivery channels to meet the needs of people in vulnerable situations,” said Xiao Shuixian, senior vice president of Ele.me at a press conference on Sunday.

Read more here

Italy’s Bulgari Launches on Alibaba’s Tmall Luxury Pavilion

Bulgari launched a digital store on Alibaba’s luxury platform as the Italian jeweler builds an omnichannel presence in the world’s second-largest economy.  

E-commerce giant Alibaba and Bulgari joined forces to customize the store’s interface, blending the Italian House’s design aesthetic with a fresh digital experience for Chinese customers.

“Bulgari will continue stepping up digital transformation, improve the coordination between online and offline services and lead the new trends for luxury goods,” Bulgari’s CEO Jean-Christophe Babin said in a statement.

Since the launch of Alibaba’s Tmall Luxury Pavilion five years ago, more than 200 luxury brands have joined the e-commerce platform, including LVMH, Kering, Chanel, Hermes and Richemont.

These brands can draw on expertise within Alibaba’s ecosystem to interact with China’s digitally savvy and high-net-worth customers, who expect frictionless, hyper-personalized and instant gratification when shopping.

Read more here

Plastic-Free Pouts: Chinese Consumers Get Eco-Friendly Makeover As Clean Beauty Brands Enter Market

Chinese consumers crave sustainable products, and this week, Alizila learned how overseas clean beauty companies satiating this demand.

Clean beauty products are designed to satisfy consumers’ quest to use makeup containing only pure, healthy ingredients – shunning parabens, sulphates and artificial colours and fragrances. 

While the global beauty and personal care sector grew 2% last year, according to market analyst Neilson, sales in its NeilsonIQ Clean index – products free from 600 artificial ingredients – grew 8.1%.

Parisian company La Bouche Rouge is riding this wave into China, where it recently debuted its plastic-free, reusable lipsticks on Tmall Global.

Read more here

Every day is Earth Day at Alibaba. As this international day of awareness approaches, we invite you to explore how we put the environment first and how you can too!