The pandemic has provided a hotbed for the growth of e-commerce in Indonesia. Management consulting company Redseer noted that the number of online shoppers grew to 85 million during the pandemic from 75 million pre-COVID-19. The country’s e-commerce gross merchandise value (GMV) is also expected to be the third-highest in the world this year at US$40 billion, surpassing India’s forecast of $38 billion, the Redseer report reads. On similar vein, the e-Conomy SEA 2020 report by Google, Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings and business consultancy Bain & Co. also noted that e-commerce remained the main growth driver in Indonesia’s digital economy this year, whose GMV is projected to grow by 11 percent year-on-year this year to $44 billion. The Jakarta Post’s Eisya A. Eloksari interviewed e-commerce platform Lazada Group and Lazada Indonesia CEO Chun Li via e-mail on Nov. 16 to discuss the company’s business amid the pandemic and its plan for the future.

Question: How has the pandemic affected Lazada’s business?

Answer: The pandemic has impacted how businesses operate, but it also offers new opportunities through digital transformation as foot traffic to retail stores may take some time to resume to pre-COVID-19 levels.

E-commerce has proven to be a lifeline for businesses amid the pandemic, and it needs to be a more concerted part of our business strategy going forward. This will not only bolster returns and provide new ways for sellers to engage with consumers, but also ensure they are better prepared for any future disruptions.

This is what we at Lazada have been doing, to help consumers and brands reshape their mindset to adapt and survive in this challenging situation. We have been seeing uptrends in 2020. In Lazada Indonesia, we recorded over a 100 percent growth for daily average orders year-on-year for the quarter ended on June 30, 2020, and we believe we will continue to grow further.

What is the company’s strategy this year, and the next few years?

Popular

Analysis: Prabowo’s approval rating 51 percent and falling

A healthy economy must be felt

Poverty falls, but the line is too low, economists say