Lazada: Sell in the marketplace that is entering the European market

How to sell on Lazada, Alibaba’s new marketplace  

1. Local and international sales model 

Unlike AliExpress, where the most important thing is international sales, especially from China to other regions, Lazada, the new marketplace on the block, boosts local and international sales. Local companies registered in one of the countries where Lazada operates can market their products within the same country. In fact, the marketplace encourages sellers to do so. At the same time, cross-border sales are also available to expand companies’ global reach. Currently, it allows businesses registered in countries like China and South Korea to sell in Southeast Asian countries.  

Lazada also enables products, descriptions, shipping times, and prices to be tailored for consumers in each region to help sellers adapt to different audiences. This will make it easier to meet customers’ expectations and ensure they complete the purchase. Using dynamic pricing, for example, you could adapt prices to each country’s supply and demand levels. 

Regarding sales fees and commissions, we are awaiting confirmation of pricing plans for European sellers. Lazada currently applies between 1% and 6% commissions to each transaction. This is a lower percentage than that applied by other marketplaces.

2. Logistics handled by the marketplace 

Lazada has a policy similar to Amazon’s FBA model to facilitate the transport and delivery of products - i.e., the marketplace takes care of logistics if required by the brand. It has a storage and distribution centre in Hong Kong, from where all orders can be delivered to their destination. Both shipments and returns are handled from this warehouse for sellers’ convenience. This is especially useful for smaller companies that do not have the resources to manage shipments to the other side of the world. 

While we still have to wait to see Lazada launch in Europe, you can look at how the marketplaces where your brand or e-commerce has a presence work. You can also assess your prices’ profitability to help you make faster decisions when the time comes. This will help you decide which platforms to sell your products on, and will help optimise your prices on marketplaces, environments where achieving a competitive position is essential.