Innovating in Supply Chain: Reinventing Logistics: Interview Lazada
ISSUE #67 – Pierre Poignant (pictured below), Executive President of Lazada, shares with us more about innovation in the supply chain and keeping up with rapid-changing market demands in South East Asia.
Many of us are familiar with production innovations like the smartphone or electric car. But what does innovation in supply chain look like?
The eCommerce market in South East Asia (SEA) is estimated to grow 40% year on year, for the next 5 to 7 years, to reach $100 billion. However, the logistics environment in a diverse and fast-growing South East Asia market is riddled with many challenges. We have set up Lazada eLogistics (LeL) to address these challenges, delight sellers and buyers around South East Asia and win them over to eCommerce.
LeL’s major innovation resides in our unique network and operating model – an ecosystem of logistics partners stitched together with state-of-the-art technology and modular infrastructure. We are championing an approach based on trust-based collaboration and shared technology, as no singular entity will be able to keep pace with the rapid growth of logistics in this region.
Other innovation highlights include:
- SEA’s first picking robots in Malaysia
- Green electric delivery fleet across the region
- 72-hour cross-border delivery solution for main metros in SEA
- The Digital Free Trade Zone in Malaysia
- The first fully automated sortation centre network in 5 markets.
Any lessons that you can share with us from your innovation journey?
South East Asia is a very dynamic market. There are always new competitors entering the market, new partners or capabilities becoming available, and regulations are constantly changing. As a result innovation has to be an ongoing process. We cannot be satisfied with our past successes. LeL needs to be reinventing logistics always!
Lazada operates in many countries across the Southeast Asia zone. Is there a different strategy or approach in each country?
When presenting South East Asia to someone new to the region, I always mention a few striking anecdotes: across our six countries we have all the major religions of the world, the distance from North West (Aceh) to the South East (Papua) of Indonesia is greater than the distance from Seattle to Miami, and that Philippines is the country with the most typhoons in the world.
These anecdotes illustrate the vast diversity in the region, and our strategy has to be different in each country. What we have in common across the LeL teams in the region is our mission to always be reinventing logistics.
Being Southeast Asia’s number one online shopping and selling destination, how do you intend to stay at the top?
We are working hard so that Lazada, with the backing of Alibaba, is and will continue to be the number one eCommerce platform in South East Asia. To stay on top we need to consistently offer a distinctive shopping experience for customers and selling experience for our merchants, and this is where logistics can play a major role.
To stay on top we need to consistently offer a distinctive shopping experience for customers and selling experience for our merchants, and this is where logistics can play a major role.
Through our innovative logistics solutions, we are able to provide better service, better cost and ensure capacity in a severely constrained yet high-growth environment. Our merchants have access to the cheapest rates in the market at the best service level, enabling them to create a better shopping experience for their customers.
Interview with Pierre Poignant, Executive President, Lazada
Published in FOCUS Magazine — Issue #3 2018 “The Innovation Issue”
