Monday, April 29, 2013

Lazada Online Shop: My go-to online shopping mall

It’s only natural for anyone to think of websites when someone speaks about Internet. To me it’s like a marriage: when one upgrades, the other should follow. As Internet evolved in faster data upload and download access, websites became more and more sophisticated. It has become more intuitive than the past generation of websites where it is just heavily loaded with just pure text. This upgrade of Internet and website also influenced us indirectly.

Online usage has become part of our lifestyle nowadays. Gone are the days when connecting to the Internet is just a luxury or option. The demand for it has grown significantly. Most of our usual offline activities can now be done online as well. We can even shop now online. No need to go to traditional malls and waste energy, time and money. Actually, online shopping has just begun to expand in the country last year. A year before that, online shopping was never an option in the Philippines. The Ecommerce industry in general was struggling to grow compared to other countries outside of Asia.

It all started when Lazada online mall was launched in the country. It’s a venture powered by Rocket Internet, which is also available in countries like Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia. South East Asia is actually a perfect target for putting up an online business since the competition is still low. However, the market was very thin as well. So in order for them to make an impact, they needed to offer something that will allow them to tap all the untapped market in Asia. Since Asia is know for having a low percentage of credit card owner. It is highly unlikely that many of the locals will be able to buy online in a conventional way, which is either credit card or Paypal account. So what they did is they offered Cash on Delivery or C.O.D. to all of their customers. It allows any customers to order anything in the website and pay in cash only after their order package is delivered at their doorstep. Although, used successfully in other industries. It was the first to be applied on an Ecommerce business.

The risks of the business owners were really high, but the reward is also enormous that it is worth the risk. Good thing that their gamble paid off. Since LazadaPH was launched across South East Asia, numerous big investors already invested in the business. They had just entered their first year last April 2013. Not bad for a venture that was highly regarded by critics as a sure flop. Personally, what makes Lazada my go to online shopping mall is their user interface. Their website is not cluttered unlike some of their competitors. Despite being loaded with heavy media files within their website content. They still managed to balance it with the decent website load speed for their customers. It’s only natural for an online mall to have a lot of media format since the goal is to give customers a more visual presentation that will actually make customers feel like what they are planning to buy is just right in front of them. So great job Lazada!

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Lazada PH: Embracing the online shopping culture in the Philippines

We are all aware of the rising trend in the country, which is online shopping. It has become a popular alternative shopping method that everyone is taking advantage of.  The good thing about online shopping is, it is more convenient than shopping in traditional malls. It consumes our energy, time and money. As compared to online shopping, anyone can do it pretty much wherever and whenever they want. They can even do it on their phones, which make online shopping way easier. All they need to have is any Internet capable device with online access and they can do their shopping.

How convenient is that. But the question we have to ask ourselves is that how did it started? Why did Filipinos is sort of embracing this alternative option. We are all aware that change is something we are very cautious about. We tend to justify every angle and at times contest the change such as what are the risks involved. It only natural I guess. It’s no secret that online scams and frauds happen every now and then. To know that we are aware of this, really makes us wonder how did we end up trusting online shopping as our alternative destination for our shopping needs. We have not experienced local online shopping in the previous years. So how did it begun? It all started just last year when you come to think of it. The same year Lazada, the Philippines’ Online Shopping Mall, was launched in the country. Since their arrival in the local online scene, other local online shopping malls jumped in the competition.

Thanks to them, we now have multiple options on where to shop online. This made local businessmen realize online business’ true potential. They actually arrived during the time where no one believed in online shopping. To us, it was just another way to expose ourselves from risks. Risk that involved getting our credit cards or Paypal account hacked. It also involves paying for something that doesn’t get delivered. To make it simple, online shopping had a lot of adversities in the country. It was more of a risk than a reward no matter how much cheaper products are being sold. So how did they helped bring down the barrier for these Ecommerce woes we had in the country? They introduced as problem solving alternative payment method that will avoid these current issues then that made online shopping a thing to avoid by Filipinos. “Cash on Delivery” or some got fond of calling as COD, is a simple and easy to understand payment method. Forget the conventional payment methods wherein you input your credit card details or Paypal account, which is quite complicated for some. All the customers need to do is order anything from their website and just leave their shipment details. No need to pay it upfront which is the conventional setup between an online customer and online store.

Lazada Online Mall will then deliver your order at your very home. Once you get the order package at your doorstep, that’s when you get to pay them in cash. This way, it makes us feel secured about our money since you get to see and inspect the item first before paying. It also doesn’t require you to expose your credit card details even if they have a secured line like other international Ecommerce stores have installed on their website.





Lazada Philippines Commercial
 

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Lazada: Ease of Use and Superb User Experience


Whenever I am looking for an online retailer, I have a lot of things that I usually look into first before making my purchase. First and foremost, I want to make sure that they are a reliable and credible online seller so I first look through the reviews and comments of other people who have already made a purchase. Secondly, I want to make sure that buying from them is easy and simple; I shop online to save me from spending too much time and avoiding the stress so it would be pointless if their payment methods and deliver options are too complicated. Lastly, I look through their wares to know if they sell a lot of good items. Having an assorted list of products and alternatives means that you want to give your customers options and that is a plus in my book. I found all of these at Lazada and I cannot find a fault with my shopping experience from them.
Security and Safety

The first thing that struck me when I visited the Lazada Philippines website was that it was different from all the other online retailers that I have been used to. This isn't just a simple Facebook page or Multiply account; this was a dedicated website with a dedicated backend for customers. This also looks nothing like those scam websites that look outdated and unkempt. Truth be told, my immediate thought was that it looks different, but it certainly has that Amazon feel to it. You can even make your own account where you log-in from! I'm not an entirely techie guy so I know nothing about online security; however, based on other people that can be trusted with this topic, it would seem that their website also uses the latest in online security. There are also multiple modes of payment and they allow you to choose among those that you trust.

Ease of Use

Now, when it comes to the user interface of the Lazada Philippines website, I could say that it really is simple to use. It is intuitive enough so that you can easily get around the website while looking for items. You own user account is also a great addition since I can simply view all of the items in my shopping cart there without having to navigate back to tons of other pages. Check out is also simple enough; with a single click and all of the orders will be processed. Payment is rather straightforward as well. Simply choose among the available options and follow the easy to understand instructions and that's it.


Tons of Items
They also have a lot of items in their stock. They have almost anything and everything that you can find in a mall which really lives up to their name as the Philippines' Online Shopping Mall. Navigating through the Lazada Philippines website will give you a good idea on the type of items that they sell and what things you can buy from them. The smartphone you're eyeing is not living up to expectations? Then they have other options for that as well. Who knows? You just might find something even better.




Lazada Online Shopping Mall TVC