Lazada aims to recreate a "Tmall" in Southeast Asia

Author | Huang Yu

Editor | Wang Xiaojun

China's goods are transitioning from the "selling goods era" to the "branding era." Seizing this opportunity, nearly nine years after being acquired by Alibaba, the Southeast Asian e-commerce platform Lazada aims to become the main battlefield for Tmall merchants in Southeast Asia.

On September 25, Wall Street Insight learned from Lazada that as part of its brand strategy upgrade, Lazada has established a system connection with Tmall before this year's Double 11, allowing Tmall brands to enter five overseas markets: Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines with zero barriers.

This project has been named "One-Click Easy Export." Currently, Tmall merchants' backend has launched a registration channel, where Tmall staff will screen and open system connections for eligible merchants. Subsequently, a duplicate store will be generated in Lazada's brand mall LazMall, with products, inventory, marketing, and promotions all updated synchronously.

Lazada President Qian Cheng stated, "Branding has entered a golden period, and now we also have stronger internal collaborative support."

According to reports, there are two key points behind "One-Click Easy Export": one is internal collaboration: Tmall staff will deeply participate in the project, selecting the most suitable and high-quality brand merchants to enter the project; the other is system integration: through the system connection and AI capabilities of both platforms, Tmall merchants will obtain a "twin" store on Lazada.

This strategy, defined as a "DNA-level upgrade," targets a clear goal: Lazada aims to replicate Tmall's brand mall in the Southeast Asian market, where e-commerce penetration is still low and consumer spending power continues to rise.

Although cross-border e-commerce is booming, many domestic merchants still have concerns about going overseas. Therefore, Lazada's first task is to lower the barriers for Tmall merchants to go abroad.

It is reported that after Tmall merchants sign the contract in the backend, when an order is generated, Lazada's orders will be pushed to the Tmall backend. Tmall merchants only need to ship to a domestic transit warehouse, and Lazada will be responsible for subsequent cross-border transportation and after-sales, without the need to register or establish an overseas team throughout the process.

Of course, considering that some merchants are afraid of "pitfalls" in the early stages but still want to be the "helmsman," Lazada has also provided a solution.

Qian Cheng also pointed out that "One-Click Easy Export" is a starting point, allowing merchants to ensure they can explore the potential of exporting to Southeast Asia in a lightweight manner. If brands find that the Southeast Asian market is indeed suitable for them, they can initiate deeper operations, and merchants can operate their stores and equip local teams themselves, while Lazada will provide full-process cooperation support from product compliance, selection, and stocking to marketing implementation.

In Qian Cheng's view, for merchants, Lazada's "One-Click Easy Export" core competitiveness lies in being the lightest commercial opportunity to obtain their own operational rights store in Southeast Asia Why choose this moment to launch "One-Click Easy Overseas"?

Qian Cheng stated: "Double 11 is coming soon, and every year, Double 11 is the biggest and most important business growth opportunity for brand merchants. We want to tell merchants that this year there is an opportunity for an additional overseas battlefield to achieve a double explosion."

It is worth mentioning that after participating in Tmall's Double 11, all discounts will be synchronized to Lazada, with sales starting simultaneously in China and Southeast Asia.

This brand strategy upgrade marks Lazada's first comprehensive opening of localized operational capabilities in Southeast Asia to Tmall merchants, and it is also a "dimension upgrade" for Lazada in the face of fierce competition in the Southeast Asian e-commerce industry.

A report released by Mo Teng Venture Capital titled "2025 Southeast Asia E-commerce Report" shows that the GMV of Southeast Asian platform e-commerce will reach USD 128.4 billion in 2024, with Shopee, Lazada, and TikTok Shop forming a tripartite competitive landscape, collectively capturing over 80% of the Southeast Asian market.

Since its establishment in 2012, Lazada has positioned itself as a brand mall and is one of the earliest platforms to operate retail and brand malls in Southeast Asia. In July last year, Lazada recorded positive EBITDA and achieved profitability.

Standing at such a turning point of profitability, Lazada clearly has greater ambitions. Lazada chooses to break the deadlock through "brand upgrading," attempting to move away from price wars and build an ecosystem centered on quality and service—this is highly similar to Tmall's development path in the domestic market.

However, Qian Cheng pointed out that previously, Lazada's brand mall mainly consisted of a portion of international brands and local brands from six Southeast Asian countries, and relying solely on the existing supply is insufficient to support Lazada's ambition for a comprehensive brand e-commerce upgrade.

Against this backdrop, directly connecting with Tmall is clearly a key step for Lazada to replicate the successful experience of domestic e-commerce in emerging markets.

As Double 11 approaches, this experiment of "Southeast Asia Tmall" is about to face its first major test, which may become the next growth point for Alibaba's international e-commerce business