China’s Alibaba sets $100 billion target for Southeast Asian e-commerce division

Shanghai, Dec. 17 (BUS): Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has set a target of $100 billion in gross merchandise volume (GMV), the total amount of purchasing transactions, for its Southeast Asian market Lazada.

The goal, which was shared with investors on Thursday and later in a public online presentation, ups the ante for the company, which entered the region via acquisition in 2016 and is competing fiercely with rivals, Reuters reported.

Lazada generated $21 billion in GMV from September 2020 to the same month in 2021, according to the presentation. It also hopes to serve 300 million customers, nearly double its current number.

By comparison, the region’s market leader, Sea Ltd (SE.N)’s Shopee, generated $35.4 billion in GMV for the full year 2020.

The division ranks itself as the third best player in Southeast Asia, after MercadoLibre Inc (MELI.O) and Shopee, according to the presentation.

Lazada has undergone significant personnel changes since it was acquired by Alibaba, with two CEOs stepping down before current CEO Chun Lee takes over the presidency in 2020.

Earlier this month, Alibaba announced an executive reshuffle that saw Jiang Fan, who previously led the company’s core Taobao and Tmall divisions, head the newly formed international digital commerce unit that will include Lazada and AliExpress, the company’s e-commerce site targeting parts . in Europe and South America.

Alibaba will wrap up its two-day investor summit on Friday with the first major public comments from Toby Chu, who is set to replace longtime chief financial officer Maggie Wu. CEO Daniel Chang will also speak.

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