Lazada CEO Inanc Balci he himself said, he bought six months worth of toiletries including shampoo and tootppaste to take advantage of the ongoing 'online revolution.'
The e-commerce platform offers up to 95 percent discount during the promotion happening from Dec. 7 to Dec. 12, 2017. To keep up with the demand, the platform prepares three months in advance.
"We have 24/7 staff during the year, I think they go as much as 10x for certain divisions of the company, for example call center gets really big, warehouse it gets really really busy," Lazada CEO Inanc Balci told ANC's The Boss.
The Lazada founder banks on the country's potential to dominate the global e-commerce stage despite challenges when it comes to Internet connectivity.
"When you look a Philippines several years ago, its the biggest SMS capital, today, the social media capital, Philippines is number on in terms of Facebook penetration in the world, tomorrow it will be the e-commerce capital of the world in 5 to 10 years," he added.
With 10 million e-commerce users in the country, Lazada remains optimistic despite the expected decrease in sales after the holidays.
"It doesn’t die down but it goes to normal level, e-commerce industry is a multi-billion dollar industry in the Philippines anyways on the normal days," Balci said.
To drive the country's global e-commerce potential, Balci said, payment and banking system, fintechs, and logistics should be improved.
Next year, Lazada will open a warehouse in Mindanao to optimize operations in the region. Lazada,
Balci said, is unfazed with the region's political unrest.
"It didn’t hinder, what we do is, we don’t see it as a business opportunity but as something that we have to give back," Balci said.
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source: news.abs-cbn.com
