The new crew at Lazada Group

In The Checkout this week, we take another look at Lazada’s org chart after some key personnel changes and discuss ShopX’s failure in India. [Read from your browser]( The Checkout 🛒 --------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to The Checkout! Delivered every Thursday, this free newsletter breaks down the biggest stories and trends in ecommerce. You can find past issues [here]( or [sign up here]( to receive future newsletters. Also, If you’re not a subscriber, get access by [registering here](. Written by Thu Huong Le Ecommerce Journalist Hello {NAME} The Shopee-Lazada rivalry is something we’ve covered extensively here at Tech in Asia. For me personally, though, there’s a clear winner: one of my colleagues was surprised to find that I’m a Shopee “diamond” user. That’s what you get when you order 94 times on Shopee, which I did for the first half of this year. As an ecommerce writer, however, I must admit that things are not as simple. What are the untold stories from Shopee and its rivals that we need to dig? One thing I can certainly say: Stories need, and are driven by, people. After inaugurating [our Shopee org chart]( last week, we’ve now updated the Lazada org chart to reflect the personnel changes that have happened of late. In June, Tech in Asia [broke the news]( about James Dong’s appointment as the new Lazada Group CEO, making him the fifth person to hold that post in five years. In July, we also [reported]( that Magnus Ekbom, one of Lazada’s co-founders, was set to leave. But the changes haven’t just happened at the top. The org chart suggests that Alibaba is deepening its role in Lazada, with both heads for payments and logistics originating from the Chinese tech giant’s companies. But this time around, Lazada doesn’t just have Shopee as its archrival. With TikTok Shop clearly making Southeast Asia one of its top priorities, we’ll continue tracking what could possibly be a triathlon ecommerce showdown. Meanwhile, my colleague Samreen spotlights in our Hot Take why ShopX, an India-based ecommerce enabler with US$56 million in funding, has to file for bankruptcy. Ultimately, the lessons learned from failures are perhaps the most valuable of all. – Huong  --------------------------------------------------------------- THE BIG STORY [Org Chart: The people steering Lazada (updated)]( We map out the new crew leading Lazada Group after the ecommerce firm's restructuring efforts.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  THE HOT TAKE  What can we learn from ShopX’s shutdown in India? Here’s what happened: - ShopX, an India-based ecommerce enabler, has [shut down its operations]( citing failures in its scale-up efforts. - In a statement to Tech in Asia, the company said it “became unviable to operate at scale given the low-margin profile of the industry.” - Founded in 2015, ShopX had raised over US$56 million in funding, with notable investors such as Singapore-based Fung Investment and Nandan Nilekani, co-founder of India-based tech giant Infosys. Here’s our take: Originally, ShopX was a B2B marketplace that connected brands and retailers, which is similar to unicorn [Udaan](. When the pandemic hit, ShopX rolled out a software-as-a-service platform for brands and retailers to further facilitate their digital transformation. For example, brands can deposit incentives to retailers in real time or track their loyalty programs on the ShopX app. In general, the app says it enables businesses to transform into tech-enabled platforms. The startup even got into the B2C space, incentivizing customers to use a cashback app for every purchase at a partner neighborhood retail shop. But perhaps the company was dabbling into too many segments. “Seems like they tried to become Amazon plus Shopify plus Udaan plus rewards point plus whatnot,” the founder of another ecommerce enabler tells Tech in Asia on condition of anonymity. Several attempts to make the cut clearly show ShopX was struggling to define and sustain its model. B2C retail is difficult to crack in a country where you already have Amazon and Flipkart. But B2B is tricky as well. Such platforms need to consistently add value to both buyers and suppliers. Scaling up means you need to increase the volume on both the supply and demand side. Indian companies like [Wydr]( and [Tolexo]( already failed to execute this model earlier, forcing them to close down during the pre-pandemic era. Udaan, which was once [valued at US$3 billion]( reportedly [laid off]( 200 employees in June. “ShopX could not create a moat around its business that it could defend,” [Sanjay Srivastava]( a local tech industry expert, tells Tech in Asia. The picture might be more optimistic in Southeast Asia. Most notably, Vietnamese ecommerce enabler OnPoint [managed to seal off]( US$50 million recently from Temasek’s unit fund. Last week, Singapore-based ecommerce solution provider Graas [secured]( US$40 million to focus on both Southeast Asia and India. The difference is that these companies have stayed more focused on the ecommerce enabling track. Needless to say, pivots and expansions are costly. India’s funding winter is already here - July was the worst month in terms of funds raised for the country’s startups, [according to data from Inc42](. What do you do when funding dries up? With even a unicorn such as ecommerce logistics firm [Rivigo up for sale]( being consolidated, ironically, might be a reasonable alternative. – Samreen  --------------------------------------------------------------- NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW Check out Tech in Asia’s coverage of the ecommerce scene [here](. 1️⃣ Amazon has [invested]( in Cashify, an Indian recommerce startup for electronics, Entrackr reported. 2️⃣ Chinese online retail giant JD.com’s revenue [increased by only 5.4%]( in the second quarter of 2022, which is its slowest year-on-year growth on record. 3️⃣ China’s Pinduoduo [might soon enter]( the US with the launch of a cross-border ecommerce platform, according to Reuters. 4️⃣ Kuaishou, a Chinese short-video firm that competes with ByteDance, [has turned profitable]( for its second quarter. The company says total gross merchandise value from ecommerce transactions [facilitated]( by its platform grew 31.5%. 5️⃣ Singapore-based ecommerce enabler AnyMind Group [has added]( TikTok Shop among its latest partners.  --------------------------------------------------------------- That’s it for this edition - we hope you liked it! Do also check out previous issues of the newsletter [here](. Not your cup of tea? You can unsubscribe from this newsletter by going to your “edit profile” page and choosing that option in our preference center. See you next week! [ADVERTISE]( | [SUBSCRIBE]( | [HIRE]( | [FIND JOBS]( P.S. Don't miss out on the biggest tech news and analysis. Add newsletter@techinasia.com to your address book, contacts, or safe sender list. Or simply move us into your inbox. Too many emails? Switch to a different frequency or get new content through our [preference center]( or [unsubscribe](. 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