LAZADA, the Southeast Asian online shopping platform under Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding, has achieved profitability for the first time in July. Lazada reported above-zero earnings before interests, taxes, depreciation, and amortization last month, chief executive officer James Dong said at an internal meeting, yicai.com reported. Achieving profitability proves that Lazada’s commercial strategy is effective, Dong said, adding that the firm will continue to increase investment in Southeast Asian markets. Lazada’s Thai business was the first to achieve profitability in 2022, when it reported a net profit of US$91.5 million and a revenue of US$1.1 billion. In its latest annual earnings conference call, Alibaba said Lazada continued to increase its operating efficiency. In the first quarter of this year, Lazada’s loss significantly shrank, thanks to higher monetization ratios, lower logistics costs, and more value-added services, Hangzhou-based Alibaba noted. Lazada has enhanced localized operations in the past two years, including investing heavily in developing its key brands in the Malaysian market. Lazada also took the lead in using AI technologies among Southeast Asian firms. Since May last year, Lazada has launched LazzieChat, an AI chatbot for customer service, and other staff tools, such as an AI marketing assistant and an advertisement return on investment forecasting tool. LazzieChat answered more than 30% of consumers’ shopping queries on Lazada. More cross-border e-commerce platforms are foraying into Southeast Asia. Besides Shopee and Lazada, TikTok Shop and Temu have also entered the market in the past two years.(SD-A gencies) | 