Asia’s top online fashion platform Zalora Group works out strategic investments and partnerships in its 7th year in the Philippines’ fashion and online retail scene.
Zalora, in an event at Grand Hyatt Hotel in Fort Bonifacio, revealed a new line-up of initiatives to fortify its presence in Asia and in the Philippines and help the site keep its status as the top online fashion destination in relation to core components of its business: people, product, innovation and customer service.
“Since the company’s arrival in 2012, we’ve seen that there really is an exciting opportunity for fashion to grow in the e-commerce space here in the Philippines. Zalora’s success in the local scene not only shows the readiness of Filipino customers to fully transition to e-commerce but also their loyalty to lifestyle brands that add value to their shopping experience, may it be through superior customer service or variety in selections,” said Zalora co-founder and chief executive Paulo Campos III.
The site has revolutionized the way people shop for personal wear, apparel, footwear and fashion trimmings.
From adult and teens wear, the platform is looking at maximizing the kids wear line amid the steadfast growth, globally.
The global kidswear market is fast becoming one of the most profitable industries in the global with sales of 168 billion euros in 2018, according to Euromonitor International.
This is another growth area for Zalora with its goal of making fashion more accessible to customers of all segments and ages, carrying global brands and local labels alike for newborns to pre-teens.
Zalora Group is also is enhancing its portfolio of brands exclusively, bringing in Debenhams, Marks & Spencer, J.Crew, Jack Wills, Thai regional brand Pomelo and homegrown labels making waves in the international scene such as N. Natori and Josie.
It launched a series of multi-brand concept stores in partnership with Beauty Bar, R.O.X., Bratpack, Grind, Res Toe Run, and The Travel Club to house over 100 prime brands in integrated lifestyle stores, making it easier for customers to browse, choose and procure their beauty, lifestyle, leisure and sports essentials.
Zalora will also be introducing new partnerships and expanding its existing celebrity collaborations with Jason Wu, Jessica Jung, Georgina Wilson, Isabelle Daza, Solenn Heussaff, Liz Uy and Kris Aquino.
It plans to release an exclusive designer collection with the local premier fashion designers, alongside new design collaborations with celebrities to represent different customer lifestyles and milestones.
Investment-wise, the online fashion platform initiated the construction of the Fulfillment Center in partnership with Ayala Corp. Infrastructure to add more space for inventories and be quick enough to serve its huge customer base with even wider assortment of products.
The first phase of the new facility will allow Zalora Philippines to store more than twice the capacity of its current Fulfillment Center, while its strategic location provides space for future expansion as the business continues to grow.
The center will be a semi-automated multi-level facility providing additional space and increased, scalable throughput capable of housing 7.2 million items.
This is more than seven times the capacity of the existing Zalora warehouse in Carmona, Cavite, which has been serving the company since 2015.
This is a significant milestone for Zalora Philippines’ warehouse operations, which has adequately fulfilled its customers’ orders despite a mostly manual process in the previous years.
The facility will employ 1,200 employees over 24/7 operations, giving employment opportunities for the Muntinlupa-Cavite community.
To reinforce a seamless shopping strategy, Zalora will expand click-and-mortar locations to meet the growing demand for convenience and adapt to the increasingly mobile lifestyle of consumers. These include pop up store, Click & Connect expansion and expansion of order collection points to all Ayala Malls in partnership with Entrego.
In-house logistics division Zalora Express Delivery has developed into a technology-driven end-to-end fulfillment solutions company now called Entrego.
Through a partnership with Entrego, its last-mile delivery partner that was spun off from Zalora Express in late 2018 in partnership with Ayala Corp., the online fashion retail giant will also be expanding its order collection points to all Ayala Malls.
Zalora also plans to continue its legacy of holding mega sales in 2019.
“Mega sales are some of our most exciting events, largely because we get to offer the best deals from leading global and local brands while guaranteeing 100-percent authenticity, which sets our offers apart from other e-commerce sale events,” said Campos.
He said the group posted year-on-year spikes in sales of two to over 10 times the average sales.
“Fashion is an important medium of creativity and self-expression, and we want to make sure that Filipino customers continue to enjoy the product quality and customer experience that we have come to be known for,” Campos said.