Livestreaming wins big for Lazada during the COVID-19 pandemic

The Southeast Asian e-commerce platform Lazada welcomed over 27 million active audience on livestream in April as brands embraced the online interactive engagement feature to connect directly with consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Total gross merchandise value* (GMV) generated through LazLive increased by 45% month-over-month in April, helping brands and sellers to enjoy increased sales despite lockdowns and stay-at-home recommendations across the region.

Leveraging Alibaba's technology, Lazada is the only e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia offering the See-Now-Buy-Now feature via LazLive. More viewers return the following day to watch LazLive again, with the one-day revisit rate up by 40% since April, the company said.

"LazLive offers a closed loop for in-app purchase, which enables higher transaction and a more seamless experience for consumers. Today's public health crisis is driving an increased demand for digital shopping experiences. LazLive is a valuable tool for our brands and sellers to engage with consumers under our collective new normal," said Pierre Poignant, CEO, Lazada Group.

"By end of June, we aim to increase daily livestreaming sessions by 50% and expect total viewers to rise by 40%. We are helping businesses to continue to connect with consumers through innovative technology as behaviours and practices are reshaped across Southeast Asia in the shadow of COVID-19."

LazLive has been adopted by an increasing number of brands and sellers as an effective tool to diversify their revenue stream. In Thailand, over 90,000 viewers tuned in to watch one of Shiseido's LazLive sessions. The international cosmetics brand successfully generated 40 times GMV uplift compared to a normal hour. A LazLive-exclusive price item sold out in the first 30 minutes.

To empower more brands and sellers to stay connected to consumers during this stay-at-home period, an exclusive seller package, including exposure, comprehensive online learning opportunities, and free livestream episode is offered to new joiners to LazLive. The number of new LazLive accounts has increased by 70% in April compared to a normal month.

LazLive ecosystem highlights:

- About 60% of the new joiners are brands and sellers, while grassroots livestreamers make up the rest, as Lazada has also opened up LazLive to users and consumers, allowing them to create a new source of income while working from home.

- A LazTalent contest has been launched in Thailand and Vietnam, and soon in other markets, to encourage talents who may be experts in a certain field to shine online. More than 3,000 grassroots livestreamers and brand promoters onboarded LazLive during the contest period.

- In Thailand, where offline stores have been closed, Lazada kicked off an Offline-to-Online Promoter & Affiliate Programme to enable brands' offline salesperson to earn commissions from products sold through social channels and LazLive. With this programme, cosmetics brand Bobbie Brown's offline sales team have been able to educate viewers on how to pamper their skin and how to create the perfect looks on LazLive, while still maintaining sales during their stay-at-home period.

- As part of Lazada's continuous commitment to helping local community, LazLive is also encouraging viewers to lend a helping hand through online donations. In Thailand, Music for Charity-themed LazLive shows are held every Friday in May, matching each view with a THB 1 donation to local hospitals to support the battle against COVID-19.

- During Ramadhan in Indonesia, Lazada donated IDR2,500,000 for every 10,000 views in each episode, up to IDR25,000,000 per episode, to the National Zakat Board (BAZNAS). The show was open for sponsorship and the funds will be added on top of the donation.

Livestreaming has become a fixture in Lazada's Shoppertainment strategy, blending shopping with entertainment so consumers can watch, play, and be entertained at home. To encourage consumers to stay home during this period, LazLive launched a region-wide work-from-home series to provide regular educational and entertainment episodes across various topics. Currently there are more than 30 daily sessions across six countries.

Innovations introduced recently include a new dual screen feature developed on LazLive to allow two talents in different locations to livestream within one frame. With this technology, brands and users can host Sing It karaoke shows, where fans are able to perform a duet with their idol in the same stream.

Another LazLive addition is the launch of virtual tourism in Thailand, which brings viewers to meet the elephants at the Elephant Nature Park. A partnership with the Tourism Authority of Thailand will allow attractions across the country, for example Nhongkai province in the northeastern part of Thailand, to host virtual tours on LazLive from the end of May.

With Southeast Asia already leading in fashion, health and beauty, and electronics livestream content, this boost has now seen livestreams for food products, groceries, and general merchandise gain momentum. During this work-from-home period, Southeast Asia viewers are also viewing more music and fitness content, Lazada said.

Despite the different themes, viewers generally stay longer for more entertaining content, though viewing behaviour varies across markets. People in the Philippines tend to be more interactive and responsive to the presenters, while Thailand viewers might be quieter but are more decisive, and more likely to click and place orders, Lazada noted.

Lazada Group has a presence in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam through commerce and technology. The company has the largest logistics and payments networks in the region, and aims to serve 300 million shoppers by 2030. Since 2016, Lazada has been the Southeast Asia flagship platform of the Alibaba Group and is powered by the Alibaba technology infrastructure.

*GMV refers to the total value of items sold in a marketplace over a specific period of time.