Lazada, the Southeast Asian e-commerce arm of Alibaba Group Holdings, has partnered with Gmarket, a South Korean online marketplace, to give shoppers across Southeast Asia access to 20 million products from South Korean sellers.
The partnership, launched on Monday, introduces a storefront for Gmarket within LazMall, Lazada’s flagship virtual shopping mall. Shoppers in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam will be able to buy a wide range of products from popular beauty and personal-care brands such as Sulwhasoo, d’Alba, Mediheal, COSRX, Skinfood and Laneige.
Orders placed on the new storefront will be fulfilled through Lazada’s established logistics network, while after-sales service will be jointly managed by both companies, the Singapore-headquartered platform said.
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The tie-up follows the creation of Grand Opus Holdings, a 50-50 joint venture between Alibaba International and Gmarket’s owner, retail conglomerate Shinsegae Group, announced late last year. The entity will oversee both Gmarket and AliExpress Korea. The deal received conditional approval from South Korea’s competition regulator earlier this month, but concerns over consumer data-sharing remain.
Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.
“Our partnership with Gmarket will play an instrumental role in expanding the diversity and depth of our brand assortment, reinforcing our long-term strategy to drive sustainable growth through trusted global and local brands,” said a Lazada spokesperson in a statement.
Lazada has been doubling down on a brand-led growth strategy, aiming to capture a larger slice of Southeast Asia’s fast-growing e-commerce market.
The region’s gross merchandise value (GMV) reached US$128.4 billion in 2024, up 12 per cent year on year, according to Singapore-based industry research firm Momentum Works. Yet brand-driven sales account for less than 30 per cent of e-commerce platforms’ GMV, compared with more than 50 per cent in China, suggesting “untapped potential”, the consultancy said in a June report.
LazMall recorded nearly 30 per cent year-on-year growth in average order value during the September “9.9” mega sale, the platform said.
In recent months, Alibaba has been establishing a closer connection between Lazada and its domestic premium marketplace, Tmall, enabling Chinese merchants to sell directly on Lazada, which has 160 million active users. Through the synergy, Alibaba aims to support Chinese merchants in tapping overseas markets while offering a wider array of goods to Southeast Asian consumers.