By e27.sg | e27
Aiming to reach a wider audience in Southeast Asia, fashion retailer ZALORA has launched its new Android app, and offers a 20 percent discount to users.
Mobile is increasingly becoming the access point of choice for Internet users, especially in emerging economies in the region, where mobile devices — smartphones and feature phones included — have fast overtaken desktop computers in terms of access. With this in mind, ZALORA has launched its iOS application a few months back. Given the rising popularity of Android in both consumer and enterprise market, though, it only makes sense for the company to also do its launch on the platform, too.
ZALORA has today launched its mobile app for the hundreds of millions of Android smartphones and tablets out there, and this comes with a 20 percent discount for users who purchase goods from the e-commerce service through their new Android application. According to Michele Ferrario, Regional Managing Director, ZALORA South-East Asia, ກ່ຽວກັບ 25 percent of ZALORA’s revenue now comes from mobile access. He believes that m-commerce in the region is “promising” but still nascent.
“Visits to our website through mobile phones and tablets are increasing, and so are revenues,” he told e27. “We see a growing number of customers that like to shop at ZALORA through different mediums — on their way to work with their phones, during breaks through their office desktops and later in the evening with their tablets, for example.”
A few highlighted features of the new app:
- Receive push notifications on new arrivals and flash sales so that they are always in the know
- Easily browse for a quick overview of product information, images, ratings and reviews
- Add items to cart and infinitely save them for later (*as long as the app is kept active)
- Pick from multiple payment methods – Credit Card, PayPal, Cash-On-Delivery
In addition, the mobile app offers new features and categorization, which Michele says should improve usability and engagement among ZALORA’s users. “The new features and categorization of our redesigned mobile-optimized site will make it easier for customers to shop through different devices at different stages of the day, and with the promotional assets. The new mobile site also integrates trend information, especially on the style tab, as well as sale banners — so our customer gets the full desktop experience, on-the-go.”
We have previously discussed how m-commerce is considered an “untapped” market in Southeast Asia, but analysts do recognize the potential of mobile technologies in growing both online and brick-and-mortar based retail businesses. For instance, Jana managing director for Asia Pacific Anurag Banjaree notes how the growth of smartphone usage in emerging markets will further fuel e- and m-commerce, although feature phones (particularly those with mobile Internet access) will help accelerate usage even more.
But with Android taking a big chunk of the smartphone market in Southeast Asia – both in terms of device sales and ad impressions — it only makes sense for online and mobile retail companies to launch an application tailor-fit for the platform. Apart from the Android app launch, ZALORA is also shifting to a more responsive mobile web design this coming August, focusing on a more visual navigation route, with a style focus optimized for marketing and customer relationship management.
ນີ Mobile now drives 25% of ZALORA’s revenues, new Android app launched ທີ່ທໍາອິດໃນ E27.