Launching yet another initiative in the online retail industry, Daraz.lk was responsible in introducing the biggest online sale in the world to Sri Lanka as they brought 11.11 or Single’s Day for the very first time to Sri Lanka in November. With the successful end to the sale, Bart Van Dijk – Country Manager of Daraz Sri Lanka shares their experience in bringing this mega sale and how it impacted online retail.
Q: You introduced the world’s biggest sale to Sri Lanka this year. How was the response for 11.11?
A: The numbers were records in every way we could think of. We recorded approximately 60,000 orders and LKR 160+ million worth in value during the sale period, which is a significant amount for a market the size of Sri Lanka. Daraz has been growing 300% YoY and this has had an impact on the success of 11.11. It also indicates how the market is growing, and that there is much interest towards online retail.
Another exciting response was that 11.11 was driven by many individuals and teams. Apart from working with large media houses, we also had Instagram and YouTube influencers coming up with their own content for 11.11 and sharing it with their followers. The technology that we currently have was an advantage in the success of 11.11. The personalized Daraz Mobile App made sure that our customers were actually buying what they wanted, because it creates recommendations based on individual search patterns.
Q: What were the trends you saw in terms of shopping behavior and purchases during the sale?
A: An interesting observation came from the mobile phone category where we saw the Chinese, mid to high range mobile phone sellers like One Plus coming up and doing much better. This is generally a Huawei and Samsung market but we noticed more traction coming for Chinese brands. This is also something we can expect to happen in the next few years.
Q: This was the very first time 11.11 was done in Sri Lanka. What were your expectations before the sale?
A: Having done Black Friday, we had the experience of handling large campaigns. However, the projection for 11.11 was larger and it was a gamble to us since Single’s Day was quite a new concept to Sri Lanka. Yet the excitement and response was high. In addition, many people see Jack Ma as an inspiration and that transcends across the world. The fact that Alibaba initiated 11.11 had a lot to do with the acceptance.
Q: How did Daraz fare in the other countries on 11.11? And how was it globally?
A: Globally too it broke records, and for Daraz as a group, it was something we had never experienced before. 11.11 is also used as a ‘Stress Test’ for ourselves; to evaluate ourselves in terms of operations. We have been building our operations for 4 to 5 months before 11.11 to ensure that we are ready for the day of the sale.
Q: Does this mean Daraz will discontinue Black Friday?
A: Daraz will continue to host Black Friday but our main focus will be on 11.11. We plan to make it big in Sri Lanka as it is in the rest of the world. We see that most retailers have taken up the Black Friday concept now, and the 2 campaigns are just 2 weeks apart and well placed right before the shopping season.
Q: What is the next big thing from Daraz?
A: We are building our plans for next year. One aspect we would further expand is our logistical hubs, and increase it from 14 to over 20 across the country. We will also introduce a ‘swipe-on-delivery’ option, apart from the existing ‘cash-on-delivery’ facility, which will be exclusive to our DEX (Daraz Express) rider base. We will focus on bringing in a global collection.
Q: Daraz has been the catalyst in introducing online trends to Sri Lanka. How receptive have your customers been, and how has this influenced the overall online retail industry in Sri Lanka?
A: We are introducing international standards to Sri Lanka in terms of selling online, which makes it easier for other e-commerce platforms as well as start-ups. The Daraz University brings knowledge not only to our sellers, but also to the whole industry and as a result the online retail market is growing.
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