MANILA — ZALORA Group, Asia’s Online Fashion Destination, together with Ayala Malls, presents the initial roll out of their retail partnership that promises to change how people shop fashion in the Philippines.
Seamless customer journey is the future of retail
The impact of digital and changing consumer preferences is creating a rapid evolution across the retail industry and retailers must respond to the market shifts quickly by providing more personalized consumer experiences. In today’s channel-rich environment, shoppers are using technology across a variety of platforms to embark on and enrich their shopping experience. As a result, the line between traditional in-store and online experiences continues to blur.
ZALORA Group CEO Parker Gundersen laid out ZALORA and Ayala’s plans to leverage both parties’ strengths to deliver an exciting new model for seamless shopping in the region. “This partnership creates a unique opportunity to align the country’s leading commercial mall operator, telecom provider, and consumer bank with the region’s leading online fashion retailer to create a first-of-its-kind retail partnership that focuses on the customer journey. We have very ambitious plans to connect our respective consumer-facing businesses to create ‘seamless journeys’ for customers in the Philippines and across our markets. The idea is simple — leverage our combined customer facing businesses and our digital capabilities to create a far more connected shopping experience for Filipinos.”
He added, “we believe that by working together, ZALORA and Ayala Group can transform the customer journey into a more connected experiences, where customers can move between physical and digital channels seamlessly, and that we can better learn and adapt to customer needs by leveraging our data to study behavior and draw insights that will help us improve customer touch points.”
Driven primarily by shifting consumer behavior, shoppers are starting to demand a more seamless shopping experience across channels and devices; they are always on their mobile devices and make purchasing decisions in between places. Retailers need to be present at the different touch points of the consumer journey and continue to entice them while they’re on the go. Consumers of the future want to have options anywhere and everywhere — they are thumb-shoppers who are looking for the retailer that has the best product offering and most compelling storey to tell.
Operating in a region where hard assets infrastructure is not as developed and distribution of goods is weaker, the smartphone becomes more than a communication tool, it is also a platform to procure goods. Based on Google’s Consumer Barometer study, Asia sees the highest use of smartphones for online research and in the purchase journey, and Asian countries have the highest rate of internet users who go online exclusively using a smartphone. ZALORA’s early investments in logistics capability and technology make them perfectly positioned to successfully engage consumers in this multi-channel age. With over 10 million downloads since the app was launched in 2014, ZALORA proves to be an efficient platform for brands to reach customers.
Parker Gundersen further explained that the Ayala investment allows ZALORA to accelerate its ambitions as a leading fashion player in the region. “The initiatives we will partner with Ayala on are only the beginning of ZALORA’s olans in the larger region to broaden our range of offerings on our platform. In the coming months, ZALORA will be rolling out several new value-added services for fashion brands looking to expand in the region through digital. This is a very exciting next step for ZALORA and we are thrilled to have Ayala onboard as a partner for the next exciting evolution of ZALORA in the Philippines, and for ZALORA Group in the region.”
Winning the retail game in the Philippines
While many Filipinos continue shopping at traditional retail outlets, there is a shift in the proportion of those shopping online. More than seven in ten (71%) shop online on their personal computers in 2016, compared to only 60% the year before, with one in two Filipinos making purchases online through their mobile phone. Convenience, the availability of more options, varied merchandising and a wider array of payment options available were some commonly cited reasons for their move towards online shopping.
“ZALORA Philippines is at the forefront, driving the fashion e-commerce revolution in the Philippines. The partnership with Ayala Corporation will not only speed up the industry’s growth as more Filipinos embrace online shopping, it will also transform their shopping experience by making it even more enjoyable and convenient as they gain access to a wide selection of brands that would otherwise be unavailable to them,” shared Paulo Campos, ZALORA Philippines CEO.
Reinforcing its seamless shopping strategy, ZALORA and Ayala Malls are migrating offline and online retail to meet the growing demand for convenience and choices this holiday season. With the changing demands of the new consumers, new business models such as ZALORA’s can provide alternative solutions and services that are complementary to Ayala Malls’ brick and mortar operations. Combining Ayala Malls’ extensive offline footprint and ZALORA’s robust e-commerce ecosystem and fulfillment infrastructure, this strategic partnership supports their long-term vision to deliver a seamless and superior shopping experience across multiple customer touch points.
- Click-and-Connect – Elevating the level of service from the usual click-and-collect concept, Ayala Malls and ZALORA go beyond allowing online shoppers to redirect their parcel delivery to Ayala Malls shopping centers, to allowing them to collect at their own time and convenience. Click-and-Connect customers will also automatically enjoy free shipping, as well as free 30-day returns and exchanges for all purchases. the pilot Click-and-Connect counter in Bonifacio High Street has seen tremendous response from customers and has prompted extension to Glorietta and Trinoma before the end of the year to meet the holiday demand, with more locations expected to open by 2018.
- Click-and-Mortar Pop-Up Store – At the forefront of the Store of the Future concept, Ayala Malls and ZALORA are reinventing the retail space with the expansion of their pop-up store to more locations by 2018. These enhanced pop-up stores will marry the click-and-mortar concept with experiential augmented reality, interactive booths and beacon technology for an enhanced and immersive shopping experience. Each store will also feature exclusive collections from top brands, as well as introduce world-class brands that are not yet available elsewhere in the country.
- Ayala Malls Digital Christmas Gift Guide on ZALORA – For customers who want to avoid the maddening crowds this holiday season, Ayala Malls will launch its very own shop-in-shop on ZALORA that aggregates an extensive selection of gift ideas and holiday lookbooks from top local and international Ayala Malls brands. Customers can enjoy easy, breezy holiday shopping with Ayala Malls and ZALORA as they get to shop from the comfort of their own homes and have gifts delivered straight to their loved ones. Coupled with express shipping, gift wrapping and digital gift card offers, ZALORA helps us win against last-minute Christmas shopping.
Earlier this year, Global Fashion Group, parent company of ZALORA, became partners with Ayala Group. Ayala Group invested in taking 49% ownership of ZALORA Philippines and this partnership was approved by the regulatory board in August 2017. Among its portfolio of companies, Ayala controls Globe Telecom, the Philippines’ largest telco, Ayala Malls, the leading commerial mall operator in the country and the Bank of the Philippine Islands, one of the leading consumer banks in the country. The investment from Ayala provides ZALORA with a powerful strategic partner in the country and funding to speed up growth plans in the region.
