Finally, the rumors came to an end as Daraz announced the latest breaking news.
If you weren’t following the latest business gossips then here’s a little preview of what was going on in the e-commerce world:
At the onset of the year 2018, rumors started pouring up that China’s biggest e-commerce store, Alibaba, has its eyes on Daraz, that is Pakistan’s biggest e-commerce store.
Amazon and Alibaba: The e-commerce giants hoping to create their regime in Pakistan
The news started heated up when Amazon, India’s biggest e-commerce store, expressed its plans to step its feet in Pakistan’s e-commerce industry through Clicky.pk, another popular and Pakistan-based e-commerce website.
And on April 2018, The Economics Times Of India threw the biggest business news of all time.
They wrote that there have been talks and negotiations in process between higher officials of Amazon and Clicky.pk.
And here’s what one of the officials from Amazon said when asked about Amazon’s approach towards Pakistan:
“If a transaction (between Amazon and Clicky.pk) goes through Indian merchants can sell more goods in Pakistan, which can be routed through Dubai, where Souq is based.”
Like I said, Amazon wasn’t the only e-commerce giant that had eyes on Pakistan’s leading e-commerce stores.
When the American company, Amazon, was ready to raise its stake at Clicky.pk, Alibaba was in talks with Daraz officials to take a stake as well.
From raising stakes to ruling South-Asia, here’s how Alibaba Group changed the game:
The rumors turned into the debate when Bloomberg in March, said in its report that talks have been going on between Alibaba Group and Rocket Internet, Daraz’s parent company.
The leading e-commerce store in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Nepal i.e Daraz, has officially announced that Alibaba has acquired it fully to make it a part of the Alibaba group.
While Alibaba Group is the e-commerce giant in China, Daraz is ruling the e-commerce market in five countries.
But let’s talk about the future of Daraz after being part of the Alibaba Group:
Daraz might be the leading e-commerce site in the above-mentioned countries and especially in Pakistan, but let’s be honest, e-commerce sites like Yayvo and Clicky, are becoming a potential competitor for Daraz Pakistan.
But with Alibaba’s experience in the market and technology-driven approach, Daraz can soon reach a point where it is impossible to even compete with it.
Moreover, this is not the first time that Alibaba group has acquired Rocket Internet’s entire business. The deal is the second time Alibaba has bought a Rocket company, the first being Lazada in Southeast Asia two years ago.
Daraz will remain Daraz even after functioning under the Alibaba rule:
Yeah, you heard it right, even though the Alibaba has the potential to take over South-Asian e-commerce industry and the motive behind acquiring Daraz is also the same. But Daraz will continue to operate under the same brand, Rocket Internet said in a statement.
The Chinese e-commerce giant will spread its wings all over South-Asia:
And Pakistan isn’t the only platform through which the Chinese company plans to spread its wings in the e-commerce market.
Beyond Pakistan, it looks like Alibaba is also eager to make use of Bangladesh, which has a population of over 160 million and rising internet adoption.
According to reports last month, the Chinese firm is pushing to buy a 20 percent chunk of payment firm bKash, a move that would again push its reach deeper into South Asia.
Daraz is opening doors for entrepreneurs following the acquittance of the platform:
Daraz was founded by the German-based venture capital company, Rocket Internet, in 2012. And until now Daraz operates in Pakistan as well as Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Nepal.
Even though An Alibaba spokesperson confirmed the deal but the company hasn’t made an official announcement.
Well, here’s what Co-CEO of Daraz, Bjarke Mikkelsen, has to say about the deal. He said that they (Daraz) are ready to empower entrepreneurs in the region and offer their customers the best selection of products with a high level of convenience in collaboration with Alibaba. The eCommerce platform would be supported by the best-in-class technology, a vibrant community of ecosystem participants and a strong logistics network.
We hope that the platform will now encourage new technology-driven and top-notch ideas by arranging entrepreneur conference, every now and then.
On the other hand, the whole Alibaba circuit seems delighted beyond expectations with this deal.
Daniel Zhang, the CEO of Alibaba Group seems excited to step its feet in the South-Asian region by acquiring Daraz.
While praising the team at Daraz, Zhang said that he has found a great team that espouses their values and believes that a technology-enabled commerce ecosystem will play a critical role in driving the long-term economic development in South Asia.
The Alibaba group keeps the similar motives as Daraz, which is to empower entrepreneurs to better serve consumers in the region through their technology and expertise.
So to sum up the latest business news, we believe that only good can come by the partnership of these two e-commerce giants.
