Alibaba's Lazada teams up with Uber, Netflix to lure customers in Singapore
E-commerce operator creates loyalty programme for shoppers in Singapore that it may expand to other markets
Lazada Group, the Southeast Asian e-commerce operator backed by Alibaba Group Holding, has created a loyalty programme for shoppers in Singapore that it may expand to other markets.
The company is teaming up with Uber Technologies and Netflix, the first time the US companies have jointly created an online rewards programme, said Maximilian Bittner, chief executive officer of Lazada.
Alibaba acquired a controlling stake in Singapore-based Lazada for US$1 billion in 2016. The companies’ “LiveUp” programme started Thursday and links their services, from UberEats and Netflix to online grocer RedMart and Alibaba’s Taobao online marketplace.
Alibaba is owner of the South China Morning Post.
Consumers pay S$28 (US$20) a year to get benefits such as six months of Netflix streaming, discounts on Uber rides and free delivery on Taobao or Lazada purchases. A mobile app will be rolled out in the second half of the year.
“Singapore is the market on the cutting edge of validating what we think consumers might want, so we will focus on Singapore first,” said Bittner, who expects to add more partners. He drew a comparison with code-sharing among carriers, which gives consumers a range of benefits like flight redemptions.