The Lazada platform, Alibaba’s Southeast Asia arm, generated $21 billion in gross merchandise value in 2021, hitting 130 million annual consumers. For any online retailer, this represents an enticing market to start selling to.
As a small business owner looking for opportunities in the online retail marketplace, Lazada represents a fantastic opportunity to leverage its established payment and logistics infrastructure for profit-seekers. But many sellers don’t know where to start with the online shopping platform.
We’ve put together this complete guide that explains the sign-up process for the online store and shares some tips for how to boost sales on Lazada.
Key takeaways:
- Selling on Lazada is simple with the right advice.
- Know and understand your competition.
- Good quality product images are crucial.
- Impeccable customer service is essential.
How to become a seller on Lazada
There are three simple steps to start selling on Lazada.
Step 1: Create your Lazada account
Head to the Lazada seller center and create a seller account. There are three account options to choose from.
- Option 1: Sign up as a Lazada Seller. This option is for local sellers only. It lets Singapore-based retailers sell products on Lazada with zero commission fees. This option is only applicable if you are a seller based in Singapore.
- Option 2: Sign up as a LazMall Seller. Owners of trademarks or authorized distributors may choose this option. LazMall sellers have special access to specific campaigns and extra seller resources. Commissions are only collected when an item sells.
- Option 3: Sign up as a LazGlobal seller. Becoming a LazGlobal Seller is the best option for you if you are based abroad, notably in Japan, South Korea, China, and other Asian countries. Registered firms who want to reach international customers should use this option. You transport goods through a Lazada global shipping facility and only pay seller fees when an item is sold.
For this article, we’ll assume that you’ll be signing up as a Lazada seller. The platform will direct you to a sign-up page where you must provide basic information, such as full name, location, and email or phone number.
Then, they’ll send an OTP to your registered phone number or email. Use this to authenticate your account with the rest of the required information.
Step 2: List your items/products
After signing up for the account, you can start selling online, but you’ll need to update your shipping details and start product listing.
The site will direct you to the Seller Center. Here, you can start completing a to-do list. Add in your address and shipping details before clicking ‘Upload SKU’. This button will take you to the product listing process.
You’ll be glad to know the process is relatively simple yet can be time-consuming if you have many products to list.
First, checking that your product is not on Lazada’s list of prohibited items is vital. Generally speaking, the lengthy listing process has benefits since it complies with Lazada’s strict requirements for independent businesses.
Identify each product name/product title and product category. The product category could be “electronic devices,” “Personal Care,” or “Home Products.” Then, write a comprehensive product description sharing the necessary product information.
We recommended using bullet points for product descriptions to enhance readability for the consumer. You’ll then need to fill out other fields, such as weight, dimensions, returns policy, and warranty details. Filling out as much of this information as possible will improve the shopping experience for consumers who like to see lots of information about a product.
Batch uploading is available if you want to upload multiple products that fit a similar template. This batch uploading automates a part of the process to reduce manual effort. It’s worth noting that Lazada provides a training session for Lazada sellers that goes through numerous aspects of the eCommerce store.
As well as teaching you how to navigate the eCommerce platform and handle inventory management, they offer weekly tips on product promotion and advice on how to increase sales. In addition, they offer fantastic tips on how to become a successful seller.
Step 3: Link bank account
The last step is connecting your Lazada account to your bank account or other payment options so that you can receive payment for any sales on Lazada.
You must activate your Seller Wallet by providing further required documents.
There are different requirements for corporate sellers and individual sellers.
Corporate sellers must provide:
- Legal company/business name.
- Business license/registration number and address.
- information from the seller’s ACRA business profile.
Individual sellers must provide:
- Full legal name.
- ID type.
- NRIC number.
- Residential address.
- Mobile phone number.
- Date of birth.
- Nationality.
- Coloured scan of NRIC (front and back).
- Bank statement.
Once they verify all the legal documentation, you are ready to start selling on Lazada.
How to become a top seller on Lazada?
To be a successful online seller in the Lazada marketplace, you must take numerous steps to obtain a competitive advantage. Let’s examine a few techniques to give you the best chance of increasing sales.
1. Know your competition
All business owners should know that success often comes from knowing your competition. As such, you need to keep track of what others are doing to understand how to optimize your efforts.
One aspect of this is to keep track of keyword use. First, analyze the keywords used for those titles at the top of the product rankings. Then, check those high-performing product descriptions and product names and try to emulate them as best as possible while attempting to differentiate your products.
This keyword research should be part of an overarching strategy to try and enhance your searchability so that users find your products — a fundamental principle of online selling.
As with any business, you must also compare your pricing with your competitors. Are their products cheaper than yours? Can you lower the price without affecting your profit margins? Can you offer any enticing bundles of products or promotions to attract customers?
You must always frame your products not as standalone but with others in the eCommerce market.
2. Upload clear imagery of products
High-quality imagery can make or break an online sale. Consumers want to see the products they are buying so they know what to expect when the product arrives.
Your image quality also reflects your professionalism as a seller. Blurry, unclear images do not give the user a great first impression of your products. Avoid this potential obstacle by uploading several high-quality product images from different angles to demonstrate to the consumer that you are a professional business owner.
Depending on your product, uploading images with helpful infographics can be a fantastic addition. For items of furniture, where measurements can be essential, showing the item’s dimensions in an image can benefit a user.
‘Lifestyle’ images can also help create an emotional connection to the buyer. Lifestyle images show the product in use in a real-life setting.
3. Provide customer care
The customer is king, which has never been more apt than in the modern, online retail environment. Great sellers provide an excellent customer experience; otherwise, users will head and shop elsewhere since there is so much competition. What does excellent customer care look like?
Ensure customer inquiries are dealt with promptly and take note of customer feedback, both negative and positive. Listening to customer feedback, and adjusting accordingly, should be a fundamental building block on the way to building a successful eCommerce store.
Of course, if you pay attention to the customer experience and reap the significant rewards of positive reviews, this can act as fantastic social proof for your products and service. For example, Lazada shoppers regularly check reviews to see if they want to do business with a Lazada seller.
The modern customer appreciates choice, so offer numerous payment methods and shipping fee options at the checkout.
4. Inventory management
Keep an eye on inventory with an inventory management system. It’s essential to keep track of the ins and outs, whether a particular item is low in stock or if a specific item has gone missing. Knowing precisely what is selling and what stock seems to be sitting at Lazada’s fulfillment center can help inform your future business decision-making.
5. Invest in digital marketing
It is helpful to explore the power of different channels to bring traffic to your product pages. There are various digital marketing strategies to employ to do this, each with its multiple pros and cons.
You could try:
- Paid ads on social media.
- A comprehensive content marketing scheme based on search engine optimization, including blog writing on your website.
- A b2b marketing strategy, including email campaigns, for example.
Through social media marketing and other strategies, you can raise awareness of your product offering and hope to improve conversion rates for your business. Experiment with these strategies to see what works best for your context.
Lazada selling fees
There are no fixed fees, listing fees, or hidden costs when selling with Lazada Singapore. Lazada does, however, charge a commission fee between 1 and 4%, depending on the product category.
Lazada Singapore activates its commission fee on your account once you’ve sold the items and they reach the customer. Besides Lazada’s commission, you must also pay GST or value-added tax.
The GST applicable to Lazada SG is 7% of the product’s price, but this percentage will vary depending on the country you are operating in. Likewise, your shipping fees will also vary depending on the product item and which country you are shipping to.
Finally, the total sale price is also a 2% processing fee. These costs are relatively minimal compared to other online retail stores, enabling sellers to start selling on Lazada without too much initial investment.
Summing Up
Lazada is designed to make shopping easy for customers through mobile and web access. It offers multiple payment methods, excellent customer care, and free returns. And sellers also access customer analytics and sales and marketing metrics from the Lazada seller center to track how well your business is doing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it easy to sell on Lazada?
It’s very easy to sell on the Lazada marketplace. You simply need to fill out the registration form, and then you are ready to sell your goods.
What are the fees for selling on Lazada?
There are no fixed payment fees, listing fees, or hidden costs for online merchants on Lazada. However, there is a commission fee, so check the details before signing up.
Can I sell as an individual on Lazada?
Yes! Anyone with a bank account can apply to become a marketplace seller on Lazada.
Can I sell in Lazada without business registration?
Registration and a business license are not always required for eCommerce sellers on Lazada. The individual seller account is for people who have just started selling online. New businesses are provided with an individual seller account that doesn’t need a business license.
