South Asia's Online Shopping store Daraz is acquired by Alibaba Group

Alibaba Group has acquired South Asia's largest e-commerce platform, Daraz Group said Tuesday.

The purchase, for an undisclosed sum, will make Daraz a wholly owned unit of Alibaba, which is China's biggest e-commerce provider and operator of the popular Taobao and Tmall platforms.

For Alibaba, the acquisition spreads its e-commerce reach further outside of China. It recently topped up its investment in Lazada, giving it control of the well-known Southeast Asian online shopping platform.

"We are excited for Daraz to become a part of the Alibaba ecosystem," said Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang. "Together with Daraz, we can now empower entrepreneurs to better serve consumers in the region through our technology and expertise."

Zhang said the Daraz team is a natural fit, sharing Alibaba's values ​​and beliefs that long-term economic development in the region will depend on a technology-enabled commerce ecosystem.

Daraz was founded in 2012 and has grown into a leading e-commerce company in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Nepal. It has 30,000 sellers and 500 brands on its platform, with 2 million products available to its 5 million customers. Daraz product offerings stretch across consumer electronics, household goods, beauty, fashion, sports equipment and groceries. It also offers multiple payment options, including cash-on-delivery.

"Together with Alibaba, we are ready to empower entrepreneurs in the region and to fulfill our promise to offer our customers the best selection of products with a high-level of convenience," said Daraz Co-CEO Jonathan Doerr.

Daraz said its acquisition by Alibaba would help drive further growth in its key markets, home to 460 million people, 60% of them under the age of 35.

"With hard work and dedication, we have started the e-commerce journey in our markets, but we have still only scratched the surface of the potential," said Daraz Co-CEO Bjarke Mikkelsen.

Source: Alibaba Group News Portal