C E O CO R N E R All about high customer satisfaction

Back in 2012, curiosity got Zalora cofounder and CEO Paulo Campos 3rd. He wondered why there was no large e- commerce business in the country. His initial thought was Filpinos are not digital savvy enough. But through his market research, the reality was the opposite.

Filipinos are world-class when it comes to all things technology, he found out.

“By accounts, we are the number one country in the world in social media. We are number one in terms of the time spent on the internet. I was amazed how much time Filipinos spend hanging out online, doing various things including shopping. I think that somehow shows the true characters of the Filipino people. We are a bit of diasporic nation. We are spread across the world, and I think the internet is the best way to keep in touch with relatives living and working abroad,” shared Paulo.

This insight gave birth to Zalora, with Paulo overseeing the overall operations of the company in the country. His stint as a management consultant in The Boston Consulting Group in Singapore where he worked with companies across the region on issues related to business development, organizational development, investor communications and strategy, as well as special assistant to the President of Ayala Land after graduating from college, enabled him to lead his own fashion ecommerce venture to become the Philippines’ largest online fashion retail company.

He revealed that it has been daunting in the beginning. “In contrast to other Southeast Asian countries where we operate including Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, the Philippines took longer to adapt the e-commerce. Compared for instance, to Indonesia, e-commerce took off faster, with number of local players already in the Indonesian market.”

But the Philippines, observed Paulo, has been gaining its momentum. In fact, “it has been accelerating. We have been seeing huge growth in e-commerce. As the ecosystem evolves, it becomes part of Filipino lives. More ecommerce platforms are being introduced in the market. In the last two years particularly, there has been an acceleration in its momentum, which is good for the Zalora CEO Paulo Campos 3rd

overall economy.”

The accelerating momentum, in the case of Zalora, was a consequence of spotting the barriers to e-commerce adaptations and addressing the inherent concerns that come with the platform.

“There were reasons people didn’t do e-commerce before – payment methods, security concerns, return policy, and delivery, among others. We have to address

see the advantage of e-commerce,” said Paulo.

This is quite evident on the strength of e-commerce outside Metro Manila. Even though most economic activities are concentrated on Metro Manila, Paulo divulged that 60 percent of their orders come from the key cities in the regions such as Cebu, Davao and Zamboanga. Calabarzon region, he shared, is a growing market for them.

For the Zalora CEO, everything boils down to high customer satisfaction, offering the right products through the right channel. He mentioned that their long-term relationship with customers center on what he describes as their “exceptional customer service.”

In recent years, Zalora has introduced the cash-on-delivery payment method. When they started, they only have a credit card payment system, which alienated the market segment that doesn’t have access to credit cards. They also improve the return policy - no questions asked, 30-day return policy – and invested on in- house delivery

receive their orders fast.

“For us, our main competitive edge is, we are only working with

- tors, brand owners and principals. There is no single fake item on our site, no gray market goods, no products with dubious origin, no parallel import. Everything is directly from legitimate suppliers. We are focusing on leveraging brand relationship that we have build,” said Paulo.

Currently, Zalora has partnered with over a thousand fashion brands – both international and local brands, including their home- grown brand - in their platform, categorized into men’s shoes, men’s apparel, men’s accessories, women’s shoes, women’s apparel, women’s accessories, beauty and sports.

“We have a strong and diverse selection of local brands because Filipinos customers demand it. Filipinos are very loyal to local brands. When it comes to fashion trends, Filipinos are very cosmopolitan. They have a very international taste. It’s a bit counterintuitive – they want international styles and brands, and yet they are very patriotic, championing the local brands,” observed Paulo.

By improving access to brands not limited to the areas where they have physical stores and introducing new brands, Zalora is able to bring fashion inspiration closer to the Filipinos with just the click of

“With fashion, you don’t shop for them like how you would with appliances or electronic gadget, where you search for specs and compare prices. For this market, customers have emotional attachment to the brands. Fashion is a form of self- expression, a way to communicate about yourself. Somehow, we are serving that market. We have transform the business in a new way, opening new market for retailers that they would not be able to tap otherwise,” the youthful- looking executive concluded.