E-retailer Zalora bets big on Southeast Asia

Asian fashion e-commerce start-up Zalora aims to become a multi-billion dollar company, and according to managing director Michele Ferrario, Southeast Asia’s burgeoning market holds the key to achieving that goal.

“Singapore is well-served in terms of online and offline retail, but when you think about smaller towns in Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand, people there do not have the same access to fashion as people in developed markets,” he told CNBC’s “Managing Asia.”

Home to more than 600 million consumers, the region’s internet retail market is at an “inflection point,” according to a UBS report published last June. Analysts estimate online spending across Southeast Asia is poised to hit USD35 billion by 2020, on the back of high internet penetration and widespread smartphone usage.