Lazada’s president quits

Jessica Liu, president of Lazada Group, is leaving the South-East Asian online shopping unit of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

She is departing Lazada to spend more time with her family, the company said, confirming an earlier report by Bloomberg News.

Liu has been a key member of Lazada’s leadership team and also served as head of LazMall, the fast-growing marketplace for international and local brands within the Lazada platform.

Earlier this year, she took on an additional role of chief executive officer of Thailand, becoming the company’s first female country head.

“Under her leadership, Lazmall has grown to become one of the largest online virtual malls in South-East Asia, ” Lazada said in a statement.

“We want to thank Jessica for this and her many other contributions, and wish her well as she takes some time off to focus on her family.”

Lazada has gone through frequent management shuffles since it was acquired by Alibaba.

The company appointed Chun Li as group CEO in July, and Lazada has since been investing in technology and logistics and recording triple-digit year-on-year order growth.

Revenue from Alibaba’s international commerce retail business climbed 42% to US$5.26bil (RM21.74bil) in the fiscal year ended March 31, led by Lazada and Trendyol.

Liu joined Lazada in 2020 from Alibaba, where she was general manager of Tmall Fashion and Luxury.

Under her leadership, Tmall became China’s largest fashion business-to-consumer online platform.

Nine-year-old Lazada operates in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.