Zalora emerges as South-east Asian online innovator

Singapore

ONLINE fashion marketplace Zalora, having amassed US$238 million in investment funds since its founding in 2012, looks set to be among the players leading the US$21.8-billion South-east Asian e-commerce market to new heights.

In the past month alone, the Rocket Internet-backed, Singapore-based start-up has unveiled several breakthrough initiatives in e-commerce. The latest, an online shopping event showcasing its Chinese New Year collection, will be held on Jan 16 via video-chat platform Google Hangouts. Shoppers can discover and purchase apparel while "hanging out" and interacting with the Zalora community, in what is believed to the first such experience in South-east Asia.