After Philippines, Zalora reportedly retreating from Indonesia

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Zalora is reportedly in talks for an acquisition with Indonesian retail giant MAP Group

Update: Friday, 6pm. to include response from Global Fashion Group

After pulling back from the Philippines, Rocket Internet’s online beauty store Zalora is reportedly on its way out of Indonesia.

A TechCrunch report stated that Zalora is currently in talks for an acquisition with retail giant MAP group.

The news came only one day after the conglomerate Ayala Group bought a 49 per cent stake in BF Jade E-Services Philippines Inc., which owns and operates the Zalora brand in the country.

Zalora is under the management of Global Fashion Group (GFG), which was created in 2012 by Rocket Internet to manage its fashion e-commerce business across the world.

A communications representative from Global Fashion Group told e27 the company does not comment on “industry rumours.”

Consolidation is in fashion

In Indonesia, 2016 proved to be a challenging year for the fashion e-commerce segment. Startups such as Berrybenka and SaleStock laid off a significant number of employees, while smaller players like Lolalola were forced to close down business.

MAP Group has been known to make efforts to branch out to e-commerce and it launched MAP EMALL last year. The group operates various department stores and fashion outlets, and it has partnerships with global fashion brands such as Zara, and Marks & Spencer.

The deal is likely to be part of the company’s move to strengthen its foray into e-commerce, which, when combined with the group’s strong offline presence, might actually create a positive impact.

An O2O approach is believed to be a working formula for some e-commerce platforms in the country, with Berrybenka CEO Jason Lamuda stating that the company’s pop-up stores were able to increase overall sales in a city by two to four times. It is also able to increase online sales by 1.5 to two times.

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Image Credit: alenin / 123RF Stock Photo

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