Lazada Malaysia garners E-Commerce – Logistics award at MTEA 2021

Lazada’s Transport Invoice Dispute System is an innovative solution that simplifies the seller-shopper relationship.

In the recent Malaysian Technology Excellence Awards 2021, Lazada Malaysia walked away with a win in the E-Commerce – Logistics category. This was in recognition for its Transport Invoice Dispute System project that simplifies the seller-shopper relationship.

Founded in 2012, Lazada invested heavily in building a strong logistics infrastructure in Southeast Asia since day one. It established a comprehensive last-mile network through its logistics arm Lazada Express to address infrastructure challenges in the region. After being acquired by Alibaba Group, Lazada revamped its technology platform and further launched Lazada eLogistics or more commonly known as LEL in 2017, which leveraged Alibaba’s data-driven technology and logistics ecosystem, providing seamless logistics experience for its sellers and consumers.

One such innovation stems from a challenge that the logistics team faced when it came to 3rd party logistics (3PL) claims and invoice dispute checks. To further simplify and streamline the process, its logistics team worked on a system that was launched in 2019, called the Transport Invoice Dispute System. This automated the existing End to End (E2E) and 3PL claims and invoice-dispute check process. reduced time by eliminating manual steps from the Transport Finance team, maintained data integrity, as well as adherence of records to pre-set validation and rules.

“When the team started on the project, we had four main objectives in mind. Firstly, we had to automate the process of information gathering between 3PL invoices and Lazada data. Secondly, we also wanted to match the automation across all systems and display dispute justifications. The third objective revolved around enabling 3PLs to have access to immediate results and justifications on why their invoices were rejected, and lastly, we aimed to eliminate the manual process flow and reduce the dispute cycle to 1-2 hours for the first dispute,” said P Sunil Singh, Chief Logistics Officer, Lazada Malaysia.

The upgrade on the second phase of the system allowed for automation and inclusion of additional reasons for dispute justification. The success of the system is largely defined by its benefits for the Transport and Finance department. Through the automated process flow of reviewing 3PL claims requests, the team was able to reduce dispute turnover time and reduce human error that may result from manual data checking. Thus, the communication process with 3PLs is improved, thanks to immediate access to claims status.

The system has grown with the needs of the company and is capable of delivering outstanding long-term growth potential, as well as building stakeholder value and relationship between the Finance, Transport, and 3PL team. In recognition of this innovative system, Lazada Malaysia was awarded the Malaysia Technology Excellence Awards 2021 in the category of E-Commerce – Logistics.

“We are thrilled to win this award as it’s a testament to the entrepreneurial spirit that has always been a part of Lazada’s DNA. We believe that innovation drives exponential growth. I am proud of my team for all the hard work in making this new system a reality and fostering closer relationships with various departments, and to offer our partners and customers a more seamless shopping experience,” added Singh.

Lazada Group continues to fortify its presence in Southeast Asia by strengthening its technology, logistics, and payments capabilities in Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, and Thailand. Lazada’s state-of-the-art fulfilment centres in 6 countries occupy over 300 thousand square meters of land, and 85% of Lazada’s parcels are sorted by Lazada’s own facilities. Now hosting the widest range of brands and sellers, the company aims to serve 300 million customers by 2030.