Lazada says nearly 10,000 Tmall brands have entered Southeast Asia
In short
Lazada, Alibaba's Southeast Asian e-commerce platform, said nearly 10,000 Tmall brand merchants had joined Tmall's Yijian Qing Chuhai (一键轻出海) overseas project by the end of the first half of 2026, less than a year after it started. Participating merchants' transaction value has kept growing by double digits quarter on quarter, according to the disclosure. Leiphone reported that during the 9.9 sale, fashion sales in Thailand and esports-related sales in Vietnam rose compared with the 6.6 sale.
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Lazada, Alibaba's Southeast Asian e-commerce platform, disclosed on October 9 that nearly 10,000 Tmall brand merchants had joined Tmall's Yijian Qing Chuhai (一键轻出海) project by the end of the first half of 2026. The project had been running for less than a year, and participating merchants' transaction value has kept achieving double-digit quarter-on-quarter growth, according to the disclosure reported by Jiemian and 36Kr. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Leiphone reported that a group of Chinese brands that entered Southeast Asia through the project appeared at the Lazada Brand Gala. According to Leiphone, growth opportunities are diverging across countries and categories, with demand from young consumers in Thailand for fashion, trend and lifestyle products, and esports emerging as a vertical growth area in Vietnam. [ 1 ]
In Thailand, Lazada's fashion transaction value during the 9.9 sale rose more than 30% from the 6.6 sale, Leiphone reported. In the LazVogue-LazShadesofStyle campaign, Lazada worked with Vogue on localised fashion content and used KOLs, social media and affiliate marketing partners. Several participating Tmall brands saw overall sales grow severalfold; Crying Center's sales rose more than ninefold from 6.6. Crying Center said tops and short-sleeved items sold well in Thailand. FPA and VERAFIED also recorded clear growth, Leiphone said. [ 1 ]
In Vietnam, electronics accounted for more than 30% of relevant Lazada transactions from March to July, and six esports-related categories made up more than half of electronics transaction value, according to Leiphone. Citing market data from Lazada's Vietnam team, Leiphone said Vietnam has about 65 million gamers. Lazada partnered with local esports teams GAM and MVK, which each launched a Lazada Minishop, with professional players introducing products in livestreams. [ 1 ]
During the 9.9 sale, esports-related transaction value in Vietnam more than doubled from 6.6, with keyboards and mice contributing nearly 90%, and participating Chinese brands AULA, MOVESPEED and KTC each more than doubled their sales, Leiphone reported. Exposure of the esports marketing project rose more than 20% from the previous esports week, and sales from three livestreams were more than three times those of the previous esports week. [ 1 ]
Why it matters
The figures show how many Chinese brands from Tmall are using the project to sell in Southeast Asia, and Leiphone reported that growth opportunities are diverging between countries and product categories. Leiphone wrote that brands now have to decide where to go, what to sell and how to turn opportunities into business.
Key facts
- Nearly 10,000 Tmall brand merchants had joined Tmall's Yijian Qing Chuhai (一键轻出海) project by the end of the first half of 2026. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- The project had been running for less than a year, and participating merchants' transaction value has kept achieving double-digit quarter-on-quarter growth. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Lazada is Alibaba's Southeast Asian e-commerce platform. [ 2 , 3 ]
- During the 9.9 sale, Lazada's fashion transaction value in Thailand rose more than 30% from the 6.6 sale, Leiphone reported. [ 1 ]
- Crying Center's sales rose more than ninefold from the 6.6 sale during a Lazada campaign run with Vogue, according to Leiphone. [ 1 ]
- In Vietnam, esports-related transaction value more than doubled during the 9.9 sale compared with 6.6, with keyboards and mice accounting for nearly 90%, Leiphone reported. [ 1 ]
- Lazada worked with Vietnamese esports teams GAM and MVK, which each opened a Lazada Minishop for esports gear. [ 1 ]
Confirmed by several sources
Still unclear
- Absolute transaction values for the project and the 9.9 sale. The documents give only growth rates and shares, not total sales figures.
- The Thailand and Vietnam sales figures and brand results. These come from a single outlet, Leiphone, and are not repeated by the other outlets.
- The estimate that Vietnam has about 65 million gamers. Leiphone attributes it to market data cited by Lazada's Vietnam team, without naming the original source.