- Scaling across multiple properties while centralising capabilities - How to decide what to centralise / decentralise? - Alibaba & Grab: How do they scale across multiple commerce sites? - SuperApps in China and Southeast Asia - Why / why not go the SuperApp approach? - WeChat & Grab: SuperApps of Asia - Case Study: Alibaba’s playbook for integrating acquisitions (Lazada and Daraz) - What were the key tactics and priorities? - Lessons learnt

1. Asia’s Tech Giants
How they Scale and the SuperApp Strategy
OLX Group Prod Tech 2019 Keynote

2. About me
§ Lead Data Scientist @ health-tech startup
- Early detection of preventable diseases
§ Previously: VP, Data Science @ Lazada
- E-commerce ML systems
- Facilitated integration with Alibaba
§ Even earlier: Data Scientist @ IBM
- Job recommendation engines

3. Topics
§ Platform: Multiple Properties, Centralized Capabilities
- Case Study: Alibaba & Grab
- What to centralize / localize?
§ SuperApps: China and Southeast Asia
- Case Study: WeChat & Grab
- Why (not) SuperApp?
§ Alibaba’s integration of acquisitions
- Case Study: Lazada & Daraz

4. Platform: Multiple Properties;
Centralized Capabilities
Alibaba & Grab

5. What is Alibaba?

6. Alibaba: From E-Commerce to Ecosystem

7. Alibaba’s
History
§ Founded in 1999
§ Started as e-commerce
§ Now—infrastructure for e-commerce

8. Centralized: Business

11. Centralized: Capabilities

12. Capabilities
§ Infrastructure
§ Tracker (Web / App)
§ Data Lake & Metadata
§ Cross Domain User Profiles

13. Platform / Tools
§ Seller center and tools
§ Internal project tooling
§ Data platform
§ ML Tooling (PAI, Recos, etc.)

14. Guidelines
§ Common Data Model
§ Data Science Methodology
§ Product Strategy

15. What is localized?

16. Local Context
§ App Design and Development
§ Data Science (Campaigns, Fraud,
Content Enrichment)

17. Alibaba’s data synergies

18. Why Alibaba
cares so much
about data
§ Personalization across properties
§ Advertising performance
§ Machine Learning

19. Grab: Southeast Asia’s Largest Unicorn

20. Grab’s History
§ Started in 2012 as ride-hailing app
§ Uber entered South-East Asia in 2013
§ 5 year battle; each lost hundreds of
millions—Uber invested 700 mil
§ 2018, Uber gave up, for 27.5% of Grab

21. A Tale of Two Tech Families

22. Dedicated
Business Family
§ Transportation
§ Payments
§ Food

23. Platform &
Tooling Family
§ Infrastructure
§ Tracking
§ Data
§ Common modules / SDK

24. Grab’s hyper-localization

25. 1 App,
8 Countries
§ Different for each market
§ GrabBike in VN and PH, buses in SG
§ On-demand groceries, GrabAssistant
§ Highly responsive

26. Hey Uber, I’m more local than you

27. Making users family: My VN experience

28. Framework: Centralized vs Localized

29. Centralized
§ Reliability and Standards
§ Economies of Scale
§ Long-term Planning
Localized
§ Local Context
§ Speed and Responsiveness
§ Compliance with local
regulations

30. SuperApps in China &
Southeast Asia
WeChat & Grab

31. What is a SuperApp?

32. Strategy: Scale fast with users’ buy-in

33. Tactic: Let a thousand flowers bloom

34. SuperApp -> OS

35. Why SuperApp?

36. Customers: Convenience

37. Suppliers: Constant Income

38. Companies: Domination

39. WeChat: 1,000,000 apps in 1

40. WeChat’s
History
§ Launched in 2011 by TenCent
§ Currently, 800+ million MAU
§ >1 million miniapps

42. OS for China
§ Users can get by with only WeChat
§ $$$ for everything (bills, red packet)
§ Messaging, Social, Food, Commute
§ (Almost) all government services

44. Grab: Three-legged stool

47. Three pillars
§ Transportation (logistics backbone)
§ Payments (transaction fees)
§ Food (DAU)

48. Entry point to user base

49. Collaboration
with partners
§ Hotels via Agoda
§ Video via Hooq
§ Ticketing via BookMyShow
§ Groceries via HappyFresh

50. Why (not) SuperApp?
East vs. West

51. Why SuperApp in China and SEA?

52. No app distribution channels

53. Want users? Give them money

54. Parent App == Distribution Channel

55. Keeping newly acquired users

56. Why not in the US?

57. Wide internet access before smartphones

58. Giants quick to shift to mobile

59. Strict regulations in the US

60. Privacy concerns

61. In US, the opposite happens—unbundling

62. Unbundling of
Craigslist

63. Other giants
unbundling
§ Facebook
- Paper and Messenger
§ Google
- Drive -> Sheets, Slides, Docs

64. Unbundling in
China too
§ TaoBao was first commerce SuperApp
§ Unbundled into TMall (high end) and
Juhuasuan (wholesale)
§ Recently losing out to niche apps
Marketplace Brands Group Buying

65. Two lens to view SuperApps and Platforms

67. Time
Performance
___________
__________
_____________
Technology Basis of
Competition
_____

68. Time
Performance
Functionality
__________
_____________
Technology Basis of
Competition
_____

69. Time
Performance
Functionality
Reliability
_____________
Technology Basis of
Competition
_____

70. Time
Performance
Functionality
Reliability
Convenience
Technology Basis of
Competition
_____

71. Time
Performance
Functionality
Reliability
Convenience
Technology Basis of
Competition
Price

72. SuperApps == Convenience

73. Time
Performance
Functionality
Reliability
Convenience
PriceTechnology Adoption
Lifecycle
Early Adopters
Early Majority
Late Majority
Laggards
Innovators

74. Overshooting the market
Overshooting
the
M
arket

75. Why unbundle? Spectrum of user needs

78. 4 Factors for a
Monopoly
§ Tech (10x better)
§ Economies of Scale (Platform strategy)
§ Network effects (Services & contacts)
§ Branding (Trusted brand)

79. To bundle
§ Easier customer acquisition
§ Network effect of services
§ Adoption of underlying
backbone (e.g., payments)
To unbundle
§ Simpler, faster, specialized
§ Faster iteration / innovation
§ Catered to user groups

80. Alibaba’s Acquisition
Playbook
Lessons from Lazada and Daraz

81. Testing the waters: Seller Center

82. The next wave: Project Voyager

83. First,
Standardization
§ Infrastructure (Alicloud)
§ Data (Platform, Data Lake, CDM)
§ Tracker
§ Project Tools

84. Next,
Copy + Paste
§ Talent
§ Use cases
§ Machine Learning

85. Key Takeaways
From what’s happening in China and South-east Asia

86. How Asia and
SEA has evolved
§ Platformization
§ SuperApps (Payments, Logistics, Food)
§ Unbundling has started(?)

87. Thank you!
eugene@eugeneyan.com