In smartphone-crazy SE Asia the newest trend for shopping is online and Malyasia’s Lazada which is Southeast Asia’s biggest online shopping mall is hoping to capitalize on this momentum with a new app. The launch of this new smartphone sales strategy follows Lazada’s recent investment round of approximately US$ 250 million from investors including retail giant Tesco.

“Driven by the explosive development of low-cost smartphones and tablets, we are witnessing technology leapfrogging in the region. Lazada’s mobile traffic has more than tripled in the last 12 months and already delivers a significant share of our revenues,” says Maximilian Bittner, CEO of the Lazada Group. “We believe that mCommerce is the future of online shopping. We have acknowledged the customers’ needs and the great convenience mobile offers — that is why we are now launching our new app for iPhone and iPad.”

According to a study conducted by Nielsen in September 2013, Southeast Asians spend an average of more than 3 hours per day on smartphones. Malaysia’s smartphone penetration of 80% is one of the highest in Asia Pacific. Almost half (47%) of consumers even own multiple mobile handsets.