The local unit of e-commerce site Lazada has named Raymond Alimurung as its new chief executive officer.
Lazada Philippines made the announcement official via a statement on Monday, June 18, although it was first reported on Thursday, June 14, after Alimurung’s wife, Quezon City Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte, made a congratulatory post on social media. Belmonte has since taken down the post.
New Lazada Philippines CEO Ray Alimurung was the company’s chief commercial officer before being named to the new post
Alimurung was Lazada Philippines’ chief commercial officer. According to the statement, he was “instrumental in driving top line revenue for the company, and launching big brand partnerships like Samsung, Estee Lauder, Apple and L’Oreal, to name a few.”
In her Facebook post, Belmonte said Alimurung completed medical school at the University of the Philippines before pursuing his MBA at Stanford University. Prior to his stint with Lazada, he served as CEO of aCommerce, an e-commerce and retails solutions provider, and integration head at IP E-Game Ventures Inc.
Alimurung worked at Amazon.com and at Lazada’s parent company Rocket Internet. He also served as CEO of Netopia, one of the country’s largest chains of Internet cafes.
Alimurung succeeds Turkish-born Inanc Balci, who co-founded CEO Lazada Philippines in 2012 and served as its CEO since 2014.
Lazada Philippine sstatement said Balci is moving on to pursue his passions outside of the firm.
“Inanc will always be regarded as one of the pioneering visionaries of the local e-commerce industry. In just six years at the helm, Inanc has grown Lazada Philippines into the Philippines’ leading online shopping and selling destination where now thousands of sellers cater to over a million monthly transactions,” the statement said.
Lazada is the country’s number one e-commerce platform, attracting over two million page views and over 350,000 unique visitors daily according to Hypestat. Over 10 million products are available on the site from over 10,000 merchants.
The local operations of the regional online shopping network reported revenues in excess of Php1.07 billion in 2014, but also posted a net loss of just under Php1 billion. It has not disclosed revenue figures since, although in interviews, Balci has remained upbeat that the company will soon turn a profit.
