Fourteen students from the Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation (APU) were announced as the winners of Lazada Malaysia x APU ASBX Business Challenge which took place on June 22.
Lazada, in a statement today said the programme is to provide a dynamic platform to foster greater entrepreneurial spirit and business-oriented analytical thinking among the students at the same time opening the door for them to gain a greater understanding of the eCommerce industry from an online selling perspective.
“Lazada Malaysia x APU ASBX Business Challenge is one of the initiatives under the Enterprise@APU programme known as ASBX (APU SandBox). It kicked off with the first workshop last April conducted via a hybrid mode of online and face-to-face interactions over two months, leading up to the Business Challenge finale by the end of June,” the statement read.
The programme was opened to all APU students and 21 teams comprising 105 students from the School of Marketing and Management, School of Engineering and Enterprise Academic Fellows participated in the challenge.
Throughout the two-month learning process, students were encouraged to optimise the latest technology as a solution that could enhance Lazada's seller journey.
It said the students also presented outstanding case studies such as blockchain to reduce logistics complexity, solutions to help increase Lazada seller’s store performance, AI (artificial intelligence) bot to aid review and more.
During the finale, Team Bargain pitched the best Business Challenge idea entitled, ‘Integrated Young Entrepreneurs Community Platform with AI-Enabled Imaging’ and they emerged as the top champion while Team Underrated clinched the spot as first runner-up with the idea ‘Gamified Seller Platform and Rewards System to Motivate Seller Participation on eCommerce Platform’.
Team The Hustlers was the second runner-up with the idea ‘Embedding Artificial Intelligence to Personalise Sales for Digitally Savvy and Active Customers on Social Media’ and the three winning teams took home a total of RM1,500 in cash and special Lazada University merchandise.
According to Lazada, during the workshop and in preparation for the Business Challenge finale, the students were coached to solve real-life industry challenges and address problem statements within the scope of eCommerce entrepreneurship, omnichannel ecosystem and marketing by their mentors from APU and Lazada.
The mentors from Lazada were Lazada Malaysia Vice-President of Seller Engagement Iv Ho, Lazada Malaysia Head of Seller Tools and Management Lim Yong Keat and Lazada Malaysia Head of Seller Brand Marketing, Seller Engagement Ashleigh Ng, as well as APU Chief Enterprise and Innovation Officer Prof Dr Vinesh Thiruchelvam.
Meanwhile, Team Bargain members, Trishah Rajendran, Viman Vinesh, Arvin Ravindran and Pua Zhe Yong regarded the workshop and the valuable coaching lessons that they gained from Lazada and APU mentors were truly insightful, broadened their horizons and exposed them to many facets of eCommerce.
Driven by the long-term objective of empowering the local youth and future-ready talents, value-added initiatives by Lazada that promote strategic collaborations between higher learning institutions and organisations, will continue to support and sprout the next generation of young entrepreneurs.
It said, in 2022, Lazada launched Lazada4Youth through a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) where workshops have been organised across UiTM campuses to engage and expose more youth to the opportunity within digital commerce and unlock their potential as online entrepreneurs.
The statement said in a digital era where eCommerce is a powerful equaliser, the young generation will have access to a digital empowerment programme, enabled by Lazada – Southeast Asia’s eCommerce pioneer, supporting them to grow and thrive in business and commerce.
“This will be an impactful undertaking, aligned with the projected growth of Malaysia's eCommerce market, estimated to reach around RM47 billion by 2023,” the statement added.
Source: BERNAMA News Agency