E-commerce business plummeted, and Alibaba's South Asia e-commerce platform Daraz announced 11% layoffs.

Beijing, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) in order to withstand the sharp decline in e-commerce business, Daraz Group, an e-commerce platform in South Asia owned by Alibaba Group, announced that it would cut its workforce by 11%, thus joining a growing number of technology companies that are cutting back on spending in response to the global economic downturn.

Daraz announces layoffs Daraz, a Pakistani company, was acquired by Alibaba from Internet company Rocket Internet in 2018. Over the past five years, the number of active shoppers on Daraz has quadrupled to more than 15 million.

However, in a memo to employees posted on its website, Daraz CEO Bjarke Mikkelsen Mikkelsen said that in 2022, European war and soaring inflation disrupted the supply chain and the economy, leading to a slowdown in user growth. Mr Mikkelsen wrote that the decision was "to prepare the company for current market realities and to ensure that Daraz can prosper in the long run". "despite these headwinds, our business is still growing. Over the past 12 months, we have made progress in the unit economy." He said.

Daraz is one of a number of private companies that Alibaba has acquired in overseas markets, including Lazada Group, a Southeast Asian e-commerce platform, and Trendyol, a Turkish e-commerce company. Daraz said in 2021 that thanks to its dominant position in the South Asian market, it aims to double orders in each of the next five years.