South Asia’s leading e-commerce marketplace Daraz Group has appointed James Dong as acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) after the founding CEO Bjarke Mikkelsen stepped down on Wednesday.
The appointment of the new acting Chief Executive Officer will be effected from January 24, 2024.
According to a notice by Daraz, “the board of directors has appointed James Dong, CEO of Lazada Group, to succeed Bjarke Mikkelsen as acting CEO of the company in addition to James’s existing responsibilities.”
Bjarke has been instrumental in the development and growth of Daraz Group for nearly a decade. As the founder, he led the business from its infancy as a single-market online retailer to a comprehensive marketplace serving five South Asian markets, making e-commerce affordable with a cost-efficient logistics infrastructure and payment solutions.
“The board would like to express its deepest appreciation to Bjarke for his contributions to Daraz Group and respects his decision to step down for personal reasons. Bjarke will always be a member of the Daraz family,” read the notice.
James Dong was named CEO of Lazada Group, sister company of Daraz, in June 2022. He joined Lazada in June 2018 as the CEO of Lazada Thailand and Vietnam, where he also led the launch of a new social commerce platform Youpik.
“My North Star has always been to build Daraz into a business that is strong enough to survive in our markets for the long term. This is the reason I’m now handing over the keys to the next generation of leaders in the company and James Dong, who will take over as acting CEO and work on a deeper integration between Daraz and our sister companies. With this structure, we will have a more focused strategy and efficient business model – I’m very confident that this is the best structure for Daraz to ensure our long-term success,” said Bjarke Mikkelsen, outgoing CEO of Daraz Group. “I will now take some time to focus on my family and support my wonderful wife in her new career.”
Daraz Group was founded in 2015 and acquired by Alibaba from Rocket Internet in 2018. The company, which operates in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal has followed its long-term business plan and achieved impressive growth in its orders, revenues, and market share.
The company’s active shoppers have risen from 3 million in 2018 to more than 15 million in 2023, with an average order growth of almost 100% until last year.
PK MD to also resign
We hope that new CEO will change strick policies against sellers . because of old policies its very difficult for sellers to survive in Pakistani market
umeed ha delivery heroes k lia bi acha plan ho
Things have changed. Life has changed. Nothing is certain/ predictable in new world order. Department name human resource is created for the welfare of employees but infact it look after the interest of employers.
You can’t spend your whole life working for one organization. Survival of the fittest. Employees has to justify each and every rupee they earn from employer and single day for which they are paid.
This system is good/ bad. It’s repercussions will be known later just like one child policy”. But at present this is in working.
Employees should should keep on improving their selves even after getting qualification/ degree.
I have bad experiences with Daraz. They never pay the amount returned to them and make the customer alienated. An international company is cheating is unbelievable.
I hope the new CEO will take notice of such high handedness of Daraz.
Draz not hear by clint side this is not good and every Helpline not responce properly example to train start and you receive very bad
daraz has gone down the drain since James Dong took over.there is no more email or phone options to contact Daraz customer service.deliveries are refunds are delayed for weeks.i been a daraz customer since 2014 and this the worst I have ever seen.i am finally deleting my account.
as a ceo you doesnt know the problems sellers are facing on your platform , you doesnt have grip to manage your team in Pakistan , what type of ceo you are that under your management your staff took 2 weeks to request your daraz pick up service to pick orders which already cancelled due to non pick up by your drivers and then your efficient system locked products without checking in and outs and complains which already have been lodged against poor service of daraz pick up . how ever after cancellation and orders shipped solely by us your riders calling for pick up, this type of logistics you have , and your efficient system locked sellers products , you are failed as ceo if you doesnt know what is going on under your nose.