Tech in Asia: Chinese E-commerce Giant Alibaba Launches Online Marketplace Miravia in Spain

Earlier this month, Alibaba Group officially launched an online marketplace called Miravia in Spain. According to documents submitted to the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority of Singapore, Miravia is managed by a company known as Arise Operating E-commerce Private Limited. This company and Lazada are both located at the same address on Bras Basah Road in the city-state.

The launch of Miravia follows Alibaba's US$912.5 million and US$378 million injections into Lazada this year. The company currenly carries many well-known brands in the region including Lego, OPPO and CUPSHE, ranging from women's clothing to healthcare and food. Despite being in its nascent stage, Miravia is offering new customers with benefits such as first-timer discounts, free shipping for orders above 10 euros and free returns among other services.

As of today, the platform reportedly has about 76 employees, one of them being Aidan An, the former Executive Vice President of Lazada. Miravia has also recruited several other people who previously worked for Lazada and AliExpress. The team is being led by Yann Fontaine, the ex-Chief Commercial Officer of Thailand's Crea.

It is stated on Yann's LinkedIn profile that he has been in this position since April 2022. Since that time, he has been putting his efforts toward designing Miravia's strategy for the European market and developing the software for the platform. Additionally, the CEO of the company stated that the business has formed relationships with well-known brands including L'Oréal, P&G, Unilever, Lacoste, and Xiaomi.

Source: Alibaba launches ecommerce platform in Spain