Zulkifli Zain, 33, Transport Operations, RedMart and Lazada Singapore

Our “Humans of Lazada” series takes a look at the professional and personal lives of the more than 8,000 people who work at Lazada. Click here for more stories from this series.

“Ten years ago, nobody believed in online groceries. Everyone was just going to supermarkets and wet markets. But I wanted to see what online grocery shopping was all about, and if it really could be a good alternative to my weekly trips to the supermarket, so I took my sister’s advice and dove into the deep end by joining RedMart.

I was then fresh out of National Service and was just a young kid trying to learn the ins and outs of the business. I saw how quickly RedMart grew, from getting 20 orders a day to 80 daily orders in five months.

At that time, we were at the Pasir Panjang warehouse, which was about 90 square metres. It was very small, and the racks were stacked about 5 metres high from floor to ceiling. We only had one ladder, which was bulky and heavy. We wanted to work fast, so we often climbed the shelves on our own without the ladder. Those were the days! Now with automation and shelves that are at accessible heights at our new 350,000 sq ft warehouse, we no longer have to scale them. We also used to have to remember where items were located, but now the system does it for us.

We are usually at our busiest during year-end mega campaigns, namely 9.9, 11.11 and 12.12. I remember my first mega campaign with Lazada. I couldn’t even imagine what to expect, but everyone in the transport team was so hyped about it. We did a lot of pre-campaign planning, where everyone would gather and run through checklist after checklist to make sure that everything from the technology to the network to operations were in tip-top condition and ‘battle-ready’.

On the day of the sales event, I remember standing in the middle of the warehouse and looking around to see everything running like clockwork. All the pre-planning was worth it. Everyone knew exactly what to do, who to look for and what to expect. That was when I understood why shopping festivals like 11.11 and 12.12 were important. They bring everyone together to produce this beautiful artwork.

Not everyone has what it takes to work for a start-up company. It was an amazing opportunity and I’m glad I took the plunge! Now, like thousands of households in Singapore, I get my online shopping and groceries delivered to my doorstep!”

This profile was compiled by Sherwin Loh from Lazada Singapore’s public relations team.