From the position of ‘book team’, Shopee became the most powerful e-commerce force in Southeast Asia after only 3 years

Data from price comparison platform iPrice and web analytics firm SimilarWWeb show that the two online retailers based in Singapore, Shopee and Lazada, account for 60% of the traffic to the e-commerce sites. in the 3 months ending in December 2019.

Meanwhile, according to a study published last year by Google, Southeast Asia’s digital economy is expected to be worth $ 300 billion by 2025.

“Companies looking for opportunities in this region need to understand that a one-size-fits-all approach cannot work. Southeast Asia is famous for where different markets will be. There are characteristics of different people’s consumption behavior, “an analyst said in the Nikkei newspaper.

Indonesia’s emerging startup, Tokopedia, is funded by Softbank and unicorn Bukalapak is the third and fourth most popular e-commerce platforms in terms of traffic but their market share is plummeting.

Shopee ranked first when it accounted for 33% of e-commerce web traffic across the region in the last 3 months of 2019, followed by Lazada with 27%.

Tokopedia’s market share decreased from 14% to 11% in the same period, Bukalapak from 14% to 6.5%.

iPrice also noted that the Indonesian government’s plans to increase Internet usage in Southeast Asia’s largest market could help promote two more developed platforms in the country.

“There were many opportunities with Tokopedia to take the lead when the Indonesian Internet Provider Association announced in June 2019 that 56% of the country’s internet users have never made a commercial transaction. electronic “.

Shopee – the unit that attracted only 7% of e-commerce website traffic in the third quarter of 2017, after both Bukalapak 9% and Tokopedia 14%, Lazada 48% has jumped to the top thanks to marketing campaigns. excellent.

Last year, Shopee had a successful shopping day Singles Day when using football star Cristiano Ronaldo as the brand ambassador.

However, the competition is getting bigger.

According to mobile tracking company App Annie, Vietnam’s Sendo, Wish of America and Zilingo of Singapore are also gaining attention in Southeast Asia and are now one of the most downloaded mobile platforms.

Edwin Koh, Southeast Asia digital content manager at digital media solution provider Limelight, said: “What can really give e-retailers an edge in the quest Domination is the online shopping experience when consumers search for products that don’t fall behind.

“Today’s buyers are very knowledgeable and online shoppers often appreciate the advanced online shopping features and personalized shopping experience,” Koh said. “Improving the customer-oriented interface as well as the infrastructure to ensure scalability, performance and security are important factors to consider when e-commerce websites want to retain customers.” .