Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

For Singapore’s Shopee, being ‘late’ to the e-commerce game has helped its rise in Southeast Asia

Since it was established in 2015, Shopee has become the most visited e-commerce site in the Southeast Asia region. By launching its platform as an app first, the brand was able to tap the region’s high mobile penetration rate, chief commercial officer Zhou Junjie says
For an e-commerce platform under four years old, Shopee has done pretty well for itself.

Since it was established in 2015, the Singaporean e-commerce site has become the most visited across Southeast Asia, according to a recent iPrice report which also found that Shopee’s mobile app ranked at the top of its category in terms of downloads and average monthly active users in the region.

One of the secrets to its success? Being “late” to the industry, according to chief commercial officer Zhou Junjie.

“Back in early 2015, we were looking at e-commerce as an industry and while there were players who had been there, we saw that there was a lot of [potential] growth and many areas that weren’t being addressed well by existing players,” he said in an interview with the Post.

At the time, most existing e-commerce players were focused on websites as their main platform. Shopee took a different strategy early on by launching as an app first to tap Southeast Asia’s high mobile penetration rate.

“That’s one of the advantages of being late [to the industry], because you can see what’s out there, what the trends are and see what you can do differently or better,” said Zhou.

The Singaporean e-commerce platform is one of several in the region – including Alibaba’s Lazada as well as Indonesia’s Tokopedia – that are eyeing the fast-growing, billion-dollar e-commerce market in Southeast Asia boosted by increasing adoption of digital payments among the 100 million internet users in the region. (Alibaba is the parent company of the South China Morning Post.)

Shopee is operated by Singapore-based technology firm SEA, a company that first came to prominence in the Southeast Asian technology landscape by publishing, operating and creating PC and mobile games under the Garena brand before branching out into e-commerce.

The platform’s bet on a mobile-first approach has paid off: more than 90 per cent of its transactions are on the app, according to Zhou.

Another key strategy Shopee has used to conquer local markets, Zhou said, is localising and customising the app to each specific market.

Instead of having one common app for all users, Shopee has a stand-alone e-commerce app for each market. According to Zhou, this allows the company to introduce market-specific features that appeal to users in each of its seven markets – Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines.

In Indonesia, for example, Shopee launched a dedicated section of Islamic products and services to cater to the majority Muslim market. In countries like Thailand and Vietnam, where celebrity endorsements hold sway over consumers’ buying habits, Shopee features online stores that sell items curated by top celebrities.

“We talk about Southeast Asia as a region, but every country is very different – from the language they speak and the currencies they use, and even in terms of purchasing power,” said Zhou, who acknowledged that country-specific customisation requires “a lot more work” since Shopee has to have local teams in each country.

Like its rivals, Shopee has also paid close attention to the growing “shoppertainment” trend that originated in China. Drawing on SEA and Garena’s expertise in gaming, it has introduced mobile games, live-streaming, and chat functions in its app to better engage with buyers and encourage them to shop within the platform.

Shopee operates a customer-to-customer (C2C) marketplace, as well as a marketplace for brands to sell directly to consumers called Shopee Mall. The former is particularly popular among small sellers across the region who previously hawked their wares via platforms like Facebook and Instagram, Zhou said.

By joining platforms like Shopee or Lazada, these sellers typically receive better support for their online businesses, especially in areas like payments and logistics, and enjoy a built-in user base. Shopee in turn makes money by running advertisements, as well as charging for services provided to merchants and taking a cut of transaction fees in certain markets.

Despite promising results in the e-commerce industry, Shopee remains in fierce competition with rivals like Lazada, which received a total of US$4 billion in investment from Alibaba as of last year. And while the Singaporean platform may lead in terms of visits and downloads across Southeast Asia, Lazada continues to have the most number of monthly active users in the markets of Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines.

But Zhou appears unfazed by the competition: “Competition is not a bad thing, it shows that there is a lot interest in the market and growth potential,” he said, adding that more industry players could help bring buyers and sellers into e-commerce and grow the overall industry.

The chief commercial officer said that the brand’s efficiency in scaling its business will help it stand out going forward. “As the market grows, we should be in a much stronger position to capture a large proportion of the growth.”
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
Western Europe Records Hottest June on Record
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
France Requests Airlines to Cut Flights at Paris Airports Amid Planned Air Traffic Controller Strike
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Extreme Heat Wave Sweeps Across Europe, Hitting Record Temperatures
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
Marc Marquez Claims Victory at Dutch Grand Prix Amidst Family Misfortune
Germany Votes to Suspend Family Reunification for Asylum Seekers
Budapest Pride Parade Draws 200,000 Participants Amid Government Ban
Southern Europe Experiences Extreme Heat
Xiaomi's YU7 SUV Launch Garners Record Pre-Orders Amid Market Challenges
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez's Lavish Wedding in Venice
Russia Launches Largest Air Assault on Ukraine Since Invasion
Massive Anti-Government Protests Erupt in Belgrade
Iran Executes Alleged Israeli Spies and Arrests Hundreds Amid Post-War Crackdown
Hungary's Prime Minister Criticizes NATO's Role in Ukraine
EU TO HUNGARY: LET THEM PRIDE OR PREP FOR SHADE. ORBÁN TO EU: STAY IN YOUR LANE AND FIX YOUR OWN MESS.
Hungarian Scientist to Conduct 30 Research Experiments on the International Space Station
NATO Members Agree to 5% Defense Spending Target by 2035
NATO Leaders Endorse Plan for Increased Defence Spending
U.S. Crude Oil Prices Drop Below $65 Amid Market Volatility
International Astronaut Team Launched to Space Station
Macron and Merz: Europe must arm itself in an unstable world
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
Iran Intensifies Crackdown on Alleged Mossad Operatives After Sabotage Claims
Trump Praises Iran’s ‘Very Weak’ Response After U.S. Strikes and Presses Israel to Pursue Peace
Oil Prices Set to Surge After US Strikes Iran
BA and Singapore Airlines Cancel Dubai Flights Amid Middle East Tensions
Trump Faces Backlash from MAGA Base Over Iran Strikes
Meta Bets $14 B on Alexandr Wang to Drive AI Ambitions
FedEx Founder Fred Smith, ‘Heart and Soul’ of the Company, Dies at 80
Chinese Factories Shift Away from U.S. Amid Trump‑Era Tariffs
Pimco Seizes Opportunity in Japan’s Dislocated Bond Market
Labubu Doll Drives Pop Mart to Status as China’s Most Valuable Toy Maker
Global Coal Demand Defies Paris Accord Goals
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
×