Shopee announces Southeast Asian e-commerce trends for 2021: Logistics, digital payments, and retail innovation drive growth

Logistics , digital payments , and retail innovation will become the three major driving forces for the future development of the industry, and will push the region's business model towards a "new normal."

With the development of Internet technology and the continuous increase in online penetration, the "Z generation" who are proficient in all kinds of electronic products are beginning to emerge, and the number of middle-income families is also growing rapidly. E-commerce will become an indispensable element in daily life, social communication and commercial trade in Southeast Asia.

Shopee said: "2020 has been a year of rapid change for Southeast Asian e-commerce and China's cross-border industry. Under the influence of social isolation policies, Southeast Asian consumers are confined to their homes. Online shopping platforms have not only become an important channel for them to meet their daily shopping needs, but also rich in-app interactive functions such as games and live broadcasts, making e-commerce platforms the first choice to replace traditional social and offline entertainment."

Based on local conditions and in-depth insights into the current business environment in Southeast Asia, Shopee shared three major trend forecasts for the Southeast Asian e-commerce market in 2021:

1. Logistics moves to the front end: Consumers need a faster, more stable, and more down-to-earth delivery network

As Southeast Asian consumers become increasingly dependent on e-commerce platforms, efficient delivery has become an important criterion for consumers to evaluate their shopping experience.

Due to the impact of the epidemic, consumers have begun to buy household necessities on e-commerce platforms more frequently. After staying at home for a long time, they have become more "impatient" with logistics and delivery. According to the "2020 Southeast Asia Digital Economy Report", as many as 40% of Southeast Asian consumers believe that "delivery issues" are the biggest problem hindering the future development of e-commerce shopping.

Therefore, brands and sellers need to consider the nature of their products and choose the most appropriate logistics channels to ensure that they are cost-effective and can effectively improve transportation time. Among them, relying on the high-density logistics and transportation network of the leading e-commerce platform in the market to achieve reasonable transportation goals at a lower cost is one of the methods that many brands and sellers prefer.

In order to help more brands and sellers focus on their own development, reduce logistics pressure and expand business scale, Shopee continues to strengthen its logistics coverage and warehousing capabilities, and realizes full-process shopping assistance from product retrieval to door-to-door delivery.

In 2020, the platform's express delivery business Shopee Express rapidly expanded its geographical coverage, actively reaching users in second- and third-tier cities and rural areas.

At the same time, more and more cross-border brands and sellers have begun to rely on Shopee's efficient cross-border logistics services to build a local warehouse delivery network and enjoy lower costs and more traffic. In 2020, the number of cross-border orders shipped from Shopee's overseas warehouses increased by nearly 4 times, and the GMV of overseas warehouses increased by nearly 6 times.

2. Digital payment is widely used: the number of middle-aged and elderly users is growing rapidly, and the process of "cashless society" is accelerating

Digital payment is the most popular form of payment for online transactions, and more and more consumers are beginning to rely on cashless payment methods such as e-wallets to purchase products. To meet everyone's changing payment needs, Shopee supports a variety of digital payment methods, including Shopee's own mobile wallet ShopeePay.

According to platform data, the total number of Shopee orders paid through e-wallets in the Southeast Asian market has increased by 4 times, among which the growth rate of users over 50 years old ranks first in most markets. The convenience and ease of use of ShopeePay allow the middle-aged and elderly groups, who generally have weaker adaptability, to enjoy the fun of cashless payment.

Although governments in Southeast Asia have been committed to promoting the "cashless society", in the past, most consumers were still accustomed to using cash payments. Now, the arrival of the epidemic has greatly promoted this process .

In response to travel restrictions and social isolation policies introduced in various places, the overall business environment in Southeast Asia has begun to generally recognize digital payments, a more convenient and secure form of payment.

According to data from the digital financial services business of Shopee's parent company, the total payment volume of its e-wallet business exceeded US$7.8 billion in 2020. At the same time, the usage rate of ShopeePay within the app has doubled. In the platform's largest single market, the number of offline merchants using ShopeePay has increased by 9 times.

3. Widespread application of online retail: Southeast Asia's overall retail migration, multi-level merchants flocking to the platform

Under the influence of the epidemic, brands and sellers around the world are actively exploring and formulating online retail strategies. From high-end brands to small and micro enterprises, they all hope to maintain their attractiveness to customers during the quarantine period.

Based on this, as one of the most important online revenue channels for brands and sellers, e-commerce platforms need to quickly adapt to and meet the diverse retail needs of brands and sellers, optimize cooperation forms, innovate retail methods, and use differentiated marketing strategies to help brands and sellers attract consumers and help them achieve rapid development of their online businesses.

Currently, more than 23,000 leading global and local high-quality brands have entered the Shopee mall, providing consumers with a wide range of authentic choices ranging from daily necessities to high-end luxury goods. Shopee is also working closely with these brands to continuously optimize and upgrade retail formats, expand marketing areas, and strive to jointly create an unprecedented shopping experience.

For example, Shopee has partnered with the world-renowned cosmetics brand PONDS to launch the AI ​​"beauty consultant" Skin Advisor Live (SAL) for Shopee users in the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Equipped with artificial intelligence, SAL can provide free online customized skin care analysis based on the consumer's skin characteristics, helping consumers choose more satisfactory products.

At the same time, as ASEAN became China's largest trading partner last year, many cross-border brands and sellers are also using Shopee as a link to strengthen trade with Southeast Asian consumers.

During last year's Shopee9.9 Super Shopping Festival, Xiaomi, a well-known domestic mobile phone brand, exclusively teamed up with Shopee's cross-border team to launch its overseas sub-brand POCO's popular mid-range phone POCO X3 NFC in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines for the first time globally, leading the 3C category in Southeast Asia. Once released, it quickly became one of the best-selling items in the three major markets.

In the future, at the consumer level, Shopee will continue to be committed to using the power of technology to improve the daily lives of local consumers, lead the development trend of e-commerce in Southeast Asia, and continue to promote the vigorous growth in the e-commerce field; at the cross-border business level, Shopee will focus on regional influence, technical hard power and operational soft power, actively promote the long-term development of domestic brands and sellers, and use Shopee's unique one-stop cross-border overseas ecosystem to achieve every possibility of going overseas.

Shopee Platform

Cross-border e-commerce market