Chenghai sellers leverage Shopee to stimulate the growth potential of the 10 billion industry belt

With this tenacity, a group of the first generation of Chenghai toy people began their arduous entrepreneurial journey by exploring and accumulating experience.

After decades of development, one "small processing workshop" after another has grown into a toy giant across the country and even the world, and Chenghai District of Shantou City has also become the home of a nationally renowned toy industry cluster.

Today's Chenghai toy sellers have gradually transformed from simple OEM to the "toys + cultural tourism", "toys + IP derivatives", and "toys + smart manufacturing" models.

Data shows that Chenghai District's toy production now accounts for about 25% of the national production , making it one of the largest toy production bases in China. The Chenghai toy industry belt has more than 50,000 companies, 125,000 employees, and an annual output value of over 46 billion yuan. Every day, more than 6 million toys are sold from this small city of Shantou to all parts of the world.

At that time, the sales channel of Chenghai toy sellers was mainly through the offline showroom model. However, in the past two years, inspired by the rapid rise of the cross-border e-commerce industry in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, more and more Chenghai people have begun to shift their business focus from offline to online.

Chenghai Industrial Belt Enters Southeast Asia, Platform Support is the Key

Looking at the current development of cross-border e-commerce, Southeast Asia stands out with a growth rate far exceeding the global average. According to Statista data, Southeast Asia's e-commerce market revenue is expected to reach US$137.3 billion in 2025, and this figure is expected to grow to US$191.2 billion by 2029, with a compound annual growth rate of 8.6%. Sellers in Chenghai's toy industry belt naturally do not want to miss this opportunity.

With many years of foreign trade experience, Chenghai people know that choosing a suitable platform is crucial to success in going overseas. As the e-commerce platform with the largest market share and the widest influence in Southeast Asia, Shopee naturally became their first choice.

According to the latest data released by data analysis website Similarweb, in November this year, Shopee's major sites ranked first in the number of visits to major e-commerce platforms in Southeast Asia, far ahead. A research report by Snapcart shows that as many as 71% of sellers believe that Shopee is the platform that can bring the most sales profits, which is far higher than other e-commerce platforms.

On the other hand, the toy category on the Shopee platform has developed quite maturely and has a strong growth momentum. Data shows that the order volume of plastic toys on the Shopee platform continues to grow, especially from the fourth quarter to the Spring Festival, when the growth rate of the toy category led the market driven by the gift season. After the first batch of Chenghai people settled in, they found that Shopee not only provided them with a sales channel, but also escorted their overseas expansion in many ways.

First of all, Shopee can provide a mature logistics network and abundant fulfillment options, helping Chenghai sellers overcome the various difficulties they face during international transportation.

Secondly, the platform will regularly release product selection guides and market weekly reports to sellers, so that sellers can keep abreast of market trends and adjust product selection at any time. Most importantly, various promotional activities and marketing tools within Shopee can help sellers quickly gain exposure and orders.

At present, a group of Chenghai sellers have seized the potential opportunities in the Southeast Asian market through Shopee.

The toy market has broad prospects, and a group of Chenghai sellers have started to sell orders

The current Southeast Asian toy market is still in a growing blue ocean period. Data shows that in 2024, the Southeast Asian toy and game market is expected to generate a GMV of US$6 billion and will maintain a sustained growth trend in the next few years.

Specifically speaking of different categories, the hot-selling toy categories in Southeast Asia currently include outdoor toys, educational toys, building block toys, and infant toys. For different categories, sellers need to focus on different aspects.

Taking building block toys as an example, this kind of educational product is highly playable and suitable for being presented to consumers through videos and live broadcasts.

Wang Xin (pseudonym), a seller from Chenghai who mainly sells building blocks and plastic toys, said that after joining Shopee, he began to actively participate in various activities on the platform, such as flash sales, 10.10 promotions, social media promotions, and Shopee Live live broadcasts.

It is worth mentioning that with the rise of short videos and live broadcasts in recent years, the Shopee Live function has become a powerful driving force for sellers to increase store sales. Wang Xin said that his products are highly playable and ornamental, and are particularly suitable for displaying to consumers through live broadcasts.

After live streaming through the Shopee Live function for a period of time, Wang Xin’s store was flooded with new users who were attracted by the product, and sales also increased accordingly.

In order to increase the average order value per order, Wang Xin will package and sell toys according to the theme, and many consumers will choose to order multiple toys at a time. Since the beginning of this year, the number of orders in Wang Xin's store has increased by 109% compared with last year !

In addition, Wang Xin also fully utilizes the advantages of Chenghai's industrial belt and regularly adds new types of building block toys. At present, the product line of Wang Xin's store can meet the consumption needs of children of different ages and even adults.

Not only small toys are popular, but medium and large toys also have a huge market demand in Southeast Asia. Seller Joe (pseudonym)'s store focuses on medium and large plastic toys. Last year, he successfully started his Southeast Asian journey through Shopee and achieved good results. The order volume increased by 76% in the second half of the year.

Joe's secret to success lies in flexible product selection and active stocking of overseas warehouses. He selects products based on consumer demand and stocks them in overseas warehouses to shorten the time buyers have to wait for delivery. This not only improves consumer satisfaction, but also enhances his competitiveness among similar sellers.

In terms of product selection, Joe focuses on flexibility and agility, while matching holiday needs. For example, during Thailand's Songkran Festival, many of his water guns were sold out. During Christmas, he launched a number of large toys full of Christmas elements, and the sales were also gratifying.

In addition to launching special holiday products, Joe also focuses on increasing product exposure. He uploads multiple product videos every day, showing product usage scenarios in 360 degrees, while increasing the weight of the store. His popular products are accompanied by videos and individually designed banner images to maintain a unified overall tone.

Currently, Joe's large plastic toy store has developed very maturely. In the future, he plans to gradually expand his product line by leveraging the advantages of Chenghai's industrial belt.

Seeing the success stories of these sellers, I believe many sellers are eager to try. For sellers who have not yet entered the market, the toy category is still a direction worth choosing. New sellers can pay attention to the subdivided tracks of related categories and make full use of the supply chain advantages of the Chenghai industrial belt. I believe that as long as you work hard, it is only a matter of time before orders explode.

Shopee

Chenghai

Southeast Asia