Sales soar! Southeast Asia, where the kings of volume gather, is hot again

Southeast Asia is another blue ocean market for cross-border e-commerce.

In recent years, the growth momentum of Southeast Asia's e-commerce market has been strong. According to the Southeast Asia Digital Economy Report 2024 jointly released by Google, Temasek and Bain & Company , Southeast Asia's e-commerce market will usher in a big explosion in 2023 , with GMV reaching US$138 billion ( about RMB 1000.5 billion ) . By 2024, this figure may reach US$159 billion ( about RMB 1.14 trillion ) .

Among them, Indonesia, the largest retail market in Southeast Asia , ranks first with a market size of US$6.5 billion, followed by Thailand (US$26 billion) and Vietnam (US$22 billion). Another report shows that the Southeast Asian e-commerce market leads the world with a growth rate of 18.6%, which is much higher than the average growth rate of the global e-commerce market.

The Southeast Asian e-commerce market is in a stage of rapid expansion , with Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam being the main drivers of growth. As the largest e-commerce platform in Indonesia , Tokopedia is also worth paying attention to.

With a market share of 35%, it continues to soar this year

As a leader in the Southeast Asian e-commerce market, Tokopedia became the first technology company in Southeast Asia to raise more than $100 million ten years ago , demonstrating its leading position in the industry . As of December last year , Tokopedia 's market share in Indonesia was as high as 35%, and its cumulative financing amount had exceeded $2.3 billion.

On December 11 last year, GoTo Group and TikTok jointly announced an important strategic cooperation in the field of e-commerce , namely that TikTok's Indonesian e -commerce business will be merged with its e - commerce platform Tokopedia . TikTok invested US$840 million to complete the acquisition of Tokopedia.   Acquired 75.01% of the shares and successfully controlled the company .

This cooperation is of strategic significance. The strong alliance between the two parties will not only enable TikTok to return to Indonesia legally, smoothly carry out its e-commerce business in Indonesia , and expand its influence in the Southeast Asian market. For Tokopedia, it can take advantage of the financial support brought by TikTok to gain more advantages in competing with its competitors.

During the just-concluded Double 11 Shopping Festival, all major e-commerce platforms reported good news of sales growth. Similarly, Tokopedia also achieved good results during this year's Double 11. Tokopedia and TikTok Shop both helped merchants increase sales during the peak season. During this year's Double 11, the home and electronic product categories on Tokopedia achieved sales growth, with transaction volume soaring nearly 9 times, becoming the most popular product category on the Tokopedia platform.

In the third quarter of this year, sales performance of categories such as fashion, beauty and personal care, health, food and beverages, and household items on the Tokopedia platform was also outstanding. Shop Tokopedia also added an electronic product category.

In addition, Tokopedia is also actively preparing for the 2024 Indonesian National Online Shopping Day (Harbolnas), 12.12 Shopping Festival, etc., and plans to promote local brands through the "Buy Local" event and provide various discounts.

Tokopedia and ShopTokopedia also revealed the five most popular categories during Indonesia’s year-end peak sales period :

1. Beauty and personal care products: Waterproof cosmetics are popular in the beauty and body care categories, with searches for blush, lipstick, and hand sanitizer increasing several times or even more than ten times .

2. Food and Beverages: With the arrival of the rainy season, the demand for soup snacks and hot drinks in Indonesia has surged, and the search volume for tea, chocolate drinks, and coffee beans has also increased significantly;

3. Clothing: Warm and fashionable cardigans have become a popular choice ;

4. Household items: With the arrival of the festival , the demand for holiday decorations and household items has increased, and the search volume for dish racks, multi-functional storage spaces, water bottles, etc. has surged ;

5. Electronic products: Search volume for electronic products such as smart watches, desk lamps and self-service ring lights is on the rise .

The announcement of the above popular categories may provide sellers with certain ideas, helping them to accurately grasp sales opportunities and achieve business growth in the upcoming holidays.

It is worth mentioning that as of the end of September this year, GoTo has obtained commissions and rewards of 438.5 billion Indonesian rupiah through Tokopedia. Tokopedia has become an important source of income for GoTo for two consecutive quarters. The outstanding performance of Double 11 will further consolidate its market position.

Multi-platform layout, intensified competition in Southeast Asian market

In recent years, the Southeast Asian market has gradually become a new focus of the e-commerce industry due to its huge growth potential and development space . Not only are local e-commerce platforms actively exploring this hot land , but many Chinese cross-border e-commerce platforms have also turned their attention to this emerging cross-border e-commerce market.

TikTok mentioned above is one example. In addition, platforms such as Shopee, which has been deeply involved in the Southeast Asian market for a long time, and Temu, which was launched in 2022, are attracted by the growth in Southeast Asia and seek to develop in the Southeast Asian market.

TikTok quickly returned to the Indonesian e-commerce market by acquiring Tokopedia. The high penetration rate of social media in Indonesia provides fertile soil for live e-commerce. The cooperation between Tokopedia and TikTok is equivalent to having an e-commerce platform that is both attractive and full of social elements.

During this year's Double 11, TikTok Shop held the "11.11 Mega LIVE Showdown" live broadcast in Malaysia, achieving a gratifying result of about 80,000 orders in just 4 hours.

There is also news that in December , the backends of Tokopedia and TikTok Shop will be connected, and the TikTok Shop backend will be the main one. At that time, the content e-commerce advantages of TikTok Shop will be combined with the mature shelf e-commerce system of Tokopedia. This integration also enables sellers to enjoy a more efficient and convenient operating environment, while simplifying the operating process and improving efficiency.

Shopee is the fastest growing e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia. As the undisputed leader in Southeast Asia, its business covers more than ten markets in Southeast Asia. Data shows that in 2023, the total e-commerce transaction volume of the Shopee platform in various markets in Southeast Asia will be US$55.1 billion, accounting for 48% of the market share, ranking first in Southeast Asian e-commerce.

During this year's Double 11 promotion, the sales performance of the Shopee platform was exceptionally strong, with 11 million items sold in just 2 minutes .

Finally , Temu started its Southeast Asian expansion in the Philippines in August 2022, followed by the launch of the Malaysian site in September. After a year of silence, Temu opened new sites in Thailand, Vietnam and Brunei in July and October 2024, respectively, re-starting its global expansion.

As multiple platforms expand into Southeast Asia, competition is intensifying, and this market will become even more competitive in the future. Opportunities often come with challenges, especially this year, when news has frequently come out that many Southeast Asian countries will strengthen cross-border e-commerce supervision.

For example, Vietnam requires cross -border e-commerce platforms such as Temu to complete business registration with the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam before the end of November . If they fail to meet the requirements, their applications will be blocked and their domain names will be restricted.

While sellers are looking forward to growth in Southeast Asia, they should also be aware of the challenges they face. For example, the low consumption level in the Southeast Asian market compresses profit margins ; localization issues , including the complexity of multiple languages ​​and multiple currencies, put higher demands on the service capabilities of cross-border e-commerce.

Therefore, when sellers are planning to enter the Southeast Asian market, while paying attention to potential growth opportunities, they must also fully consider the challenges they will face, formulate corresponding response strategies, and find new business growth points .

Southeast Asia

Tokopedia