The Southeast Asian market with huge potential has attracted many e-commerce giants, including China’s Alibaba Group and Tencent, which respectively control the two largest e-commerce platforms in Southeast Asia: Lazada and Shopee. At the same time, the American e-commerce giant Amazon has also settled in Singapore. The competition in the Southeast Asian e-commerce market will become more intense. The process of e-commerce giants chasing each other will also promote the rapid development of the Southeast Asian e-commerce market. At present, Southeast Asian people’s shopping does not completely rely on platform e-commerce, so independent station e-commerce has a good opportunity for development. Platforms and independent stations can coexist in Southeast Asia and are both in an upward stage.
In general, everyone is very optimistic about the Southeast Asian cross-border e-commerce market. The Southeast Asian cross-border e-commerce market is in the blue ocean field. Now is a good time for cross-border sellers to settle in.
Characteristics of the Southeast Asian e-commerce market
The opening of Southeast Asian countries to the global third-party market allows people to easily buy high-quality and low-priced diversified products. At present, the Southeast Asian e-commerce platforms are mainly Lazada, Shopee, Amazon Singapore Station, eBay, etc. Domestic e-commerce companies such as JD.com, Tmall Overseas, and NetEase Factory Store are also testing the Southeast Asian consumer market. Chinese cross-border e-commerce companies in Southeast Asia are mainly platform sellers, and some companies have tried different forms such as independent stations, social media distribution, and online and offline integration.
Southeast Asian countries have abundant promotional activities. On e-commerce network platforms, promotional activities emerge in an endless stream. One of the reasons is to attract customers to shop on apps or websites. We know that China has large-scale events such as “Double 11” and “Double 12”, and the United States has large-scale events such as “Black Friday”. In Southeast Asia, there are actually many promotional activities. In addition to the “9.9” event, “Double 11” event, and “Double 12” event, there are often various other activities on the Internet. According to surveys, the number of Southeast Asian people using coupons or participating in discount activities during platform holiday activities is twice as much as in the past four years.
Establishing a stable and fast logistics channel is a major challenge for e-commerce in Southeast Asia. All e-commerce companies are speeding up delivery and improving logistics speed. In the past one or two years, the logistics construction of Southeast Asian countries has also made significant progress. Many sellers are working hard to deliver the goods the next day, and some sellers can deliver the goods on the same day in some cities if customers are willing to pay extra fees. Generally speaking, the logistics speed and service in Southeast Asia are much better than before.
It is precisely because of the innovation of various technologies and the improvement of conditions that the online shopping behavior of consumers in Southeast Asia has undergone earth-shaking changes. In the past, consumers only bought some large products online, but now online shopping has become the norm for them. The products in the average daily 5 million shopping orders in Southeast Asia are no longer just TVs, smart phones, etc., but also include various daily necessities, skin care products and personal care products.