A study by App Annie and iPrice Group showed that Shopee, Lazada, and Tokopedia were the three most popular e-commerce applications in the third quarter of 2019 around Southeast Asia.
In Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, Lazada snatched the first position. Meanwhile, in Vietnam and Indonesia, Shopee made it into number one on the list.
Lazada and Shopee were the two most downloaded applications in the region. The two e-commerce platforms had the highest number of active users per month compared to the other applications in the list. Tokopedia has a web traffic market share of 25 percent in its base country, Indonesia, making it the most visited e-commerce website country-wide. Shopee followed close behind in the second position with 22 percent market share.
The growth of internet-based companies in Southeast Asia was thanks to the rapid development in technology and people having more access to the internet as well as the rise in the region’s economy.
Southeast Asia’s internet economy will hit $300 billion by 2025 according to a study. The massive growth is driven by developments and access to smartphones, a rise in internet-based startups, and futuristic technology development in the region.
The internet economy managed to hit $100 billion mark, which means that it has tripled in size just in four years according to the study by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Co. E-commerce and ridehailing were the two factors and drivers to this growth.
Moreover, the e-commerce market in Southeast Asia has grown seven times more than 2015 in the last year, reaching $38 billion. This means the e-commerce market’s value has surpassed any other internet based sector specifically in the region. Predictably, it will hit $150 billion mark by 2025.
The growth and penetration of e-commerce websites were fueled by big discounts and same-day deliveries. Online shopping has made a lot more entertaining with partnerships with social media influencers to create content such as unboxings, reviews, and others that raised the numbers of sales.
E-commerce platforms are also known to give out coupons and irresistible promotions during festivals and other events, which has become a big search by consumers over the last four years, showing how significant this tactic in the e-commerce business can really attract more users.
Web traffic for e-commerce is the largest in Indonesia and Vietnam, while the numbers are the lowest in Singapore and the Philippines among other six Southeast Asian countries.
Most top e-commerce applications often products in multiple categories, such as clothing, electronics, cosmetics, and sports, that show how they cater to the needs and wants of the consumers, becoming a one-stop solution to their search and managed to thrive as well as maintain a sustainable business that way among other well-executed business plans.
In this quarter, an online shopping platform, Wish.com, emerged as another strong contender in the competition. It made into the list of top five most downloaded applications for the first time in the region, showing that the Southeast Asian market holds great opportunities for aspiring entrepreneurs.
