Who dominates e-commerce markets in Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam?

e-commerce markets Shopee
Image by sergei_elagin | Bigstockphoto

It’s evident that Southeast Asia’s e-commerce landscape has been on a steady growth, indicating how the pandemic has vastly contributed to the accelerated digital adoption and the expansion of the industry in the region. 

Google’s SEA e-conomy report in 2021 stated that 8 out of 10 of SEA’s internet users are digital consumers. The report also indicates that 90% of Thai, 81% of Malaysian, and 71% of Vietnamese internet users have had an experience of shopping online. 

Thus, e-commerce aggregator iPrice Group analysed the performance of the top e-commerce companies in Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam to determine which e-commerce sites are holding the most of the market share, and which of them have been successful in drawing social engagement. The study reveals that e-commerce sites in all three countries have experienced an increase in web traffic and garnered a notable number of positive sentiments on social media. 

Shopee and Lazada are still the most popular e-commerce sites across the countries

Singapore-based companies, Shopee and Lazada still take hold of most of the market share across the region. In Malaysia, Shopee holds 71% of the region’s overall e-commerce web traffic, followed by Lazada with 18%, and PGMall with 9%.

Shopee Malaysia launched their Shopee food feature, which flooded both new and existing users with food vouchers and free deliveries. Meanwhile, Lazada Malaysia added a Chinese language option to cater to a wider market. 

These top sites have been leveraging on people who are actively purchasing items online during the pandemic. They have significantly focused on diversifying their features and marketing campaigns to engage tech-savvy consumers, which consequently increased both their sales and traffic.

Homegrown e-commerce platforms land in 3rd place in all three countries

An interesting trend seen in all three countries is that local sites rank in the top three. PGMall (Malaysia), Central Online (Thailand), and Tiki (Vietnam) have done quite well in establishing themselves in their respective markets. 

These three rising e-commerce sites have carefully executed strategies to earn their top spot. 

The cross-country collaboration between PGMall and JD Worldwide, for instance, has encouraged local sellers to offer unique local brands to the Chinese market. With access to China’s extensive market, PGMall’s platform has become one of the most prominent domestic online businesses in Malaysia. 

Meanwhile, Tiki, which holds 13% of Vietnam’s e-commerce market share. They signed an exclusive partnership with insurance company AIA Vietnam for 10 years. Due to this, policyholders may manage their insurance accounts and seek health insurance solutions and claims through the Tiki website. This resulted garnered the platform’s well-deserved web traffic. 

Central Online, on the other hand, has allowed its thousands of mall tenants to sell their products through its digital platform during the pandemic. This decision amounted to a diversification of online merchandise and an average web traffic of nearly 2.6 million.

E-commerce sites in Malaysia have the most social engagements

Recognizing Facebook’s huge role in modern-day advertising and publicity for e-commerce events, iPrice Group also tracked Facebook users’ social sentiments on the top 3 e-commerce platforms. 

Based on Facebook reactions, Malaysians engage the most with posts related to the top e-commerce sites on social media, which accounts for 44% of the total social engagements recorded by iPrice. Vietnamese users account for 36% of the engagements while Thai users account for 20%.  

Napoleon Cat report states that 87.2% of the entire Malaysian population are Facebook users (as of October 2021). This goes to show that Facebook plays an essential role in effectively reaching the Malaysian market for any e-commerce announcements or events. 

As these e-commerce platforms continue to pursue strategic partnerships, promotions, and social engagements, the future of Southeast Asia’s e-commerce industry is looking bright. 

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