, Southeast Asia
677 views
Photo from Unsplash

How e-commerce starts a new chapter in Southeast Asia

The region will experience a market value of $211b and a growth rate of 22% by 2025.

Southeast Asia's (SEA) region is set to start the next phase of e-commerce, with emerging trends like omnichannel e-commerce, AI integration and B2B2C fulfilment model.

These will help improve the experience of consumers shopping online and retailers setting up their stores. Furthermore, on-demand and last-mile delivery face a significant change to allow speed, convenience and cost to benefit customers and services.

E-commerce emerges as one of the fastest-growing sectors in Southeast Asia (SEA) with a projected market value of $211b by 2025 and an annual growth rate of 22%, marked by the market’s continuous flexibility and innovation.

In a region with over 660 million people and a shared GDP of an estimated $4t, Southeast Asia saw the highest GDP growth with 6.2% in 2021 and 5.1% in 2022.

Despite the challenges set by the recent pandemic, e-commerce continues to thrive as more consumers and merchants move to online platforms to access their needs and preferences and adapt traditional practices into digital processes.

“Southeast Asia is a huge market with 600 million people, and the e-commerce growth rates for these countries are some of the highest post-Covid worldwide,” Mehdi Jaouadi, an expert in YCP Solidiance, stated.

Singapore is the top-performing market in the region, with a 30% penetration rate and a $9b market size in 2021. Singapore’s mark in the e-commerce sector is propelled by high-speed internet, mobile phone dominance, tech-savvy users, advanced logistics, payment infrastructures and strong government policies.

ALSO READ: Food inflation concerning for South and Southeast Asia in 2024

Other markets like Malaysia, Myanmar and Vietnam experienced a significant rise in e-commerce businesses and consumer base, as well as the dominance of platforms like Shopee, Lazada, and Zalora.  

The overall SEA market also experienced a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.4% for five years, making 20% of all retail sales.

E-commerce significantly grew during the COVID-19 pandemic with a comprehensive number of products being available online. Electronics accounts for 34% of the items bought online, followed by beauty, personal care, and health.

Join Retail Asia community
Since you're here...

...there are many ways you can work with us to advertise your company and connect to your customers. Our team can help you dight and create an advertising campaign, in print and digital, on this website and in print magazine.

We can also organize a real life or digital event for you and find thought leader speakers as well as industry leaders, who could be your potential partners, to join the event. We also run some awards programmes which give you an opportunity to be recognized for your achievements during the year and you can join this as a participant or a sponsor.

Let us help you drive your business forward with a good partnership!

Exclusives

Brands told to come clean about beauty care
Consumers are more discerning and can easily spot fake ingredient claims.
Swarovski cracks TikTok to scale luxury amongst Gen Zs
The Austrian glassmaker is working with influencers to connect with the Singaporean market.
Starbucks Korea opens high-tech store in Seoul
Its first reserve-only branch features AR art installations and a Mixology Bar.
Decathlon gets closer to hybrid Singaporean shoppers through pick-up service
The world’s largest sporting goods retailer lets clients pick up online orders on the go.Decathlon is building on the success of its pick-up service in Singapore as it progresses toward its target of having 37 locations in the city-state in the next two years, its top official said.