Southeast Asian sellers face AI adoption gap

Cost and implementation complexity remain key hurdles.

Southeast Asia’s online sellers are increasingly aware of artificial intelligence (AI), but a significant gap remains between perceived and actual adoption, according to Lazada's Bridging the AI Gap: Online Seller Perceptions and Adoption Trends in Southeast Asia report.

The report said that 68% of surveyed sellers said they were familiar with AI. However, only 37% had actually integrated the technology into their operations, despite believing they had done so across nearly half (47%) of their businesses.

The findings found that whilst 89% of sellers agree that AI improves productivity and 93% see it as a driver of long-term cost savings, more than half (61%) remain sceptical of its effectiveness. Cost and implementation complexity remain key hurdles, with 64% citing these as major barriers.

Resistance to change is also slowing adoption. While the vast majority of sellers (93%) recognise the importance of upskilling employees to use AI tools, 75% admit that staff prefer to stick with familiar, manual systems.

Indonesia and Vietnam lead the region in AI adoption at 42%, followed by Singapore and Thailand at 39%. Lazada categorises sellers into three groups: AI Adepts, who have integrated AI in over 80% of their operations (24% of sellers); AI Aspirants, who have adopted AI in some areas but not all (50%); and AI Agnostics, who still rely on manual processes (26%). Thailand has the highest share of AI Adepts at 30%, followed by Singapore and Indonesia at 29% each. Malaysia and the Philippines trail at 15% and 19%, mainly due to infrastructure issues and lack of internal buy-in.

Lazada is launching an AI Readiness Playbook to guide sellers based on their current level of AI maturity. It is also rolling out new generative AI tools to improve seller performance. These include AI Smart Product Optimisation, which enhances product listings and photos; AI-Powered Translations, which localise content across languages; and Lazzie Seller, an AI assistant that offers instant help, risk assessments, and business advice.

The new features aim to make AI more accessible, reduce manual work, and help sellers grow their businesses faster.

The study, developed in partnership with Kantar, surveyed over 1,200 eCommerce sellers across Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.