How Southeast Asia Is Set To Dominate E-Commerce

Southeast Asia is a high-growth region for e-commerce, with potential for untapped growth and retail expansion.

Typically overshadowed by China, the Association of Southeast Asian countries is an exciting region for e-commerce companies. With over 350 million internet users in the ASEAN-6 alone (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) this is a massive market that is currently not being used to its full potential.

As online and broadband infrastructure continues to grow there is plenty of room for expansion in a market not yet saturated but rather coming into its own by learning from the mistakes of the businesses gone before.

E-Commerce in Southeast Asia

Although developing at a steady pace, e-commerce is not yet at the same levels that we are seeing in the US and Europe.

As of 2015, Southeast Asia was lagging behind the rest of the world in its percentage of e-commerce sales in total retail sales (0.5–2.0%, against a global average of 7.9%) and was also overshadowed by more mature Asian markets, such as China, Japan, and South Korea. Currently estimated at $13 billion, it is expected to rise to $88 billion by 2023, making it an attractive prospect for investment.

Power Plays

In 2016, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba purchased a controlling stake in Lazada (ASEAN’s alternative to Amazon) for $1 billion, and in February 2018 Alibaba pumped Lazada with an extra $2 billion investment, pushing its share from 51% to 83%. To prevent China from becoming even more firmly rooted, in Indonesia, Garena rebranded as Sea Ltd after raising $550 million in 2017 to expand its e-commerce marketplace in the rest of Southeast Asia.

Singapore has also experienced impressive development, with a 33.1% quarter-on-quarter growth recorded in April 2018 in the B2C e-commerce market.

Developing Internet

The countries’ connectivity is relatively low compared to other markets, but it continues to improve as both local and international businesses recognise the opportunities in Southeast Asia.

Asia as a whole made up 45.7% of the global internet users in 2014, and 48.7% by the end of 2017: This number is expected to grow as the internet becomes more entrenched culturally and is better implemented throughout the region.

Rising Income

Southeast Asia’s technology boost is partly fuelled by its growing middle class — the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) is estimated to see its middle class grown from approximately 190 million in 2012 to 400 million in 2020.

Developing Electronic Payment Security

Southeast Asia consumers, accustomed to “cash on delivery” payments or bank transfers, were initially wary of online payments, and while industry giants such as Apple Pay and Android Pay are limited in their availability, local alternatives have emerged, such as Ponselpay and Go-Pay in Indonesia and Line Pay in Thailand, which was combined with Rabbit Pay for cashless payments for transport and bricks-and-mortar retail stores.

Wide Range of Platforms

ASEAN consumers are buying from a wide range of internet platforms, including global, regional, and local, with no one platform being preferred by more than 20% of users and, in Singapore, with no fewer than twelve preferred platforms for 90% of the market. To aid one platform in becoming the preferred site for a user’s online shopping, there must be some added incentive to attract them.

Expedited Shipping

Same-day delivery is already being trialled in the ASEAN: Amazon Prime Now offers same-day delivery in select locations in Singapore and Lazada bringing the possibility of four-hour delivery to both Singapore and the Philippines. There are also smaller, local retailers providing same-day delivery, but these are still restricted to major cities. As these expand and compete, consumers’ favour will shift towards e-commerce that can almost provide the immediacy of in-store retail.

BitRewards in Southeast Asia

Following our ICO launch we plan to bring BitRewards to Southeast Asia, where there are developing e-commerce opportunities, particularly when consumers don’t exhibit any preferences for particular platforms. As BIT can be accumulated and spent across all participating retailers, it is a push for the locals to use sites they know offer free currency for purchases rather than relying on search engines to find a matching product.

Find out more about BitRewards and our Token Launch at our site BitRewards.Network

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