Social Commerce in Southeast Asia (SEA) - NAOS International

14 Oct Social Commerce in Southeast Asia (SEA)

Posted at 07:23h in New Post by

Social Commerce in Southeast Asia is a close second to e-commerce – It’s becoming too big a sector to not know.

Consumers use internet shopping concept

Social media, is not just for social use anymore – the opportunity for social media to be used as a channel of sales is too large to miss.

According to Bain & Co. almost half or 44% of Southeast Asia’s (SEA) e-commerce market valued at 109 Bil USD was accounted through social commerce in 2020.

SEA is home to the highest internet penetration rates in the world, and this is the first time that social media shopping has moved ahead of traditional retail to become the 2nd most preferred shopping channel in SEA.

According to an annual report conducted across Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand & Singapore, statistics show that while 91% of consumers prefer e-commerce as a channel for shopping, social commerce is not too far behind with 78%, and far lower of 35% for traditional retail.

42% of shoppers indicated that they shopped once or twice a month on social media while 35% say they shop more than 3 times a month.

Not just in frequency but shoppers are also spending more per each order with revenue per order rising by a staggering 88%.

CEO and co-founder of iKala, Sega Cheng, believes that because “Southeast Asia already has some of the most avid social media users in the world, and spurred by the pandemic, they’ve taken to social platforms for their shopping needs at an exhilarating pace. Even as brick-and-mortar reopens, Cheng said it’s become clear that social commerce is not a phase — the ease, convenience and accessibility of this format has earned it a permanent place in the way this region shops.”

However, not all is bright with social platforms where 51% of consumers find shipping to be expensive, 41% experience the lack of return & exchange services and 34% see the absence of customer support.

NAOS International has been supporting clients in the Tech & Digital space, including the commerce industry for more than a decade in hiring top talents for firms to capitalize on growth opportunities. Reach out to our team in Singapore to learn more about how we can support you across Asia.

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