Gross merchandise value of Shopee Q1 2020-Q4 2023

Shopee's gross merchandise value amounted to 23.1 billion U.S. dollars in the third quarter of 2023. Shopee is a subsidiary of Sea Limited, one of Southeast Asia's leading online service providers headquartered in Singapore. 

Sea Limited rides the pandemic-driven e-commerce wave

Shopee is the most visited e-commerce platform in Singapore, surpassing rivals Lazada, Amazon, and Qoo10. The e-commerce platform saw a marked increase in monthly web traffic with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lockdowns and movement restrictions imposed during the pandemic accelerated the use of digital services such as e-commerce. A quarter of Singaporean consumers now reported purchasing items online several times a month.

Choppy seas ahead for one of Singapore’s leading unicorns

However, the quick, short-term gains brought about at the beginning of the pandemic have given way to increasing challenges in 2022. The marked increase in revenue for digital services such as e-commerce and digital entertainment has stabilized with the easing of restrictions and a return to normal. Coupled with global economic and political crises, tech companies such as Sea are seeing their stock value tumble. To mitigate their losses, Sea has resorted to cost-cutting measures, such as reigning in their expansion to other international markets and mass lay-offs in their e-commerce arm, Shopee.