Leading e-commerce sites in SEA 2024, by monthly web sessions
In 2024, Sea Limited's Shopee, a Singaporean technology company, was the leading e-commerce website in Southeast Asia, with average monthly web sessions of 560 million. This was followed by Lazada, which is owned by the Chinese Alibaba Group, and Tokopedia, owned by an Indonesian technology company.
The rise of Shopee
Online shopping usage in Southeast Asia has been on a steadily increasing during the past few years, partly driven by the COVID-19 pandemic beginning in 2020. Digital services accelerated after the pandemic, which helped Shopee accumulate a gross merchandise value of over 20 billion U.S. dollars. While it is a Singaporean company, most web visits to Shopee were generated from users in Indonesia and Vietnam, reflecting the high internet user penetration in these countries and the shifting shopping behavior of a new generation.
The new ways of commerce
Many consumers already indulge in online shopping on websites, but new shopping experiences are making their way into the region. Live commerce and social commerce have become a trend in Southeast Asia, encouraging consumers to indulge in shopping while browsing social media or watching livestream videos. With current trends emerging, Shopee also expanded its platform for live commerce usage and became the second most popular platform to watch live commerce in Southeast Asia, after TikTok. Consumers in the region liked to watch live commerce content because of the good deals it offered, as well as real-time product reviews. Livestreams allow consumers to interact with streamers or other buyers for a more interactive shopping experience, drawing in a wide array of consumers.
