Shopee, the e-commerce app that is owned by the NYSE-listed Singaporean tech giant Sea, is the most popular shopping platform in Southeast Asia, according to iPrice’s latest Q2 2019 e-commerce report.
According to the report, Shopee leads by Monthly Active Users (MAU), which measures the actual activity of users in an app, its total number of downloads, and combined traffic on desktop and mobile app, combining figures from all Southeast Asian markets.
IPrice suggests the reason why Shopee had the highest MAU and app downloads in the second quarter was the adoption of a variety of strategies that increased user interaction on its applicati0n such as entertainment shows as well as programs featuring pop culture figures.
When breaking down further, there are country-specific differences and this shows that Shopee’s overall lead is tight. In terms of MAU, Lazada is the leading app in terms of MAU in four of the six countries–the same result as the first quarter, but Shopee is ahead of Lazada in Indonesia, the region’s largest market, which could explain Shopee’s overall lead. Lazada and Shopee are among the few e-commerce companies that even have a regional footprint. Indonesia’s Tokopedia and Bukalapak for instance are hugely popular at home but haven’t ventured into other regions.
In Vietnam, two of the top five platforms with highest MAU for this quarter are local players, Tiki and Sendo. In terms of traffic, three out of the top companies are Vietnamese
Shopee was already the most-visited platform in Southeast Asia in the first quarter of 2019 in terms of combined traffic, and in the second quarter, Shopee’s visits continue to rise at an average monthly 8% from the first quarter of 2019.
However, Shopee’s growth also came at a cost. Analysts point out widening losses in SEA’s overall Q2 financial results.
The report was completed by iPrice in partnership with App Annie Intelligence. It tracks the progress and development of the e-commerce sector in Southeast Asia’s biggest digital markets, namely inIndonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
