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CONSUMER PULSE
Uncovering the Value of Thailand’s
Top Online Platforms
CONSUMER
PULSE
POWERED BY
ABOUT ECOMMERCEIQ ecommerceIQ is the first market research brand dedicated to ecommerce data and insights in Southeast Asia. Through qualitative and quantitative data analysis, we uncover the future direction of retail in the world’s fastest-growing internet markets. Our community is composed of professionals leading their industries. Data is at the heart of everything we do - it drives our research, educational programs, partnerships, and ultimately, our brand. Find out more
ABOUT THE CONSUMER PULSE THAILAND E-MARKETPLACE WHITE PAPER At ecommerceIQ, we frequently get emails from our audience asking about the differences between marketplaces like Lazada and Shopee. In Thailand specifically, we’ve been asked to comment on JD’s launch and how they differ from what Lazada and Shopee already offer. For brands and merchants who are just getting started with online sales, this is a valid question. Running an ecommerce operation is time and resource consuming, so they need to prioritize the channels to launch in first. Economies of scale don’t really apply here; running two separate online stores pretty much requires two times the effort. From the outside, all marketplaces look similar but as consumers, we find ourselves - often unconsciously - choosing one marketplace over another. The goal of this research is to shed light on how consumers perceive the different marketplaces, specifically the “Big 2” in Thailand - Lazada and Shopee. (At the time of this writing, JD-Central just launched in the country so it was too early to include it in the survey.) With these results, based on a sample size of 1,249 participants from all over Thailand, we are hoping to help brands improve their digital and ecommerce go-to-market strategy. Some of the questions we set about to answer were related to overall demographics of Thai online shoppers; age, location, gender, income levels, and type of products bought online. We also asked respondents about their e-marketplace of choice: which site do they prefer and why? How did they initially find out about the site? How often do they shop there and what do they buy? How much do they spend? A final set of questions aimed to unearth aspects of the overall user experience. Is there anything shoppers found unsatisfying about their site of choice? How likely are they to recommend the site to others?
TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE 6 Chapter 1: Introduction to Thailand’s Digital Landscape Key takeaways from this chapter: The Thai ecommerce market has transformed into a duopoly, led by Lazada and Shopee. Smaller, vertical players are forced to differentiate themselves based on a unique value proposition in order to avoid direct competition. Despite being smaller than Indonesia, Thailand is increasingly seen as a strategic hub with its geographical proximity to China and easy land access to Malaysia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos. This has led to strategic investments by Alibaba and JD in Thailand. An early adopter of ecommerce in Southeast Asia, Thailand has been a breeding ground for innovative features like live chat, live video streaming and influencer marketing. PAGE 9 Chapter 2: Consumer Perspectives on Lazada vs Shopee Why do consumers prefer one platform over the other? Key takeaways from this chapter: From a shopper’s perspective, Lazada and Shopee are quite different. Lazada has built its strength in the Mobile & Electronics category, whereas Shopee’s focus is Fashion & Beauty. The newly launched JD-Central, which replicates the direct retail model of its parent company in China, could disrupt this balance. Direct retail lets JD control its entire value chain and achieve high levels of customer satisfaction, which showed in our Indonesia survey findings. Direct retail also works in JD’s favor in new categories like Groceries, which requires a tightly integrated supply chain. Lazada’s decision in June 2018 to split off its premium brands into LazMall, away from the main Lazada marketplace, can be considered a pre-emptive move against JD.
PAGE 22 Chapter 3: How do Lazada and Shopee Acquire Customers? A Look into Their Marketing Strategies Key takeaways from this chapter: There’s no way around Facebook and Google in Thailand, as these channels are the only way to effectively reach customers online. Brands ought to construct a strategy around who they wish to target: TV ads still play a role to reach audiences nationwide, but less so than in Indonesia. Offline ads like billboards, magazines, and newspapers still play an important role in the overall media mix. PAGE 25 Chapter 4: Who Shops Where? A Look into Customer Profiles for Each Ecommerce Platform Key takeaways from this chapter: Each platform’s unique value proposition(s) means they attract different audiences. Shopee, for instance, has many female customers due to its emphasis on Fashion & Beauty. Lazada attracts older shoppers with a higher income because of their strength in Mobile & Electronics, which are typically more expensive than Fashion & Beauty. PAGE 28 Chapter 5: What Defines The Thai Online Shopper? Is There Such a Thing as a General Profile? Key takeaways from this chapter: Thailand is third in Southeast Asia in terms of GDP per capita. On top of that, Thailand’s middle class currently makes up a higher percentage of its total population than in Indonesia. This more evenly distributed purchasing power makes Thailand a potent ecommerce market. That said, the country is still early in terms of ecommerce development and this can be seen from its online shopper profiles. The majority is between 16-34 years old and is evenly split between Bangkok and Non-Bangkok provinces. Most shoppers look for bargains online and spend small amounts per order, in the low US$30 range. Conclusion References Author Credits
Chapter 1:
Introduction to Thailand’s
Digital Landscape
A recent similar study we did in Indonesia found multiple ecommerce
players are still competing neck to neck there, each trying to find their
niche in terms of product selection, price, user experience, and other
dimensions. Indonesia is the biggest ecommerce market in Southeast
Asia, which means it has been able to attract global attention and
investment. It’s likely that this race will go on for the next couple of
years before we start seeing further consolidation.
Good reputation 14.8% 13.0% 12.9% 13.7% 10.9% 14.3%
Cheaper product price 6.5% 15.1% 11.0% 13.5% 18.0% 13.3%
More product selection 6.5% 14.6% 5.2% 11.3% 13.0% 16.8%
Authentic products 13.9% 3.9% 19.5% 7.2% 4.2% 4.3%
Good customer service 12.0% 8.9% 5.2% 6.5% 7.7% 8.8%
Fast delivery 7.4% 6.0% 8.6% 10.0% 7.6% 5.8%
Free delivery 13.0% 6.8% 14.8% 10.6% 18.4% 3.2%
Easy return policy 6.5% 5.7% 2.9% 5.4% 4.5% 5.3%
Easy navigation on site 4.6% 7.0% 3.3% 3.8% 3.5% 9.3%
More payment options 9.3% 8.9% 11.0% 13.4% 5.3% 8.4%
Better mobile app 4.6% 9.6% 5.7% 4.4% 6.8% 9.4%
Loyalty program 0.0% 0.3% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.0%
More promo 0.9% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.2% 0.9%
More secure 0.0% 0.3% 0.0% 0.1% 0.0% 0.2%
Figure 1: Reasons why Indonesian shoppers prefer certain online platforms over others;
ecommerceIQ E-Marketplace Indonesia’s Survey 2018
Mobile & Electronics 21% 25% 15% 20% 13% 22%
Fashion 17% 16% 11% 19% 24% 12%
Beauty 4% 4% 11% 9% 12% 5%
Health & Wellness 3% 2% 3% 3% 5% 5%
Mom & baby 8% 4% 10% 8% 8% 4%
Toys 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 9%
Groceries 17% 9% 19% 10% 11% 11%
Lifestyle and Hobby 8% 10% 7% 7% 8% 10%
Home & Living 7% 8% 10% 9% 8% 9%
Sports 4% 6% 3% 4% 3% 4%
Travel 5% 3% 3% 2% 2% 3%
Automotive 0% 7% 2% 3% 1% 4%
Others 0% 1% 0% 1% 1% 2%
Figure 2: The most popular product categories on ecommerce platforms in Indonesia;
ecommerceIQ E-Marketplace Indonesia’s Survey 2018
On the other hand, Thailand, the subject of this whitepaper, is a market
that took off earlier than Indonesia in terms of ecommerce and has
been through some degree of consolidation over the last few years.
6
Thai consumers had a chance to experience online shopping (and many subsidies!) across multiple players
including but not limited to Lazada, Shopee, 11street, Zalora, iTruemart, and Orami. However, as of this writing in
June 2018, the most obvious choices have whittled down to Lazada and Shopee. Thailand, a much smaller
market than Indonesia, has also received less venture capital. In Indonesia, this global attention from an
investment point of view has provided multiple players with continued funding to sustain the competition. From
2012-2017, Indonesia received over $4.6 billion in VC funding versus only $92 million for Thailand. The bulk of
this funding went into ecommerce and logistics.
Looking at web traffic, it’s easy to see that Lazada has settled into a comfortable #1 position, with Shopee on #2
and still plenty of air to the rest.
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We are seeing a bifurcation of the Thai ecommerce market into Alibaba vs. Tencent camps. Shopee and
JD-Central both count Tencent among their backers. Lazada is fully owned by Alibaba.
Consumer Pulse: Uncovering the Value of Thailand’s Top Online Platforms 7
Figure 4: Thailand, a strategic hub in Southeast Asia; iStockPhoto.
JD seems committed to grow its Thai venture into While undifferentiated marketplaces with less
one of its hubs in the region. funding like 11street are getting increasingly
squeezed out, others like Pomelo and Zilingo
“We will have two main centres in Southeast Asia: have carved out a sizeable niche in the fashion
Indonesia to cover the island countries and Thailand ecommerce space. In doing so, these vertical
for the whole of mainland nations of ASEAN,” ecommerce players are avoiding a direct
Richard Liu, Founder and CEO, JD.com, said in an confrontation with giants like Lazada or Shopee.
interview with The Nation4.
Often overshadowed by its larger neighbor
Following JD’s initiatives, Alibaba also strengthened Indonesia, the importance of the Thai market
its grip on Thailand. Earlier this year, Jack Ma met shouldn’t be underestimated. With its
with Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, saying geographical proximity to China and easy land
his firm would⁵ invest 11 billion THB (US$330 million) access to Malaysia, Vietnam, Myanmar,
to develop the country’s digital ecosystem. This was Cambodia, and Laos, Thailand is fast becoming
followed by a reshuffling of Lazada’s top an increasingly strategic hub in Southeast Asia.
management in March⁶. Jack Ma’s right hand Lucy
Peng⁷ now leads Lazada as Group CEO. Thailand’s Thailand, with its social media savvy citizens,
strategic importance is reflected in a move that put spearheaded the social commerce boom in
James Dong⁸, previously a right hand to Alibaba Southeast Asia. The leading ecommerce
Group CEO Daniel Zhang, into the Lazada Thailand platforms in Thailand like Lazada and Shopee
CEO position. have borrowed from this trend by introducing
elements like live chat, live video streaming and
The strong presence of China-backed ecommerce influencer marketing to their platforms.
giants in Thailand doesn’t mean it’s game over for
other companies.
Consumer Pulse: Uncovering the Value of Thailand’s Top Online Platforms 8
Chapter 2:
Consumer Perspectives
on Lazada vs Shopee
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Consumer Pulse: Uncovering the Value of Thailand’s Top Online Platforms 10What are the popular categories on each e-marketplace?
Another way to spot the differences between these two ecommerce players is to look at their most popular
product categories:
Mobile & Electronics 31.2% 22.8%
Fashion 13.4% 18.8%
Beauty 10.9% 15.5%
Health & Wellness 8.8% 10.3%
Mom & baby 4.5% 6.1%
Toys 5.5% 7.1%
Groceries 0.5% 1.0%
Lifestyle and Hobby 13.2% 11.6%
Sports 5.0% 3.2%
Automotive 6.2% 3.1%
Pets 0.7% 0.3%
100% 100%
Figure 7: Most popular product categories on ecommerce platforms in Thailand;
ecommerceIQ E-Marketplace Survey Thailand 2018
Shopee: Destination for Female social commerce merchants (small businesses
Shoppers? selling on Facebook and Instagram). The majority of
social commerce took place in fashion and apparel.
These were often merchants who would source
products from Chinese companies like Alibaba,
Because I tend to shop for fashion and
AliExpress and 1688.com to sell them on Facebook,
beauty items online, I [prefer] to shop
Instagram and LINE in Thailand.
via Shopee over Lazada. This is solely
because it is cheaper and Shopee
Shopee took advantage of the thriving C2C social
tends to give out more discount
commerce that was occurring all over Southeast
codes.” - Pondprapa J., a frequent
Asia.12 In Thailand, it’s estimated that one-third of
online shopper in Thailand.
the total value of ecommerce orders happens on
social media.
From a product category point of view, Shopee
With Fashion as a stepping stone, Shopee was able
beats Lazada in female-driven categories like
to capitalize on this female audience by building out
Fashion, Beauty, Health & Wellness, Mom & Baby,
strengths in categories like Beauty and Health &
and Toys.
Wellness.
Originally a C2C platform, it focused on acquiring
Consumer Pulse: Uncovering the Value of Thailand’s Top Online Platforms 11Shopper in Thailand on Instagram
Browsing Begins on Instagram...Conversation / Payment / Confirmation Ends on Line
Visit Instagram Browse Inquire About Get Payment Confirm Ship &
Shop Products Product via Line Details Payment Track Order
Figure 8: The social commerce purchasing journey of consumers in Thailand;
KPCB Internet Trends, 2016
Lazada: The Amazon of Thailand? As one of the pioneers of ecommerce in Thailand,
Lazada first focused on products that work well in the
early stages of the market. These were either products
“My perception towards Lazada is where price comparison made sense and were easy -
better than Shopee. I feel secure like for mobile phones and electronics.
knowing that I’m shopping directly For a good bargain, customers are willing to give a
from brands on Lazada, whereas I new site a shot. The other product category that
would always look at Shopee as a works well in an early stage market are items like
C2C ecommerce platform” - Sunny L., fashion and beauty, because they are relatively low cost.
a frequent online shopper in Thailand.
Mobile & Electronics and Fashion & Beauty are still
Lazada’s strongest categories today, as we find
Lazada Thailand, launched in 2011, started out confirmed in our survey. Lazada also offers more
with a retail business model. It would buy product variety in these categories.
products in bulk and then sell them off to
customers, just the way Amazon operated in its 52 percent of SKUs (the abbreviation stands for stock
early days. In 2013, the company introduced a keeping unit and describes the types of items an
marketplace, which means it opened the site to ecommerce site lists) make up the Electronic Devices,
third party merchants who could then sell their Women/Men’s Fashion, and Health & Beauty
own products directly to consumers. categories for Lazada Thailand. Products in all
remaining categories add up to 48 percent.
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JD-Central: A Bigger Potential Threat Back in China, JD has always had a focus on the
To Lazada Thailand? “3C” (“communication, computer and consumer
electronics” categories, a popular acronym in the
Based on our category analysis above, it doesn’t Chinese ecommerce industry). If JD-Central
look like Lazada and Shopee are clashing directly, pursues that path, it will potentially be competing
at least not for the time being. Lazada has built its for customers with Lazada Thailand, more so than
strength in the Mobile & Electronics category, Shopee Thailand.
whereas Shopee’s focus is only Fashion & Beauty.
The Indonesia study also showed JD’s unexpected
JD-Central’s launch might shift that power strength in Groceries, another category in which its
structure. retail model pays off, because groceries, especially
fresh goods, have a limited shelf life and are
Our Indonesia e-marketplace study showed that products that are typically ordered when there’s an
JD.id was able to grow a strong profile in the immediate demand for it (e.g. for cooking dinner).
Mobile & Electronics category in a relatively short Therefore, to provide a great customer experience
period of time. That can most likely be attributed to in Groceries, a retailer needs to be able to ensure
the fact it runs on a retail business model. It’s quality of products and fast delivery, all of which
common for mobile and electronics brands to sell are made possible through JD’s direct model.
their brands via distributors that buy outright rather
than on consignment.
Consumer Pulse: Uncovering the Value of Thailand’s Top Online Platforms 14This pits JD directly against Lazada. The latter Central Group also owns Central Food Retail Group,
recently launched Lazada Supermart in Thailand after which includes offline retail properties such as
it acquired Singapore’s RedMart13. JD-Central, Central Food Hall, Tops market, and FamilyMart.
meanwhile, is its joint venture with Thailand’s Central
Group, one of the country’s leading offline retailers.
Figure 11: Supermarket section on JD-Central’s website, June 2018
What is the average order The average amount customers spend per order
correlates to the types of products they buy on
value (AOV) for each platform? the ecommerce platform.
Lazada, because of its strengths in the Mobile &
I like Lazada, especially when I’m Electronics category, sees a higher AOV than
looking for mobile and electronic Shopee.
goods. They just have more
variety!” - Kriengkrai T., a frequent Almost 80 percent of Shopee’s orders amount to
online shopper in Thailand. less than THB 1,000 (US$ 31). Fashion & Beauty
just tend to be lower value products.
Less than THB 500 13.9% 30.1%
THB 500 - 1,000 39.4% 47.2%
THB 1,000 - 1,500 14.9% 9.6%
THB 1,500 - 2,000 11.5% 5.5%
THB 2,000 - 2,500 4.4% 1.1%
THB 2,500 - 3,000 4.1% 1.1%
More than THB 3,000 11.8% 5.1%
100% 100%
Figure 12: Average order value (AOV) for Lazada and Shopee Thailand; ecommerceIQ E-Marketplace Survey Thailand 2018
Consumer Pulse: Uncovering the Value of Thailand’s Top Online Platforms 15What do consumers dislike about each e-marketplace?
Another dimension to assess how Thailand’s “Big Two” differ from one another is to ask if there’s anything
customers dislike about their favorite shopping destinations.
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Product quality tops the list of pain points Thai platforms like Shopee and Lazada just connect
shoppers encounter when shopping online, third-party sellers with end consumers. It’s much
whether they’re Lazada or Shopee loyalists. In our harder to ensure quality than when buying and selling
survey, a large number of respondents indicated the products yourself.
that they are unsatisfied because the quality of the
product doesn’t match with what was advertised. Companies with a direct retail model like that of JD
could see this as an opportunity to gain a foothold. In
We saw the same in our Indonesia study. Quality Indonesia, JD.id leads all players in terms of customer
control is an inherent issue faced by many satisfaction. JD-Central will likely play the same card in
marketplace model businesses. In most cases, Thailand.
1 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.7% 0.0% 0.6%
2 0.0% 0.0% 1.9% 0.0% 0.2% 0.3%
3 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.7% 0.7% 0.3%
4 0.0% 0.9% 0.0% 0.7% 0.5% 0.0%
5 3.8% 0.0% 1.9% 3.1% 0.5% 0.6%
6 0.0% 7.2% 0.0% 2.4% 2.0% 0.3%
7 7.7% 17.1% 7.7% 13.6% 8.3% 6.9%
8 23.1% 27.0% 21.2% 30.8% 29.4% 26.2%
9 26.9% 26.1% 26.9% 25.5% 29.7% 25.9%
10 38.5% 21.6% 40.4% 22.4% 28.7% 38.8%
100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
Figure 14: How likely are Indonesian shoppers to recommend a site to friends and family on a scale of 1-10, 10 being ‘most likely to
recommend’; ecommerceIQ E-Marketplace Survey Indonesia 2018.
Consumer Pulse: Uncovering the Value of Thailand’s Top Online Platforms 16Lazada and Shopee both use third-party logistics LazMall, its Southeast Asian version of Tmall. its
providers, so it’s beyond their control how long it Southeast Asian version of Tmall. This might be a
takes to deliver the product. Lazada probably move towards splitting Lazada into a ‘b-to-c’ (Lazada)
scores a slightly better in terms of delivery time and a ‘B-to-c’ (LazMall) scenario, where LazMall aims
because it fulfills some of the orders with its own to offer a premium place for big brands to sell online,
logistics service, Lazada eLogistics. away from the grey market sellers and bazaar-like
feeling the multitude of small businesses on Lazada
This is why, perhaps, Lazada recently launched may convey.
Figure 15: Lazada’s premium platform for brands, LazMall.
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Consumer Pulse: Uncovering the Value of Thailand’s Top Online Platforms 18Figure 17: Shopee’s live chat via mobile app; Shopee
Live chat is a particularly important feature to enhance the experience on marketplaces.
To overcome customer dissatisfaction, companies like Alibaba have successfully implemented a chat function or
ratings systems that incentivize merchants to offer better service and products. Ever since Alibaba took over
Lazada, brands are being encouraged to adopt the new live chat system.
Figure 18: Lazada’s live chat system via desktop; Lazada.co.th
Consumer Pulse: Uncovering the Value of Thailand’s Top Online Platforms 19What are the popular categories on each e-marketplace?
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Cash-on-delivery (COD), when the customer pays the delivery person once the package arrives, is still popular in
Thailand. This is partly due to low credit card adoption - shoppers have no easy way to pay online. Only 6
percent of Thais own credit cards, compared to 35 percent in Singapore.
Lazada Thailand stands out with a much higher share of COD than Shopee because the company has invested in
its own last-mile delivery fleet, making it much easier to enable COD.
96%
81%
78%
35% 36%
31% Bank Account
28%
Credit Card
20%
6%
2% 2% 3%
Singapore Malaysia Thailand Indonesia Vietnam Philippines
Figure 20: Southeast Asia’s bank account and credit card penetration;
Global Findex Database 2017, World Bank
Consumer Pulse: Uncovering the Value of Thailand’s Top Online Platforms 20If survey respondents are not sorted into clusters by platform preference, credit card leads with 32.9 percent
total share, followed closely by bank transfer (31.9 percent) and COD (30.1 percent).
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Consumer Pulse: Uncovering the Value of Thailand’s Top Online Platforms 21Chapter 3:
How Do Lazada and Shopee
Acquire Customers?
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Consumer Pulse: Uncovering the Value of Thailand’s Top Online Platforms 24Chapter 4:
Who’s Shopping Where?
A look into customer profiles for each
ecommerce platform
Lazada’s official store stands out to
me more than Shopee’s does. I also
like that it has a wide selection of
cheaper goods from China with
Taobao Collections.” - Saran P., a
frequent online shopper in Thailand.
In the previous chapters, we found out how consumers view the
differences between Lazada and Shopee in Thailand. Now, we look into
the characteristics of the types of customers that shop on each channel.
Customer profiles are insightful because they help brands define which
types of products to sell where and how to effectively reach potential
buyers with the right message.
Gender
The survey data shows a correlation between product category and
gender. Gender stereotypes apply to some degree here: ‘Fashion’ is
typically a female-centric category, whereas ‘Mobile and Electronics’
are more frequently purchased by men - a pattern also found in
mature ecommerce markets like the US.17
As a result, Shopee’s strong emphasis on fashion leads to it having
the highest share of female customers (43 percent).
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Consumer Pulse: Uncovering the Value of Thailand’s Top Online Platforms 27Chapter 5: What Defines The
Thai Online Shopper?
Is there such a thing as a general profile?
As one of the five so-called Tiger Cub Economies, Thailand survived the
1997 Asian financial crisis to establish itself as the third leading country
in terms of GDP per capita in ASEAN. With a population of 69 million,
Thailand lags behind Indonesia (261 million) in terms of overall market
potential.
That said, Thailand’s middle class currently makes up a higher
percentage of its total population than in Indonesia. This more evenly
distributed purchasing power makes Thailand a potent ecommerce
market. Ecommerce also took off earlier and grew faster in Thailand
than in Indonesia. For the first several years, Lazada’s Thailand business
was its largest in Southeast Asia19.
Figure 31: GDP per capita (US$1,000s) for ‘Tiger Cub Economies’ in Southeast Asia;
World Bank, June 2018
Despite the numbers and potential, Thailand is still a developing
country at present.
Some patterns emerge if we look at the overall traits of online
shoppers in our survey.
The majority looks for bargains online and spends small amounts
per order, in the low US$30 range. This is much higher than in
Indonesia, where the majority spends in the low US$7-15 range
per order. Still, Thailand has a long way to go before it can be
considered a mature ecommerce market, but those who start
early get the chance to nurture brand-consumer trust early on.
28What do Thais look for when shopping online?
The majority of Thai online shoppers rank ‘Cheaper product price’ as the most important factor driving them to
buy online - typical for an early stage ecommerce market.
‘More product selection’ comes in at second place, mainly because the offline retail market in Thailand is
underdeveloped, especially compared to more mature markets like the US and Singapore (3 square feet retail
space per capita in Thailand versus 12 and 40 square feet per capita in Singapore and the US.20 )
Lacking offline retail channels, especially outside of Bangkok,
forces shoppers to look online for products.
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Figure 32: What Thai online shoppers value the most;
ecommerceIQ E-Marketplace Survey Thailand 2018.
Breaking down the data by gender reveals other interesting insights:
Females value product selection more than men
Male shopping preferences aren't that different, but they especially value fast delivery and many
payments options
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Consumer Pulse: Uncovering the Value of Thailand’s Top Online Platforms 33Where do Thai online shoppers live?
The majority of survey respondents live outside of the Bangkok Metropolitan (56 percent) area. Ecommerce is
not limited to metropolitan areas.
Compared to our Indonesia study, the growth potential for ecommerce outside major cities is bigger in
Indonesia than in Thailand. 86 percent of Indonesian shoppers reside outside of Jakarta while only 56 percent
of Thais live outside of Bangkok.
Bangkok Metropolitan
44.1%
Non Bangkok
55.9%
Figure 46: Location breakdown for online shoppers in Thailand;
ecommerceIQ E-Marketplace Survey Thailand 2018
Consumer Pulse: Uncovering the Value of Thailand’s Top Online Platforms 34REFERENCES
[ 1 ] - https://www.jd.co.th
[2] - CB Insights, ‘The State Of Southeast Asia Tech’, 2017
[3] - Tech in Asia, ‘The state of venture capital in Asia’, 2016
[4] - The Nation, 2018
[5] - Bangkok Post, 2018
[6] - The Straits Times, 2018
[7] - Tech in Asia, ‘Meet Lucy Peng, Lazada’s new CEO’, 2018
[8] - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jameszdong
[9] - Bloomberg, 2018
[10] - Momentum Works, ‘Lazada is right to create new tech hub in Shenzhen’, 2018
[11] - TechinAsia. 'Shakeup in Lazada's Tech Team as Alibaba Takes Control', 2018
[12] - Techcrunch, 2015
[13] - TechCrunch, ‘Alibaba’s Lazada confirms acquisition of Singapore web grocery startup RedMart’, 2016
[14] - TechinAsia, 2015
[15] - Thairath.tv and RCTI, 2018
[16] - BrandAge, 2017
[17] - Statista.com, 2016
[18] - Shopee's free delivery policy is not permanent. According to its website, Shopee offers free delivery
for 1 order per day, 2 times per week and 3 times per month. Its free delivery also depends on the
promotional period -- free delivery during Songkran or when it is partnering with (i.e. subsidized by)
another party -- such as Thai Post.
[19] - Bangkok Post, 2016
[20] - CapitaLand, World Bank, Bangkok Post
[21] - Lazada Supermart Thailand
[22] - Shopee Supermarket in Shopee Mall
[23] - Tesco Lotus on Lazada Thailand
[24] - Bain, ‘Can Southeast Asia Live Up to Its E-commerce Potential?’, 2016Conclusion
Thailand, the third largest market in Southeast Asia in terms of GDP per capita (behind Singapore
and Malaysia), took off early in terms of ecommerce and has undergone some market
consolidation in the last few years.
The Thai market has more or less split into a “Big 2,” where it’s Lazada versus Shopee, with a
potential new third competitor JD-Central, coming in.
Often overshadowed by the potential of its Southeast Asian neighbor Indonesia, the importance
of the Thai market shouldn’t be underestimated. With its geographical proximity to China and
easy land access to Malaysia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos, Thailand is fast becoming
an increasingly strategic hub in Southeast Asia. Both JD and Alibaba are establishing strategic
hubs in the country.
This report by ecommerceIQ aims to help brands, retailers, investors and talent navigate the
dynamic ecommerce landscape and develop strategies based on a deep understanding of the
Thai market.
We hope this report will benefit you, the reader, in your journey in Thailand and look forward to
hearing your feedback at hello@ecommerceiq.asia.
Happy mining for gold,
To stay up to date on ecommerce data and insights in Southeast Asia,
subscribe to the ecommerceIQ weekly newsletter here.
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AUTHOR CREDITS
Sheji Ho
Chief Marketing Officer,
aCommerce Group
sheji@acommerce.asia CONTRIBUTORS
Cynthia Luo Rara Kinasih
Editor in Chief, ecommerceIQ Nichakorn Prateepsawangwong
cynthia@acommerce.asia Nadine Freischlad
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