Ecommerce in Southeast Asia 3.0

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Southeast Asia’s ecommerce market reached US$128.4 billion in GMV in 2024, growing 12% YoY as platforms shifted from subsidy wars to sustainable unit economics. This growth, though slower than previous years, reflects a maturing ecosystem focused on efficiency, infrastructure, and ROI.

Thailand and Malaysia led regional growth at 21.7% and 19.5% YoY, while Indonesia remained the region’s largest market, contributing 44% of GMV despite slowing growth.

Shopee, TikTok Shop, and Lazada now control over 84% of platform GMV region-wide. Shopee maintains dominance, TikTok continues its transition to ROI-focused “discovery commerce,” and Lazada has achieved its first profitable year while doubling down on high-quality, branded goods and AI adoption.

For the first time, the report includes GMV from non-platform channels—such as brand.com, multi-brand retailers, social platforms, and WhatsApp commerce—contributing an estimated US$16.8 billion. This brings Southeast Asia’s total ecommerce GMV to US$145.2 billion, with a penetration rate of 12.8%.

The 66-page report covers the following sections and topics:

1. Introduction and overview

• Ecommerce in Southeast Asia continues to shake up, and consolidate
• In 2024, SEA ecommerce platform GMV totalled US$ 128.4 billion, growing 12% YoY
• Thailand and Malaysia are the fastest growing market
• Shopee maintains regional dominance with 52% market share in 2024
• Top three regional platforms dominate market share across Southeast Asia, except ID
• Southeast Asia’s ecommerce parcel volume is not that far behind United States
• US$ 16.8B GMV in Southeast Asia happen outside major platforms in 2024 

2. Key trends in 2025

• 2.1. Live and video commerce hit critical mass TikTok Shop and Shopee approach live differently
 ○ Platforms start to diversify away from top KOLs
 ○ Videos are another key source of GMV (and brand ROI)
• 2.2. Logistics consolidate to offset margin squeeze
 ○ Ecommerce logistics is driven by platforms, not 3PLs
 ○ Logistics costs has been on the decline with 3PLs being squeezed
• 2.3. Chinese & local brands challenge global players
 ○ Established brands face challenges – and new challengers – in ecommerce
 ○ Southeast Asia’s landscape is becoming more crowded and competitive
 ○ Chinese brands are updating their playbooks for Southeast Asia 
 ○ Ecommerce service providers try to build brands
 ○ To respond to all these challenges, incumbent brands should look deeper into themselves 
• 2.4. Ecosystem reshuffles as skills commoditise
 ○ Ecommerce ecosystem players move up the value chain
 ○ As ecommerce skills commoditise, everyone fights to protect margins
 ○ Vertical expansion in ecommerce can backfire if relevant skills are not in place
• 2.5. Bonus trend: How AI is transforming ecommerce
 ○ Ecommerce operations are manual and resource-intensive — but AI is changing that
 ○ By 2030, Gen AI could boost Southeast Asia’s annual GMV by US$131B
 ○ Sellers and brands need to prepare for AI-native ecommerce platforms in the future

3. Key platforms and omnichannel

• Top platforms all focus on sustainable growth, while others diverge
• Brief and non-complete list of top-level executives of the leading platforms
• Leading platforms improve ROI through different components of unit economics
• Shopee and TikTok Shop both automate ads through “GMV Max”
• Shopee: controlling infrastructure for profitable, resilient growth
• TikTok Shop: positioning itself as “discovery commerce”
• TikTok Shop: expanding regionally and globally, in a ROI-focused manner
• Lazada: re-focusing on high-quality assortment and pushing AI adoption
• Single country platforms (continue to) falter; cross border is growing (in most countries) 
• Beyond platforms, alternative channels carve out their own ecommerce space

4. Conclusion and predictions

• Conclusion & perspectives
• Momentum Works’s predictions for ecommerce in Southeast Asia (2025–2026)

5. Appendix: Category insights

• Top categories on TikTok Shop & Shopee, by GMV, FY 2024 
• Top categories on TikTok Shop & Shopee, by GMV, Q1 2025