ASEAN is expected to replace the powerful Chinese market with its promising e-commerce sector. The growth of e-commerce has been contributed a lot by mobile phone users. In 2016, the trend of e-commerce has seen a comparable change from the percentage of the transactions made from desktop and smartphone.
However, it still does not change the fact that e-commerce as a whole will change the market game in 2017 ahead.
Growth in marketplaces
SmartInvestor witnessed a huge increase in the volume of online shoppers which grew by 182.84%. One huge factor that impacted the e-commerce growth is delivery services which hiked up to 243 percent compared to the previous years. Other than that, telco services for bill payment took the second place, while other factors such as transportation services, food and beverages as well as gifts and merchandises also contributed a lot to the e-commerce growth.
With the
collaboration and partnership with different expertise from the business sector, small startups are joining in soon. This smart move from the market leaders are not only expanding the market, it will eventually help the economy to grow stable.
Limitless opportunities
E-commerce in Southeast Asia has spotted limitless opportunities in 2017. Even though the rising number of digital buyers and smartphone users can be compared to Japan, it still lacks to tackle the global players. According to
The Korea Times, with the beginning of Lazada which was established by Germany’s Rocket Internet entering Southeast Asia, the potential to attract more global players is not-too-distant. This is due to the fact that it has operated widely in Malaysia, Singapore and other developing countries in the region.
Aside from that, U.S giant retailer Amazon has decided to invest $600 million to create an e-commerce platform in Indonesia. This idea is definitely a good news to all SEA people. Since Amazon is known for its reputation in selling all products on demand, they can easily attract the buyers to buy from them.
Not only that, companies from Japan, Korea and of course, China has kept their eyes on Southeast Asia to grab whichever opportunities that they can capitalize on. These global companies aim to invest more on Southeast Asia due to the high feedbacks received from other industries.
Taking Hallyu Wave as an example, majority people from Southeast Asia has started to use more products and services from South Korea due to its influential popularity.
More alternative payment options
More alternative payment options
There are a lot of payment gateway processors in Southeast Asia. One of the trusted providers is
MOLPay. MOLPay ensure the triple-fold profits in the e-commerce market by providing different payment options up to the online and offline consumers’ preferences.
Also Read: Open source eCommerce website scripts and cmsAccording to the CEO of MOLPay, Mr. Eng Sheng Guan, “MOLPay CASH allows online merchants to reach a wider customer base that they may not have been able to cater for in the past and allows more buyers, especially those without credit cards and internet banking, to shop online."
Even though cash may sound inconvenient to people who have used online shopping for a very long time, it is now convenient where consumers only need to hit the nearest convenience shop without having to memorize the account number of the merchants.
Increasing number of consumers
Millennials were born with gadgets and internet wired around them. Therefore, it is impossible if they are not into technology trends that come out every single day especially when almost everyone nowadays has at least one smartphone each. Due to the increase of smartphone users, the growth of e-commerce relies a lot in the millennials’ hands.
Virtual reality in the making
This may sound impossible but Alibaba has invested billions in making this technology. SmartInvestor stated that there is a potential for virtual shopping to exist in the near future. Consumer can buy a camera by putting on a goggle and enter the store via a virtual reality, try to play with the product and finally make a decision to purchase in a real-time setting.
Also Read: Malaysia Online payment methods The payment can also be made virtually. They also added that, delivery services will also improve by delivering items shortly after the payment which only need the consumers to wait for minimum 2 hours.
To conclude
As what has been imagined from the previous years, life has now unexpectedly become easier. Hence, from all the advancements that we have witnessed, nothing is ever impossible. This is all thanks to the continuous development from every sector and more to come in 2017.
| About the Guest Author:
Nurin Abdul Ghani is an intern researcher for a marketing department in a Fintech company.