Switching to ecommerce sounds easy, but it entails a lot of complicated tasks before it can happen. For instance, to launch an online store, you have to know which are the most recommended e-commerce platforms in Southeast Asia. Moreover, you also have to know other crucial elements to make ecommerce a profitable strategy for your brand. This includes logistics, payment gateway, marketing automation, and plenty more things to consider for your planning.

Nowadays, people are flocking to online marketplaces, making ecommerce more important now than ever. However, joining the trend unprepared will only make things worse for your business. Thus, get yourself ready step-by-step by first knowing which platforms to consider for your ecommerce venture in Southeast Asia.

Here we’ll briefly tackle 3 of the most recommended ecommerce platforms if you want to sell across the region. From creating your own brand.com website with Shopify to setting up a flagship store in the SEA’s largest e-commerce platforms like Shopee and Lazada, we’ll get it covered for you.

Top 3 Recommended ECommerce Platforms in Southeast Asia

1. Shopify

Having your own website is always recommended for brands who want complete control of their digital assets. For instance, if you want an ecommerce store that you can fully manage from backend, Shopify is your way to go.

Shopify is a fully hosted ecommerce platform that lets you build your own website from scratch without the need for technical skills. Its user-friendly dashboard is designed to help merchants like you easily set up your own website and quickly push it to live as soon as possible.

Furthermore, its themes are completely functional, navigational, clean, and polished. This makes every Shopify store more visually appealing while providing seamless online shopping experience to customers.

But what truly sets Shopify apart from others is that it also allows you to effectively implement your SEO within the platform. By enforcing SEO to your Shopify website, you’ll certainly increase your website organic traffic and your sales ultimately.

This brings us to why Shopify currently powers more than 1 million businesses across the world. Its robust features bring thousands of businesses worldwide into success. In fact, its monthly recurring revenue reached US$57 million in June 2020.

Moreover, Shopify supports the below verticals. So, if you’re one of the listed categories, then Shopify may be your ticket to ecommerce success in Southeast Asia.

• Beauty, Cosmetics & Skincare
• Food & Beverage
• Electronics & Gadgets
• Home & Living
• Fashion & Apparel

2. Shopee

Shopee has continued its growth in Southeast Asia ecommerce competition, the group have achieved profitable revenue of US$1.29 billion and a quarterly active users (QAU) reaching 499.8 million for the second quarter of 2020. Shopee has also expanded their market to South East Asian countries like Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia and Taiwan.

Categories covered:

• Electronics & Gadgets
• Home & Living
• Health & Beauty
• Fashion & Apparel
• Automotive

3. Lazada

Lazada is a popular ecommerce platform in Southeast Asia which is owned by the Alibaba Group since 2016. This helped them to reach out to more Chinese audiences ever since. Lazada records a revenue of US$1.5 billion in annual sales and over 50 million monthly visitors in 2019.

Categories covered:

• Electronics & Gadgets
• Home & Living
• Health & Beauty
• Fashion & Apparel
• Automotive