E-commerce platform Shopee has claimed a leadership position in the region ahead of Lazada, according to a report by product comparison website iPrice.

Owned by gaming firm Sea, the platform came in tops with a monthly average of 200.2 million visits via both desktop and mobile gadgets in the second quarter, while Alibaba-owned Lazada was ranked second with 174.4 million visits.

The report noted that Shopee and Lazada continue to take the top two spots after achieving the same feat in the first quarter of 2019.

Shopee was also the most downloaded mobile e-commerce shopping application in Singapore in Q2 2019. The e-commerce company also saw improvements on its website as Shopee saw an increase in traffic by 11% when compared to the previous quarter, garnering more than 2.8 million average visitors in Q2 2019 in Singapore alone.

The report surveyed the e-commerce landscape in Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand using data from App Annie and SimilarWeb. The next three most visited sites were all from Indonesia – Tokopedia, Bukalapak and Blibli.



According to iPrice, Shopee’s jump in users could be attributed to the introduction of new features in its recent sales event which recently saw an increase in sales up to 75% , such as a live streaming feature called ‘Shopee Live’ that enabled sellers to engage with customers. In addition, the high number of total downloads was probably driven by marketing initiatives to promote its 7.7 Orange Madness sale which took place in July 2019.

The platform has been making significant investments in its marketing efforts alongside partnerships in a bid to establish dominance in Southeast Asia’s highly competitive e-commerce landscape.

It recently announced a partnership with L’Oréal to bring its AI and AR powered tools, Shopee BeautyCam by ModiFace and the Effaclar Spotscan by La Roche-Posay onto the app. Users can digitally try on different shades of lipsticks as well as receive personalised advice on the best skincare treatments to tackle acne.

The e-commerce platform also introduced professional footballer Cristiano Ronaldo as its regional brand ambassador, nearly a year after it tapped South Korean girl group BLACKPINK as its first-ever regional brand ambassador. 

Ronaldo will work with Shopee on a wide range of initiatives to engage and inspire people in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, starting with the upcoming 9.9 Super Shopping Day.

A joint study by Google and Temasek Holdings last year found that the region’s digital economy is poised to triple in size to US$240 billion by 2025. E-commerce, a key driver of this growth, is projected to reach US$102 billion in gross merchandise value by 2025.

The iPrice report noted that the e-commerce scene in South-east Asia is set to be more competitive as more new companies enter the market and existing players step up their game.

“This was evident as the e-commerce sector experienced a surge of investments over the last four years, garnering as much as US$2.7 billion in funds in the first half of 2018,” it said.

Sourced from The Drum, Business Insider, Stuff.TV, Retail News Asia, Marketing Interactive