Brazil could be Shopee’s holy grail

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Hi readers,

“This one my Shopee haul” is the first thing I see every time I open my TikTok app these days. After seeing it so many times, the phrase has stuck in my head – I randomly recall it even when I’m doing work, reading a book, or buying something from Shopee’s competitor platform.

Clearly, the ecommerce company is a master at making annoyingly viral content, and the region has seen a fair bit of it. Besides Southeast Asia, Shopee is also unleashing its gimmicks on Brazil, which is emerging as one of the ecommerce giant’s key markets.

Today we look at,

• Potentially Shopee’s new biggest market
• The startup that claims to have the biggest active user base of warungs
• Other newsy highlights such as Indonesia’s new unicorn and ByteDance’s staff cuts

PREMIUM SUMMARY

Shopee-pi-pi-pi is growing fast in Brazil

Southeast Asians are no stranger to Shopee. But the region is not the orange app’s only playground – the company also operates its online store in Latin America. One country in particular is shaping up to become one of Shopee’s biggest markets by monthly active users (MAUs).

• Ola Brazil: The country is Latin America’s biggest economy. The region as a whole also has massive potential: An average Latin American citizen has higher purchasing power when compared to Southeast Asians, and the ecommerce penetration rate in the region is still low, hovering at 6%.
• A silver medal: In less than two years since Shopee launched in Brazil, the app went from zero users to having the second-highest number of active users for an ecommrce app in the country. However, Argentinian ecommerce firm Mercado Libre still dominates the region.
• Ain’t so easy: It’s still too early for Shopee to celebrate because there are other challenges ahead, including Latin America’s poor logistics infrastructure, heavy reliance on cash, and new competitors including Etsy, Alibaba, and Shein.

Read more: Brazil could become Shopee’s biggest market, beating even Indonesia

PREMIUM SUMMARY

The startup which claims to have the biggest active user base of warungs

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