Vietnam’s Tiki in danger of being left in the dust

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Years of tussling it out with Southeast Asian ecommerce behemoths Shopee and Lazada for market supremacy in Vietnam appear to be finally catching up with Tiki. The homegrown firm reported widening losses and falling revenues in its most recent financial year.

Making things tougher for Tiki is the rise of TikTok Shop, the ecommerce arm of the short-video app. It counts Vietnam among the top 10 countries with the most active TikTok users.

However, with major backers such as Shinhan Financial Group and aspirations of a public listing by 2025, perhaps a turnaround is on the cards for Tiki?

In today’s featured piece, Tech in Asia gives you the lowdown on Tiki’s latest financials, and whether new initiatives such as TikiAds and buy now, pay later services will provide the firm with a second wind in the face of increased competition.

Today we look at:

• The key figures from Tiki’s FY 2022 financials
• Singapore’s probe into Gorilla Mobile over its sudden temporary suspension
• Other newsy highlights such as Netflix’s mixed bag in Asia Pacific and FTX’s unlikely revival

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Not all doom and gloom

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For all of Tiki’s woes, the firm is one of the few that hasn’t publicly announced any rounds of layoffs recently. Even market leader Shopee had to lay off some of its employees in Vietnam.

Further, with the ecommerce platform likely having almost three years of runway before it needs further financing, according to our analysis, Tiki may have more room to maneuver in a hotly contested market.

• Not the right formula: Tiki recorded a 7% drop in total revenue for FY 2022 compared to the previous financial year. Meanwhile, total expenses saw a 4% increase in the same period. As a result, the company’s operating loss widened by 39% in its latest reported financial year.
• The ups and downs: Tiki’s revenue is made up of two main components: sale of goods and rendering of services. The former accounted for 88% of the figure for FY 2022.
• Diversifying offerings: Tiki hasn’t been resting on its laurels and made early bets on BNPL. In July 2022, it tapped installment lending firm Home Credit to launch Home PayLater. Tiki also has a blockchain-powered initiative but it’s unclear how it has contributed to driving sales.

Read more: Vietnam’s Tiki reports widening FY 2022 loss as revenue drops

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