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Elyssa Lopez · · 5 min readForget paid ads – SEA brands chase affiliate gold
Vhi Lozano, 30, works an office job in Manila. But on the side, she posts product reviews on Threads almost daily – complete with ecommerce links.
If enough of her followers purchase through her links, Lozano can earn about 100,000 pesos (US$1,736) per month in affiliate commissions. That’s higher than the average salary in the Philippine capital and enough for Lozano’s husband to follow her into the affiliate game.
Vhi Lozano at an event for affiliate marketers. / Photo credit: Vhi Lozano
Affiliate marketing, where brands pay marketers a cut of their sale price, is nothing new – Shopee’s own program dates back to 2017.
But TikTok Shop, which seamlessly integrates clickable product links into videos, has swiftly grabbed 30% market share in Southeast Asia, reviving interest in the model’s potential.
Shopee signed a partnership with YouTube in 2024, allowing video creators to feature links to the ecommerce platform. In May 2025, Lazada announced it was spending US$100 million to boost its affiliate marketing program.
See also: Shopee’s YouTube tag team a retort to TikTok-Tokopedia
Underneath it all, online buying habits in Southeast Asia are changing fast. Amid digital advertising’s rising cost – and so-so returns – the region’s brands are rethinking their marketing playbooks.
“For a while, brands felt affiliate marketing was experimental, says Eucel Maximo, Manila-based director at consulting and marketing firm YCP. “But last year, big brands, especially those in FMCGs, saw that more competitors of theirs are doing it, too.”
Why affiliates and why now?
Lozano has been an affiliate for five years. She spends two to three hours a day, taking photos of products she wants to feature on her social media accounts – from Threads to TikTok – and writing captions.
Her earnings come from all three major ecommerce platforms: Shopee, Lazada, and TikTok Shop.
Shopee pays up to 40 pesos (US$0.74) per sale, while Lazada and TikTok can pay as much as 10% of an item’s value. Across the platforms, brands and sellers sometimes pay as much as 30% of an item’s total cost in commissions.
About 40% of Southeast Asian consumers now turn to videos before making a purchase, according to Google’s e-Conomy SEA 2024 report.
That hasn’t always been the case. In the early days of ecommerce, some brands tried affiliate marketing but saw little payback.
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A side hustle that beats a Manila salary? Affiliate marketing is back – and TikTok, Lazada, and Shopee are all in. Find out why this matters to brands and buyers.
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