Opinion: What these 6 ecommerce facts in Southeast Asia mean

Photo credit: Porapak Apichodilok

Nowadays, there’s nothing more glamorous than building an online business in developing countries. And in Europe and the US, young professionals like me fly miles away from their families to chase their dreams.

The formula to succeed in the ecommerce industry seems pretty simple. Lazada, Amazon, Flipkart, Alibaba, and the like have been following at least three principles in building their multibillion-dollar empires:

1. Offer simple and free shipping
2. Offer great prices for top products
3. Have a deep assortment of products

These companies make ecommerce not only extremely convenient but also cheap. On top of this, they always look at what local companies are successfully doing and take inspiration from them.

Let me explain this more.

Successful companies adjust to local markets

The ecommerce giants all have gone the extra mile and challenged their beliefs in order to adjust to new markets.

Amazon India designs and markets their seller services, commission schemes, and shipping fees differently compared with Amazon US.

For example, a professional seller in the US is charged 8 percent for the sale of a mobile phone (on top of a yearly fee of US$40). In India, a seller is only charged 5 percent (without an annual fee). This is due to the high competition in new seller signups between Amazon and Flipkart in India.

Lazada Philippines and Singapore almost look like they’re two different companies, as there are major differences in their shipping fees and return policies.

A customer in the Philippines has to pay for shipping but can benefit from a change-of-mind return policy. Customers in Singapore, on the other hand, can enjoy free delivery but can’t return an order after they change their mind.

AliExpress also has varying product assortment and prices from country to country.

Startups copying successful companies are bound to fail

Can you replicate that exact strategy for your online business? Not really. Here are three reasons why:

1. The explosive growth of the ecosystem is attracting all the big dogs

Startups that innovate and follow regional trends will thrive