Lazada slams Sea’s claim that Shopee is the top regional ecommerce player

Sea, one of Southeast Asia’s most valuable internet companies, has released its full IPO prospectus peppered with claims – among them that it’s the top ecommerce player in the region.

The company cited data from a Frost & Sullivan report it commissioned, saying that Shopee, its consumer-to-consumer marketplace, was number one in market share in “Greater Southeast Asia” during the first half of 2017 – in terms of GMV (gross merchandise volume) or total value of goods sold, and total orders.

It also said that Shopee had about 2.2 times the number of total orders of its closest competitor during the same period, without dropping a name.

Those statements did not sit well with Alibaba-owned business-to-customer marketplace operator Lazada, which has for quite sometime asserted its claim to the throne.

“This is the first time I hear about the ‘Greater’ Southeast Asia, why did they not call themselves Gsea?” Lazada CEO Max Bittner said in a statement emailed to us, referring to their rival’s recent move to change its name from Garena.

“I am very confident that Lazada Group is number one both when it comes to GMV and unique customers in ‘actual’ Southeast Asia – when comparably defined,” he stressed. He didn’t share concrete figures.

In its IPO prospectus, Sea reported US$1.47 billion in GMV and 80.6 million in total orders for Shopee for January-June this year. The figures included its operations in Taiwan, hence the term “Greater Southeast Asia”. Breaking it down, Taiwan accounted for the second-largest share in total orders next to Indonesia.

Sea said Shopee had the largest market share in H1 2017 – 10.6 percent for GMV and 14.7 percent for total orders – still based on Frost & Sullivan data.

By comparison, Lazada is present in all Southeast Asian markets mentioned. But it has no presence in Taiwan.

Responding to our queries, Frost & Sullivan vice president for Asia-Pacific digital transformation Ajay Sunder explained that Lazada actually surpassed Shopee, with 0.5 percent more market share by GMV in the region – even taking into account Taiwan – in 2016. His comment indirectly confirms Lazada as Sea’s closest competitor.

However, come H1 2017, he said Shopee registered impressive growth and overtook Lazada in “Greater Southeast Asia”, reaching 10.6 percent market share versus the latter’s 7.5 percent, he says.

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