The next retail war in SEA: marketplaces vs. GPT prompts

Ecommerce players in Southeast Asia are trying to catch up to Shopee, but consumers might soon be do their shopping on AI tools like ChatGPT instead of online marketplaces.

Known as GPT-based or agentic commerce, this new way of shopping allows consumers to search for product information, dig deeper into reviews, and compare products within their conversations on AI tools.

People can also buy directly on these chatbots. Earlier this week, OpenAI released its Instant Checkout feature in the US. Initially available for Etsy purchases, the feature will soon be expanded to include Shopify merchants.

Image credit: Timmy Loen

Indonesia was the second global market where OpenAI rolled out ChatGPT Go, underscoring the country’s as a testing ground for new products and features – the same playbook that TikTok Shop followed.

As such, it is only a matter of time before “buy it in ChatGPT” becomes available and gains traction in Southeast Asia.

So where does this leave brands?

Built for AI discovery

Marketplace fees can consume up to 30% of seller revenue in Thailand and Indonesia when ads and logistics costs are included, says Paul Srivorakul, CEO and co-founder of ecommerce enabler aCommerce.

Given the expense, GPT-based commerce could offer brands some relief if they know how to capitalize on the trend. For example, they could invest in their own websites and craft brand stories with details that AI can crawl and feed to users.

See also: Shopee tightens grip on Southeast Asia’s sellers as take rates climb

ACommerce estimates that some of the brands it serves get up to 9% of site traffic from ChatGPT and Gemini, with users asking eight to 12 product questions before buying. In some cases, conversion rates could be 4x to 6x higher compared to traditional searches or marketplace clicks.

Large language models (LLMs) are more likely to pull from brands with a strong online presence, points out Toni Ruotanen, head of ecommerce in Southeast Asia at marketing firm Havas.

Given how LLMs work, brands’ product descriptions must be discoverable to Google Search and AI platforms. Much like search engine optimization, answer engine optimization structures content in a way that allows ChatGPT-like tools to recognize and surface it in response to user queries.

Ruotanen explains that AI tools often gather details from official brand websites instead of ecommerce platforms or other third-party sites. Since answers can vary depending on how a user prompts the AI, brands should have clear and consistent information on their sites so they don’t miss out.

Marketplaces catching up

Worth the money?