The Business Times
business-time-50
OUTLOOK 2025

E-commerce in 2025: Sustainable growth and rationality to emerge as key themes

The focus is on unit economics and enhancing the customer experience

Summarise
google-preferred-sourceAdd BT as a preferred source
Benjamin Cher

Benjamin Cher

Published Thu, Jan 9, 2025 · 06:00 PM
    • E-commerce players such as Shopee are unlikely to employ the deep discounts of yesteryear in growing their market share.
    • E-commerce players such as Shopee are unlikely to employ the deep discounts of yesteryear in growing their market share. PHOTO: BT FILE

    MARKET consolidation and new entrants stole the e-commerce industry headlines in 2024. But market watchers say the year ahead will be more rational in this space, with customers across South-east Asia unlikely to continue to enjoy deep discounts on products and shipping, which has been subsidised by the platforms.

    Last year, the entry of TikTok Shop and Temu shook up the status quo among e-commerce platforms in the region. Already, TikTok Shop has been seen to have gained significant market share here.

    In Indonesia, the region’s biggest e-commerce battleground, TikTok Shop faced some regulatory setbacks. To continue operating in the country, it bought a majority stake in Indonesian e-commerce platform Tokopedia as a workaround.

    E-commerceShopeeLazadaTemuTikTokSea LtdOutlook 2025

    TRENDING NOW

    Traffic through the strait has been resuming but with interruptions, and there is still little clarity over a permanent solution for passages through the chokepoint.

    Qatari LNG ship struck in Strait of Hormuz, testing US talks

    This comes after a Citi note on Tuesday that lifted target prices for all Singapore banks, with a leading preference and “buy” call for DBS.

    DBS, OCBC and UOB shares hit all-time highs as sentiment improves

    Aster deputy CEO Andre Khor, citing the age of the “polycrisis”, says: “It’s very important to be agile, to be focused on execution… We don’t know all the answers but we keep going forward.”

    ‘Baptism of fire’: Andre Khor on leading Singapore refiner Aster through an energy crisis

    Singapore ranks as the world’s most expensive city for cars and placed third globally for residential property.

    Singapore retains top spot as most expensive city for HNWIs, with five Apac cities in global top 10

    Latest T-bills Treasury Bills Results & Interest NewsLatest SSB Singapore Savings Bonds NewsLatest COE Certificate of Entitlement News
    Latest Johor-Singapore SEZ NewsLatest BTO Build To Order & Sales of Balance NewsLatest STI Straits Times Index NewsLatest SGX Dividends, Share Price NewsLatest Bonds Market NewsLatest Singapore Stocks To Buy NewsLatest Singapore Economy News
    View More