Niche players chasing Shopee could lure sellers – but they have to survive first

SHOPEE has morphed into a juggernaut in South-east Asia just a decade after it was founded, and its strong grip on sellers partly accounts for why the ecommerce platform has been profitable for the past four quarters.

With TikTok Shop and Lazada also hiking their fees, sellers’ margins are getting squeezed across the region. So where else can merchants run? They could go directly to consumers, but that is an expensive approach.

Some argue that niche marketplaces could be an alternative if they could attract tightly-knit communities and lure sellers by taking lower commissions. However, others warn that they will first have to survive.