Retail in Asia

In People

Mobile retail to take over by 2020

M Commerce - Retail in Asia

Online retail transactions will represent more than 50% of the overall retail market by 2020, with mobile commerce accounting for half of online shopping, said Terence Pang, chief operating officer of Shopee Thailand Co, a subsidiary of Singapore-based Garena.

Currently, mobile transactions in Thailand account for only 25.8% of online shopping transactions, with nearly 75% from computer desktops. In developed countries like Japan and Taiwan, mobile commerce accounts more than 50% of the retail market.

Terence Pang -RetailinAsia
Terence Pang, Shopee Thailand CEO.

Thailand has 20 million smartphone users and better wireless coverage with 122% mobile penetration rate. Mobile usage averages at 6.7 hours a day in Thailand.

SEE ALSO: The key factor driving Thailand’s e-commerce boom

Shopee believes the time is right to capitalise on mobile commerce growth as mobile shopping becomes a mainstream channel for every day life with increasing options for logistic and online payment services.

“Thailand is among our top four countries out of seven that operate in terms of growth potential for mobile commerce,” Mr Pang said.

Out of a total of 750 employees, Shopee has 150 in Thailand, and will increase the number to 200 by year-end. The remaining employees are across Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and Taiwan.

After operating for eight months, the company’s application has been downloaded 20 million times across seven countries, 3 million in Thailand alone. Shopee aims to have 4 million downloads by year-end from Thailand.

In Thailand, it has 20,000 orders per day from hundreds of thousands of sellers. The top three best-sellers are health/beauty, women’s fashion and home/living.

(Source: Bangkok Post)