What investors should know about Asean’s e-commerce war

The e-commerce giants of South-east Asia, which take a leaf out of China’s book, have largely been mired in stiff competition and weak earnings. But we think their woes are just the growing pains of a young market preparing for long-term growth.

Shopee, the biggest online retail platform in South-east Asia, looks Chinese in every detail: lots of red, mini games for earning points, and big promotions on the Nov 11 Singles’ Day, as well as the other Chinese shopping festivals that have been created in recent years. Similarly, Lazada, the region’s second-biggest e-commerce website, bears all the marks of Tmall, China’s most popular online marketplace, as Chinese tech giant Alibaba controls them both.