Thailand’s e-commerce landscape is expected to see several noteworthy trends in 2024, including the continued dominance of foreign operators, the growth of live commerce, and the rise of affiliate marketing, as suggested by an e-commerce executive.
E-commerce and on-demand services will remain under the control of international players in terms of sales, delivery, and advertising.
This is especially notable as Thailand grapples with a digital trade deficit, according to Pawoot Pongvitayapanu, the founder of Tarad.com.
Thailand’s e-commerce market is set to reach nearly 700 billion baht in 2024, a substantial increase from the expected 634 billion baht in 2023. This growth is attributed to an increase in online shoppers and higher average spending per capita.
In the current year, there have been 41.5 million shoppers with an average spending of 8,840 baht, marking a significant rise from 2019 when there were 30.2 million shoppers with an average spending of 2,970 baht.
The fierce competition among e-commerce players is projected to persist into 2024, according to Mr. Pawoot.
Creden Data reveals that in 2022, Lazada Group reported a profit of 3.2 billion baht from revenue of 38 billion baht, while Sea Group, which includes Shopee, posted revenue of 55.6 billion baht with a profit of 2.5 billion.
Another trend to watch is the intense competition in the delivery sector, which is expected to result in losses for most companies.
Out of nine operators for which Creden gathered data in 2022, only three, namely Shopee Express, Lazada Express, and J&T, managed to post a profit.
Mr. Pawoot attributes the profitability of Lazada Express and Shopee Express to their ownership of parcel and delivery services on their e-marketplace platforms.
Additionally, Mr. Pawoot predicts a live commerce battle led by TikTok, with Shopee and Lazada also getting involved.
Thailand has experienced significant live commerce growth in ASEAN, surpassing the average growth rate in the rest of Southeast Asia, thanks in part to TikTok’s influence.
KOL (Key Opinion Leader) commerce is another emerging trend, where influencers can have a substantial impact on sales, sometimes generating millions of baht in a single live-stream.
Affiliate commerce, an online marketing strategy, enables content creators to promote products and earn commissions for sales made through their referral links.
Mr. Pawoot believes that while Chinese products will continue to flood Thailand, the volume of illegal mainland Chinese products will decrease.
Chinese players have established warehouses in suburban areas and offer wholesale delivery services between China and Thailand for faster shipping.
A live commerce strategy has been created by Mr. Pawoot and other industry players to help local producers increase exports to China.
Another significant trend is the growth of e-commerce automation and artificial intelligence adoption among businesses, particularly online sellers.
Customer data platform commerce involves using a platform that can manage multiple data sources to understand customers and create personalized marketing campaigns.
Mr. Pawoot anticipates an increase in revenue for on-demand commerce in the coming year. This sector is primarily controlled by super-apps, and most players experienced losses in 2022, with Grab being the sole player to achieve profitability in the first year.
As reported by Creden Data, the revenue from on-demand commerce surpassed 37 billion baht in 2022.
