
Shopee

Shopee Pte Ltd is a Singaporean multinational technology company which focuses mainly on e-commerce. Headquartered under Sea Group (previously known as Garena), Shopee was first launched in Singapore in 2015, and later expanded its reach to Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Brazil, and Mexico.
It currently serves consumers in Southeast and East Asia, as well as several countries in Latin America, such as Brazil and Mexico, who want to purchase and sell their goods online as of 2021. Shopee was called one of the "5 disruptive ecommerce startups we saw in 2015" by Tech In Asia for its technical advancement and mass scale, thanks to the mobile and social elements integrated into the model.
History.
In February 2015, Shopee launched in Singapore as a social-first, mobile-centric marketplace where users can browse, shop and sell. Integrated with logistical and payment support, the asset-light platform claims to make online shopping easy and secure for both sellers and buyers.
The app-based platform launched a website in order compete with other e-commerce websites in the region like Lazada, Tokopedia and AliExpress. To differentiate itself, Shopee offers online shopping security through its own escrow service called "Shopee Guarantee", where it withholds payment to sellers until buyers have received their orders.
On 3 September 2019, Shopee officially opened its new six-storey regional headquarters at Singapore Science Park. The new building has of space, which can accommodate 3,000 employees and is six times larger than the previous headquarters at Ascent Building. The building was previously tenanted by WeWork in Singapore. The lease was subsequently relinquished to Shopee as a result of its rapid expansion. By doing so, it strengthens its push into the digital economy.
Business model.
Shopee first started as primarily a consumer-to-consumer (C2C) marketplace but has since moved into both a C2C and business-to-consumer (B2C) hybrid model.
Shopee partners with over 70 courier service providers across its markets to provide logistical support for its users. In Singapore, it collaborated with logistics startup NinjaVan for item pickup and delivery. Other delivery partners in the region include Pos Malaysia and Pos Indonesia.
Market share.
As of 2019, the platform recorded 200 million downloads. Shopee also saw gross orders jumping 92.7% to 246.3 million in Q2 2019, compared to 127.8 million a year ago. Its gross merchandise value also surged 72.7% to US$3.8bil in 2Q19 from US$2.2bil a year ago.
According to iPrice's 21 2019 e-commerce report, Shopee was the top Shopping App by Monthly Active Users, Total Downloads and Websites with the Most Visits, ahead of its competitors, Lazada and Tokopedia.
These GMV claims have also led to backlash by Alibaba-backed competitor, Lazada. The former CEO, Max Bittner asserted that GMV numbers can be easily inflated "by subsidy schemes and history shows that GMV falls away as unhealthy subsidies are removed."
Nonetheless, in Malaysia, Shopee became the 3rd most visited e-commerce portal in Q4 2017, replacing Lelong and "overtook Lazada to rank as the best app on both Google Play and iOS App stores."
Similarly among consumers in Indonesia, a survey conducted in December 2017 by theAsianparent revealed that "for Indonesian mothers, Shopee is a first choice shopping platform (73%), followed by Tokopedia (54%), Lazada (51%) and Instagram (50%)."
New launches.
In 2016, Shopee launched an initiative called "Shopee University", a series of workshops and tutorials to aid local entrepreneurs and businesses in setting up their online businesses in the Philippines.
In 2017, Shopee launched Shopee Mall with 200 brands in Singapore and the Philippines.The dedicated portal features thousands of products sold by leading brands and retailers in the region. Shopee Mall was created to offer a more diverse online shopping experience, and to better cater to larger brands looking to pursue an omni-channel approach.
In 2018, Shopee launched the China Marketplace portal that offers shoppers easy access to products from Chinese merchants, without any shipping and agent fees in Singapore and the Philippines. This portal directly competes with Lazada's Taobao Collection option.
Brand ambassadors.
In 2018, Shopee appointed Blackpink as its first-ever regional brand ambassador, as part of its partnership with YG Group. Bambam of Got7 was also appointed as the brand ambassador in Thailand in October of the same year.
In 2019, Shopee secured a partnership with global football icon Cristiano Ronaldo as its regional brand ambassador. The partnership was announced in line with Shopee's signature annual shopping event, 9.9 Super Shopping Day.
In the Philippines, Shopee has spawned seven local brand ambassadors: actress Anne Curtis, singer Jose Mari Chan, television personality Sarah Geronimo, boxer and Senator Manny Pacquiao, influencer Alysza Aldam, television personality Kris Aquino, television host and comedian Willie Revillame, and television host and vlogger Alex Gonzaga. In 2020, television personality Aquino became the new endorser of Shopee for the 11.11 Christmas Sale, after Chan, who was endorser for the 11.11-12.12 Christmas Sale in 2018 and the 9.9 Super Shopping Day in 2020. Chan later joined Aquino in the 12.12 Christmas Sale in 2020. In February 2021, television host and comedian Revillame was named as Shopee's new endorser for 3.3-4.4 Mega Shopping Sale. Revillame's show Wowowin is a partner of Shopee for their Monthly Double-digit Shopping Sale promotions in 2020 even before Revillame was named as Shopee's endorser in 2021. Although Revillame is the new Shopee endorser in 2021, he appears in online advertisements, while Kris Aquino remains the endorser for the 3.3-4.4 Sale in TV commercials and YouTube videos.
In August 2020, Phua Chu Kang, a classic role from a Singaporean sitcom that was played by Gurmit Singh was announced and signed as Shopee's first Singaporean brand ambassador.
In Indonesia, Shopee has recruited 2 local brand ambassadors: late singer Didi Kempot and singer Nella Kharisma in 2020. Some Indonesian celebrities also became local brand ambassadors, such as actress Prilly Latuconsina, actor Maxime Bouttier, singer Via Vallen, and singer Rizky Febian in 2018, legendary rock band Slank and singer Syahrini in 2019, and also former member and general manager of JKT48 Melody Nurramdhani Laksani for Shopee Barokah and comedian Tukul Arwana in 2020. In 2020 too, Korean boy group Stray Kids took over as brand ambassador of Shopee Indonesia for the 11.11 Big Sale and 12.12 Birthday Sale. In 2021, two soap operas actor and actress Amanda Manopo and Arya Saloka from mega-hit soap opera "Ikatan Cinta" ("Love Ties") was signed as Shopee's local brand ambassadors.
IPO.
Shopee's parent company, Sea Group, filed for an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in October 2017 for US$1 billion. Tencent is the main beneficiary of the Sea listing with a 39.7% share while Blue Dolphins Venture — an organization set up by founder Forrest Li — holds 15%. Li himself has 20%, and Chief Technology Officer, Gang Ye holds 10%.
Awards.
In 2015, Shopee was awarded the Singapore Startup Of The Year in the second edition of Vulcan Awards, presented by Singaporean digital publisher, Vulcan Post.
Controversies.
In June 2019, #ShopeeScam trended on Twitter worldwide after Shopee Philippines allegedly scammed Filipino fans of South Korean girl group Blackpink. Shopee Philippines released a promotion that offered passes to a Meet and Greet event for the 568 Top Spenders in their online store. However, several fans reported receiving notifications that they won tickets but Shopee retracting them later on. Others posted screenshots that showed Shopee changing their contest mechanics the day before the event. Shopee Philippines was investigated by the Department of Trade and Industry for the incident.