Shoplus: Thailand leads in Q2 social growth

Shoplus: Thailand leads in Q2 social growth

Thailand saw the biggest second-quarter growth in social commerce across Asean, while strong social media engagement has played a monumental role in boosting live commerce in the country, says Shoplus, an artificial intelligence-powered social selling service by Taiwan-based iKala.

"Thais spend an average of 4-5 hours a day on social media, the highest in the world. People tend to share information and engage with others online, which plays a part in driving live social selling to grow rapidly. This is a huge change in how people are shopping," said Kimmy Chen, general manager of Shoplus.

Shoplus provides a one-stop service solution, including AI-live selling, AI-based chatbots and AI-messenger plug-ins for commerce merchants across multi-devices.

Thailand saw a 173% quarterly growth in social commerce by order numbers in the second quarter, the biggest rise compared with another three major markets in Asean. This was followed by 155% growth attained by Singapore, 101% by Vietnam and 36% by the Philippines.

In terms of social commerce growth by gross merchandise value (GMV), Singapore came first with a 678% rise, followed by the Philippines (309%), Thailand (212%) and Vietnam (28%).

Based on the live sales, Thailand saw a 66.78% quarterly growth in the second quarter.

Ms Chen said social commerce spending in Asean mainly comes from middle-income people. Online spending in the region is expected to rise from US$124 per person a year to $392 in 2025.

According to Digital 2020 report by social-media management platforms We Are Social, Thailand is the only country in Asia to be ranked among the top 10 highest e-commerce transactions value.

In 2019, Google and Temasek e-Commerce reported indications that social commerce market value for GMV in Thailand was $7 billion.

According to Shoplus, Thailand has an average social commerce order value of 450-600 baht, which is lower than 750 baht on e-marketplaces.

The most popular products sold on social commerce cover clothing, cosmetics and fashion accessories. The majority of social commerce users are females aged 25-44.

In Thailand, 51% of online shoppers made purchases from social media, compared with the global rate of 16%. Thais engage in posts and live selling and chat with sellers.

"Live selling features the megatrend of live streaming, influencers, commerce and mobile," said Ms Chen.

The pandemic-induced lockdown has pushed up live selling throughout the four regional markets, with live events surging from 3,000 per week in February to 7,035 per week in April and sales rising by 216% during the period.

To keep live selling momentum going, Shoplus will host an all-day non-stop live shopping event on Nov 11, featuring leading Thai and international brands. These brands will use Shoplus technology to power their live selling.

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