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Tokopedia passes Shopee as Indonesia's most visited e-commerce website
The local e-commerce firm's website became the most popular in the second quarter, toppling Singapore-headquartered Shopee, according to iPrice. However, Shopee's mobile app still sits on top of the Google Play and App Store chart.
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ocal e-commerce firm Tokopedia's webpage became Indonesian online shoppers’ favorite in the second quarter this year, toppling Singapore-headquartered Shopee, which had held the position since the third quarter of 2019.
According to data from e-commerce aggregator iPrice, Tokopedia's monthly web traffic reached 147 million visits in the second quarter, while Shopee ranked second with 126 million. Other e-commerce firms, namely Bukalapak, Lazada and Blibli, each saw fewer than 30 million web visits.
However, Vion Yau, head of insight at venture builder firm Momentum Works, said that Shopee's app was still leading in both Google Play and the App Store, while Tokopedia's mobile app ranked fourth and second, respectively, compared with other e-commerce firm's apps.
“We need to be mindful that page visits are only part of the picture – Shopee has focused on a mobile-first strategy and we believe a majority of the visits and sales probably came from apps,” she told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
Yau also noted that the first half of the year was usually the “quieter months” for e-commerce around the globe as there would be fewer shopping festivals compared with the second half of the year, which would see the double day shopping festivals and year-end discounts.
Shopee and Tokopedia have been neck-in-neck in the popularity race as both hold the largest e-commerce market shares in Indonesia last year at 37 and 35 percent, respectively, according to Momentum Works data.
Shopee also booked a slightly higher gross merchandize volume (GMV) at US$14.2 billion compared with Tokopedia’s $14 billion last year. The GMV calculates all orders placed, including canceled and duplicated orders.
“Shopee will probably still lead in GMV [this year] as it has some key advantages - with so many shopping festivals coming up and a lot of money in its war chest. Tokopedia, after GoTo IPO, will have more resources to counter that,” Yau said.
Read also: Shopee reigns over Indonesia’s e-wallet market with price cuts, good looks
However, even though Shopee had greater operational and capital capacities, its attention to individual markets could thin as the company eyed global expansion, she noted.
Shopee expanded its operations to Chile in South America in June, adding to its roster of Latin American markets that includes Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. In Asia, Shopee operates in Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, Taiwan, the Philippines and Vietnam.
Indonesia’s online marketplace is predicted to amount to $83 billion by 2025, the biggest in Southeast Asia, according to the “e-Conomy SEA 2020 Report” by technology behemoth Google, Singaporean state-owned investor Temasek and global consultancy Bain & Co.
