TikTok Shop Introduces Cross-border E-commerce Solutions to More SEA Countries

TikTok Shop, an e-commerce marketplace integrated into ByteDance’s TikTok, is launching its cross-border e-commerce business in more Southeast Asian countries including Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines, following previous moves in SEA including piloting in Indonesia.

Merchants who want to settle in these four Southeast Asian countries can use one of two modes. They can either contact the platform to pass an examination or wait until they receive an invitation code issued by TikTok itself in late April. Only one invitation code is needed to start business across all of the platforms TikTok has in Southeast Asia.

In addition, in order to bring more traffic to cross-border sellers, the platform is expected to launch a new function for “global selling” in early May.

According to data released by research company eMarketer in March, the total sales of e-commerce in Southeast Asia will reach $89.67 billion this year, an increase of 20.6% year-on-year, making it the region with the highest growth rate in the world. It is predicted that by 2023, the number will exceed $100 billion, far higher than the $37.22 billion in 2019.

In 2021, the population of Southeast Asia has reached 600 million. Among them, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia have a total of 589 million. Moreover, Southeast Asia has a large and young population base with an average age of 28.8.

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The development potential of the e-commerce market in Southeast Asia along with a substantial number of TikTok users in the region will provide a broad space for cross-border merchants to operate in this region.