The conundrum of chat commerce for SE Asia

Southeast Asia’s shoppers seem to prefer the organised chaos of conversational commerce over the speed and convenience of e-commerce. But retailers are struggling to cope

Southeast Asia is a chatterbox when it comes to online shopping; conversational commerce is set to hit US$47 billion in 2023

E-commerce platforms drop the ball on nailing conversations, but this gave small retailers an edge on social chat apps

However, small businesses are inundated by chats as the line between customer and friend blurs

Chatbots and AI are supposed to help, but Southeast Asia is a tricky space to navigate

It was one of those “Trust me, I’m an engineer” moments. In 2012, Lusarun ‘Trumph’ Silpsrikul watched his friend in Thailand run her online business entirely on Facebook. She listed her items—women’s clothing and accessories—on the social media platform and took customer orders through its chat function.

Business was booming. Every part of the transaction—from answering queries to tracking payments and coordinating delivery—required a dizzying amount of back-and-forth messaging.

Trumph, an engineer, got thinking, and recommended his friend to get a website. She would no longer have to facilitate the purchases and customers could checkout instantly.

AUTHOR

Li Mei Foong

Li Mei Foong is based in Kuala Lumpur, where she seeks to connect the dots between culture and technology in Southeast Asia while keeping an eye on interesting development in its digital creative space. She was previously a freelance features journalist and has reported for regional publications including Channel News Asia (CNA), Southeast Asia Globe, and New Naratif.

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