How can TikTok store sellers quickly expand into the Southeast Asian market?

In the second quarter of 2022, TikTok’s cross-border e-commerce business will open to three Southeast Asian markets: Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand.

British cross-border merchants who have already settled in the store do not need to settle in again. After the new market is opened, they can directly upgrade their account in the backend to become a multinational store and start business in the new market.

For sellers who have never been exposed to the Southeast Asian market, in-depth investigation of the local market and understanding of the customer base are the biggest obstacles to entering TikTok in Southeast Asia.

So, how do sellers decide whether to enter the Southeast Asian market, and how do they quickly understand the national conditions of Southeast Asia?

This article will provide you with the following suggestions: 1. SWOT analysis of the Southeast Asian market S: Advantage analysis 1. The e-commerce platform is gradually improving.

Currently, there are already many cross-border e-commerce platforms in the industry that can target Southeast Asian customers.

In addition to mainstream international cross-border e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, eBay and AliExpress, emerging local e-commerce shopping websites represented by Lazada and Shopee in recent years deserve more attention.

At present, the penetration rate of e-commerce in Southeast Asia is still at a low level. The e-commerce industry is in its infancy, and there is huge room for e-commerce intervention and improvement.

The overall market share of the leading e-commerce companies in Southeast Asian countries is below 40%, and the industry has not yet formed a monopoly giant. Therefore, there is still a lot of room for development, and the industry entry barriers are low.

2. China’s supply chain is strong.

One of the key issues that needs to be solved in online store operations is the supply of goods.

After years of intensive reform and opening up, China has become the world's leading manufacturing country and has built a complete, independent and complete modern industrial system. It is the only country in the world that has all industrial categories included in the United Nations industrial classification.

In fact, most of the goods on the world's major cross-border e-commerce platforms are produced and supplied by Chinese manufacturers.

For most of the products sold on mainstream cross-border e-commerce platforms, Chinese manufacturers are more competitive than foreign manufacturers in terms of product manufacturing processes, production capacity support, or cost control, and can continue to provide satisfactory products.

The Southeast Asian consumer market demands high-quality and affordable products.

W: Disadvantage analysis 1. Economic level is underdeveloped.

Southeast Asia covers 11 countries. Although the geographical location is close, the economic development level between countries is not the same, and the cultural backgrounds are also unique.

In terms of economy, Singapore's development level has entered the standards of developed countries. Malaysia and Thailand are at the forefront of Asia. The economies of the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam are relatively backward. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Timor-Leste are the least developed countries. Although Brunei

The per capita GDP ranks second to Singapore, but the economic structure is relatively simple, mainly based on oil and natural gas exports.

Therefore, it is difficult to open the market for mid- to high-end products.

2. Cultural differences lead to high barriers to market entry.

In terms of religion, Southeast Asia is dominated by Islam, Buddhism, and Catholicism, and other religions such as Christianity and Hinduism also exist in the region.

Among them, Indonesia is the country with the largest number of Muslims in the world, Thailand is the largest Buddhist country in the world, and the Philippines is the country with the largest number of Catholics in the Eastern Hemisphere.

Economic and cultural differences, as well as the different educational and growth backgrounds of people in various countries, have resulted in certain deviations between local buyers and Chinese sellers in terms of product perception and consumption habits.

For Chinese companies, if they cannot accurately grasp the customer consumption characteristics of different target markets, the company will easily fall into a development bottleneck in the process of expanding business scale.

O: Opportunities 1. Southeast Asia’s demographic dividend and gradually expanding market demand.

According to the "e-Conomy SEA 2019" report jointly released by Google, Temasek and Bain & Company, the catalysis of the epidemic has turned Southeast Asia, with a population of 670 million, into a new blue ocean for cross-border e-commerce.

Data shows that the GMV of Southeast Asia's Internet economy will reach US$100 billion in 2020, and is expected to exceed US$300 billion by 2025.

2. Domestic support policies are favorable.

Affected by the epidemic in the past two years, countless Chinese overseas entrepreneurs are experiencing unprecedented new market changes.

In this changing situation, Southeast Asia has seized the opportunity and gradually become an emerging overseas trade market with the greatest growth potential.

In recent years, various domestic policies to support the development of cross-border e-commerce have been continuously introduced and implemented.

For example: The signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) marks the official opening of the free trade zone with the largest population and largest economic and trade scale in the world.