Top marketplaces in Asia (2026)

The East & Southeast Asian e-commerce market at a glance

• Massive regional scale: Asia-Pacific remains the world's largest e-commerce region, accounting for more than 60% of global online retail sales in 2025 (eMarketer).
• China leads globally, though the exact size is disputed: China remains the largest e-commerce market worldwide, driven by platforms such as Tmall, JD.com and Pinduoduo. ECDB puts Chinese e-commerce revenue at US$2.04 trillion in 2025, while other named estimates run as high as US$3 trillion+ depending on what's counted (B2B flows, O2O food delivery, cross-border trade). Treat any single trillion-dollar figure for China as directional rather than precise.
• Mobile-first consumers: Southeast Asian shoppers overwhelmingly purchase through smartphones, with mobile commerce representing over 70% of online transactions in Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines (DataReportal 2025).
• Social commerce dominance, and rapidly consolidating: Southeast Asia's platform e-commerce GMV reached US$157.6 billion in 2025, up 22.8% year over year. The top three players, Shopee, Lazada, and TikTok Shop (combined with Tokopedia), now control 98.8% of that GMV, up sharply from 84% just a year earlier (Momentum Works, 2026 Southeast Asia E-commerce Report).
• Cross-border demand: Consumers across the region actively buy from international sellers, especially in beauty, fashion, electronics, luxury goods and health products.
• Fast logistics expectations: Same-day and next-day delivery standards are becoming the norm in major urban centres including Shanghai, Seoul, Bangkok, Jakarta and Ho Chi Minh City.

Top Asian marketplaces in 2026

1) Tmall Global

Tmall Global, Alibaba Group's cross-border marketplace, remains the leading premium B2C platform in China for international brands. The platform gives foreign companies direct access to Chinese consumers without requiring a Chinese business entity or domestic business licence.

China's online retail revenue reached US$2.04 trillion in 2025 (ECDB), and Alibaba's ecosystem continues to dominate premium online consumption. Tmall Global is especially influential in beauty, fashion, luxury, food, wellness and baby products, categories heavily driven by Chinese middle-class and Gen Z consumers.

The marketplace benefits from Alibaba's wider ecosystem including Alipay, Cainiao logistics, Taobao Live and Xiaohongshu integrations, enabling sophisticated omnichannel marketing strategies. Since May 2025, Alibaba's "Red Cat" initiative has embedded shoppable Tmall links directly inside Xiaohongshu posts, tightening that integration further.

• Suits: premium international brands in beauty, skincare, fashion, luxury, supplements, baby products and lifestyle.
• Notes: strong localisation is essential, including Chinese-language product pages, livestream commerce and local customer support. Brand reputation and influencer partnerships heavily impact conversion.

2) JD Worldwide

JD Worldwide is the cross-border branch of JD.com, China's largest direct-retail and logistics-driven marketplace. Known for authenticity, premium logistics and consumer trust, JD attracts affluent Chinese consumers seeking high-quality imported goods.

JD.com generated net revenues of RMB1,309.1 billion (US$187.2 billion) for the full year of 2025, up 13% year over year (JD.com FY2025 results), and its active customer base surpassed 700 million during the year. The company operates one of the most advanced logistics networks globally, including automated warehouses and same-day delivery capabilities across major Chinese cities, though profitability came under pressure in Q4 2025 as electronics and home appliances categories faced a high comparable base from the prior year's trade-in subsidies.

The platform performs particularly well in electronics, appliances, health products and premium international brands.

• Suits: electronics, appliances, premium FMCG, sports equipment, healthcare and high-trust international brands.
• Notes: JD consumers prioritise authenticity and delivery quality over discount positioning. Participation in key shopping festivals such as Singles' Day (11.11), now stretched into a multi-week campaign rather than a single day, is critical.

3) Shopee

Shopee is the dominant marketplace across Southeast Asia, operating in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines. Owned by Sea Limited, Shopee held roughly 53% of Southeast Asian platform GMV in 2025 and ranked number one in all six major markets (Momentum Works, via Digital in Asia). On Sea's own global reporting, which also includes Taiwan and Brazil, Shopee's GMV reached US$127 billion in 2025, up 27%, on 13.9 billion orders, and Shopee's adjusted EBITDA rose roughly 5.7 times year over year as the platform shifted from subsidy-driven growth to disciplined monetisation.

Indonesia alone represents Shopee's largest market at roughly 37% of regional GMV, while Thailand and Malaysia continue to post the fastest growth rates. The platform combines marketplace commerce with entertainment-driven shopping features including Shopee Live, gamification and integrated payments.

Shopee consistently ranks among the most downloaded shopping apps across Southeast Asia.

• Suits: fashion, beauty, affordable electronics, home goods, accessories and fast-moving consumer products.
• Notes: aggressive promotional campaigns and free shipping are deeply embedded in Shopee's ecosystem. Competitive pricing and participation in mega-campaigns (9.9, 11.11, 12.12) are essential for visibility.

4) Lazada

Owned by Alibaba Group, Lazada is one of Southeast Asia's largest regional marketplaces, operating across Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines. Lazada now holds around 15% of Southeast Asia's platform GMV, and continues gaining specifically in Singapore (Momentum Works).

Lazada benefits from Alibaba's infrastructure, AI tools and logistics expertise, and has deliberately shifted toward a more brand-centric, profitability-focused strategy rather than competing head-on with Shopee and TikTok Shop on scale, positioning itself as the more curated, trust-led option compared to its rivals' mass-market or social-commerce plays.

The platform remains especially strong in electronics, appliances, beauty and official brand stores.

• Suits: established brands, consumer electronics, beauty, appliances and official flagship stores.
• Notes: LazMall offers enhanced visibility and trust for official brands. Strong visual merchandising and livestream commerce are increasingly important.

5) Coupang

Coupang is South Korea's largest e-commerce marketplace and one of the most advanced logistics ecosystems globally. The platform is famous for its "Rocket Delivery" service, offering same-day and dawn delivery to millions of Korean consumers.

South Korea is among the world's most digitally connected consumer markets, with one of the highest e-commerce penetration rates globally. Coupang generated total net revenues of US$34.5 billion for full-year 2025, up 14% year over year on a reported basis (18% on a constant-currency basis), with gross profit up 15% to US$10.1 billion (Coupang Q4 & FY2025 results). Worth noting: in Q4 2025 Coupang disclosed a data incident involving a former employee who illegally accessed data from over 33 million user accounts, a reminder that platform trust in this market runs on both delivery speed and data security.

• Suits: beauty, electronics, premium food, fashion and fast-delivery consumer products.
• Notes: Korean consumers have extremely high expectations regarding delivery speed, customer service and packaging quality.

6) TikTok Shop

TikTok Shop has become one of the fastest-growing social commerce platforms in Southeast Asia, particularly in Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines. Its Southeast Asian platform GMV roughly doubled to US$45.6 billion in 2025, close to tenfold growth in three years, and the region now accounts for 71% of TikTok Shop's US$64.3 billion global GMV (Momentum Works, via DealStreetAsia).

Following its relaunch in Indonesia through its partnership with Tokopedia, TikTok Shop accelerated regional expansion dramatically, and its combined figures with Tokopedia now sit at roughly two-thirds of Shopee's GMV, making it a clear number two in the region rather than a niche challenger. Livestream commerce and creator-driven selling now play a central role in Southeast Asian online shopping behaviour.

Beauty, fashion and impulse-buy categories perform exceptionally well on the platform.

• Suits: beauty, fashion, accessories, lifestyle and highly visual consumer products.
• Notes: success depends heavily on creator partnerships, short-form video content and livestream selling strategies.

7) Tokopedia

Tokopedia remains a major force in Indonesia's e-commerce landscape, though its position has shifted since being folded into TikTok's Indonesian operations. Indonesia is Southeast Asia's biggest e-commerce market by population and transaction volume, with more than 280 million inhabitants and rapidly growing digital adoption. Combined, TikTok Shop and Tokopedia's GMV now sits at roughly two-thirds of Shopee's in the region, but reporting on Tokopedia standalone (outside the TikTok combination) puts its independent share at only around 10% of the Indonesian market, well behind where it stood as a pure domestic leader a few years ago (Digital in Asia).

Tokopedia still benefits from deep integration into Indonesian consumer behaviour and historically strong local SME commerce roots, but sellers should treat it today as part of the TikTok Shop ecosystem rather than as a fully independent alternative channel.

• Suits: localised consumer products, electronics, household goods, beauty and SME-focused retail.
• Notes: Indonesian localisation is critical, including Bahasa Indonesia content, local payment methods and mobile-first optimisation.

8) Tiki

Tiki is one of Vietnam's leading domestic e-commerce platforms and remains highly trusted for authentic products and reliable delivery.

Vietnam's e-commerce market continues to grow at one of the fastest rates globally, fuelled by rising middle-class consumption and high smartphone penetration. Tiki differentiates itself through quality control, fast delivery and customer trust compared to more price-driven competitors like Shopee and TikTok Shop, though it operates at a much smaller regional scale than the top three platforms that now dominate Southeast Asian GMV.

• Suits: books, electronics, beauty, home goods and premium consumer products.
• Notes: Vietnamese consumers strongly value authenticity and customer reviews. Local fulfilment partnerships improve competitiveness.

9) Zalora

Zalora is Southeast Asia's largest fashion-focused marketplace, operating across Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Hong Kong, under parent company Global Fashion Group. GFG turned Adjusted EBITDA positive group-wide for the first time in 2025, generating €1.0 billion in Net Merchandise Value, after several years of cost discipline and gross margin expansion, though its active customer base declined 4.0% year over year as the group prioritised profitability over growth (Global Fashion Group Q4 & FY2025 results). Zalora appointed a new CEO, Felipe Garcia Alvarez, in September 2025, and has since repositioned itself with a fresh brand partnership push across Southeast Asia.

The platform specialises in fashion, beauty and lifestyle categories, positioning itself as a more premium and curated alternative to generalist marketplaces, and remains highly influential among urban millennials and Gen Z consumers across the region.

• Suits: fashion, footwear, beauty, accessories and lifestyle brands.
• Notes: high-quality visuals, localised sizing and strong brand storytelling are key performance drivers.

Who should sell where in East & Southeast Asia?

• Premium access to Chinese consumers: Tmall Global, China's leading cross-border premium marketplace.
• Electronics and trusted retail in China: JD Worldwide, logistics excellence and high consumer trust, now at $187.2 billion in annual revenue.
• Mass-market Southeast Asian reach: Shopee, dominant mobile-first marketplace across SEA with roughly 53% of regional platform GMV.
• Brand-focused Southeast Asian expansion: Lazada, Alibaba-backed regional marketplace pursuing a deliberately profitability-first, brand-centric strategy.
• South Korean market entry: Coupang, Korea's largest marketplace with ultra-fast logistics and $34.5 billion in 2025 revenue.
• Social commerce and livestream selling: TikTok Shop, now the fastest-growing platform in the region, with GMV that doubled to $45.6 billion in 2025.
• Indonesia-focused expansion: Tokopedia, now best understood as part of the TikTok Shop ecosystem rather than a standalone leader.
• Vietnam-focused strategy: Tiki, trusted domestic platform with strong customer loyalty, operating at a smaller scale than the regional top three.
• Fashion and lifestyle positioning: Zalora, Southeast Asia's leading fashion marketplace, now under a newly profitable parent group and new regional leadership.