Smaller e-commerce players in Southeast Asia are being increasingly pushed to the margins as well-resourced platforms owned by big Asian technology groups gobble up market share in the region, according to a report published on April 14.

Major platforms like Shopee, run by Singapore tech company Sea, along with China’s Alibaba-owned Lazada and ByteDance’s TikTok Shop controlled 99% of the online shopping market within member states of regional grouping ASEAN in 2025, Singapore-based consultancy Momentum Works reported.

At the margins, smaller rivals like Indonesia’s Bukalapak and Vietnam’s Sendo have bowed out from dealing in physical goods, as its bigger peers leverage video content and artificial intelligence to draw consumers and defend their dominance, the consultancy highlighted.

“The major players are consolidating their power and they are competing against each other,” Momentum Works CEO Jianggan Li said in a briefing on the report. “Many of the smaller players, be it platforms, be it logistic players, etc, are exiting the market.”

Last year, Shopee held on to the lead it had in 2024 within ASEAN countries, with around 50% or more in market share across major economies in the 11-member bloc, the report said.

The report tabulated e-commerce sales by gross merchandise value from online shopping platforms serving Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia. It highlighted Shopee booking USD 83.2 billion in proceeds last year over USD 66.8 billion in 2024.

TikTok Shop held on to its second spot, booking USD 45.6 billion in sales in 2025, double from USD 22.6 billion the year before, and showing the most rapid ascent among rivals. Lazada maintained its third place with USD 18 billion last year, barely changed from 2024.

Last year, Thailand registered 51.8% year-on-year growth in online sales generated by e-commerce platforms, with Malaysia trailing at 47.6%, well above the overall ASEAN growth rate of 22.8%.

“AI is emerging as a disruptive force across e-commerce, from content production to how demand is generated,” the report noted. “With platforms owning key levers such as traffic, tools, and user experience, they are likely to play a central role in how AI is developed and applied across the ecosystem.”

Momentum Works noted how AI has been leveraged to quickly turn around e-commerce video content aimed at boosting sales, but also warned that the tech could upset investments in infrastructure such as studios for production, given that AI can generate material without the need for actual filming.

The consultancy added that the content trend is being pushed by TikTok Shop’s rapid rise and Shopee’s increasing investments in the area, generating an estimated USD 49.7 billion in sales out of the region’s total USD 157.6 billion last year.

Tuesday’s report also highlights how major e-commerce platforms promoted subsidies, vouchers and discounts funded by the companies, sellers and brands to build consumer engagement, while holding sway over logistics players relying on online shopping to drive operations.

On April 13, Hong Kong-listed logistics service provider J&T Express, which is a delivery partner for TikTok Shop, reported total parcel volume up 26.2% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, “with particularly strong performance in Southeast Asia.”

“In Southeast Asia and other markets, we have seized growth opportunities, continued to strengthen our infrastructure,” said Charles Hou, group vice president at the logistics company. “Rapid growth in parcel volume underscores our enhanced market expansion and operating capabilities.”

This article first appeared on Nikkei Asia. It has been republished here as part of 36Kr’s ongoing partnership with Nikkei.