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Straits Times
15-05-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
South-east Asia e-commerce sales projected to more than double by 2030: DBS report
South-east Asia e-commerce sales are projected to more than double by 2030, according to a DBS report. PHOTO: ST FILE SINGAPORE – South-east Asia e-commerce sales are projected to more than double by 2030 as large platforms continue to solidify their hold in the region, according to the DBS NextWave South-east Asia report. The report was launched on May 14 in partnership with market data and insights firm Cube. Cube's data predicts that total e-commerce sales will grow from US$184 billion (S$239 billion) in 2024 to US$410 billion by 2030, which reflects a compound annual growth rate of 14 per cent. Physical goods are expected to account for about 90 per cent of the sales, with food delivery making up the rest. 'Over the past decade, hundreds of millions of consumers in South-east Asia went online to purchase products and meals for the first time,' the DBS report noted. 'Looking back, it all happened at just the right time. E-commerce became the biggest beneficiary of existing efforts to build out South-east Asia's nascent digital infrastructure in areas like 4G/5G connectivity, and the fast-growing online shopping market willed new solutions into being in areas like digital payments and logistics,' the report added. Major e-commerce player like Alibaba-owned Lazada reported its first profitable month in July 2024. Singapore-headquartered, US-listed Sea posted its first profitable year in 2023, and also had a strong start to the year, with its e-commerce arm Shopee reporting a 28.3 per cent surge in first-quarter revenue. Forward growth, however, will slow as most targetable consumers are already shopping online , the DBS report noted. But the major players are likely able to benefit from higher commission charges given their dominance. In 2024, Shopee was the first large platform to impose share fee increase of several percentage points, and its peers followed suit. Mr Chua Shih Guan, DBS Bank's head of digital economy group, institutional banking, said: 'As the region's e-commerce sector matures, we are seeing a shift from simply offering promotions and discounts to more innovative and differentiated customer experiences, through investments in areas like AI-driven personalisation, smarter logistics and embedded finance.' Mr Chua Shih Guan, DBS Bank's head of digital economy group, institutional banking, delivering the opening remarks at the launch of the DBS NextWave South-east Asia report on May 14. PHOTO: DBS BANK If faced with low disruption in the next few years, the 'Generation One' winners in the region, including Shopee, Lazada and Grab, will continue to consolidate market share and enjoy high profitability, according to a scenario projection in the DBS report. However, it said this dominance may not be permanent. China's e-commerce landscape suggests that the dominant players can be challenged by newer platforms such as ByteDance and Pinduodo, when the latter were able to gain traction with innovative, immersive and frictionless shopping experiences. Hence, the key is for the Generation One winners to compete on customer experience innovation, and Cube's co-founder Simon Torring said he expects to see a lot of innovation from inside these winners. 'Because they now have profitable core businesses, and with that, they will have the ability to take some concentrated bets [and] try new business models,' he said at the launch of the report. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Business Times
10-05-2025
- Business
- Business Times
China's factory-gate deflation deepens as trade war bites
[BEIJING] China's factory-gate prices posted the steepest drop in six months in April while consumer prices fell for a third month, underlining the need for more stimulus as policymakers grapple with the economic toll from a trade war with the United States. A prolonged housing market downturn, high household debt and job insecurity have hampered investment and consumer spending, keeping deflationary pressures alive. Now, the economy is also facing increasing external risks from trade barriers. However, there are hopes for a de-escalation of tensions as US-China trade talks begin in Switzerland on Saturday. The producer price index (PPI) dropped 2.7 per cent in April year-on-year, worse than a 2.5 per cent decline in March but was less than economists' forecast for a 2.8 per cent fall, National Bureau of Statistics data showed on Saturday. 'China still faces persistent deflationary pressure,' said Zhiwei Zhang, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management. 'The pressure may rise in coming months as exports will likely weaken.' 'Even if China and the US can make progress and cut tariffs in trade negotiations, tariffs are unlikely to go back to the level before April,' Zhang added. 'More proactive fiscal policy is necessary to boost domestic demand and address the deflation problem.' BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Consumer prices eased 0.1 per cent last month from a year earlier, matching a 0.1 per cent drop in March and the forecast in a Reuters poll. CPI was up 0.1 per cent month-on-month versus a 0.4 per cent fall in March and compared with economists' forecasts for no change in prices. Core inflation, excluding volatile food and fuel prices, stood at 0.5 per cent in April from a year earlier, in line with the increase recorded in March. The Chinese government is implementing a wide range of measures to stimulate consumption across different sectors and last week announced a raft of stimulus measures, including interest rate cuts and a major injection of liquidity. As the trade war between the world's two largest economies weighs on exports, China's retail giants, including and Alibaba-owned Freshippo, have initiated measures to help exporters pivot to the domestic market. That could further depress prices as business and consumer confidence remain subdued due to the uncertain outlook. Global investment banks, including Goldman Sachs, have lowered their GDP forecasts for China this year to below the official target of around 5 per cent, attributing the downgrade to the damaging trade war. REUTERS
Business Times
10-05-2025
- Business
- Business Times
China's consumer prices fall for third month in April, PPI slips again
[BEIJING] China's consumer prices fell for the third consecutive month in April, while factory-gate prices recorded their steepest drop in six months, as policymakers grapple with the economic impact of a trade war with the United States. A prolonged housing market downturn, high household debt and job insecurity have hampered investment and consumer spending, keeping deflationary pressures alive. The economy is also facing increasing external risks from escalating trade barriers. However, there are hopes for a de-escalation of tensions as US-China trade talks begin in Switzerland on Saturday. The consumer price index edged down 0.1 per cent last month from a year earlier, matching a 0.1 per cent drop in March, National Bureau of Statistics data showed on Saturday, and a Reuters poll forecast of a 0.1 per cent dip. CPI was up 0.1 per cent month-on-month versus the 0.4 per cent fall in March and compared with economists' forecasts for no change in prices. Core inflation, excluding volatile food and fuel prices, stood at 0.5 per cent in April from a year earlier, in line with the increase recorded in March. As the trade war between the world's two largest economies weighs on exports, China's retail giants, including and Alibaba-owned Freshippo, have initiated measures to help exporters pivot to the domestic market. This could further depress prices as business and consumer confidence remain subdued due to the uncertain outlook. Global investment banks, including Goldman Sachs, have lowered their GDP forecasts for China this year to below the official target of around 5 per cent, attributing the downgrade to the damaging trade war. The producer price index (PPI) dropped 2.7 per cent in April year on year, worse than a 2.5 per cent decline in March but was less than economists' forecast for a 2.8 per cent fall. REUTERS
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
China's consumer prices fall for third month in April, PPI slips again
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's consumer prices fell for the third consecutive month in April, while factory-gate prices recorded their steepest drop in six months, as policymakers grapple with the economic impact of a trade war with the United States. A prolonged housing market downturn, high household debt and job insecurity have hampered investment and consumer spending, keeping deflationary pressures alive. The economy is also facing increasing external risks from escalating trade barriers. However, there are hopes for a de-escalation of tensions as U.S.-China trade talks begin in Switzerland on Saturday. The consumer price index edged down 0.1% last month from a year earlier, matching a 0.1% drop in March, National Bureau of Statistics data showed on Saturday, and a Reuters poll forecast of a 0.1% dip. CPI was up 0.1% month-on-month versus the 0.4% fall in March and compared with economists' forecasts for no change in prices. Core inflation, excluding volatile food and fuel prices, stood at 0.5% in April from a year earlier, in line with the increase recorded in March. As the trade war between the world's two largest economies weighs on exports, China's retail giants, including and Alibaba-owned Freshippo, have initiated measures to help exporters pivot to the domestic market. This could further depress prices as business and consumer confidence remain subdued due to the uncertain outlook. Global investment banks, including Goldman Sachs, have lowered their GDP forecasts for China this year to below the official target of around 5%, attributing the downgrade to the damaging trade war. The producer price index (PPI) dropped 2.7% in April year on year, worse than a 2.5% decline in March but was less than economists' forecast for a 2.8% fall.
Hindustan Times
22-04-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
China's JD.com calls out anti-competitive pressures on food delivery couriers
SHANGHAI, - Chinese e-commerce giant highlighted anti-competitive pressures on food delivery couriers on Monday, alleging that other platforms were coercing couriers to avoid working with JD Takeaway, a claim denied by its competitor Meituan. JD Takeaway began onboarding restaurants in February with promises of "zero commissions all year round", marking its entrance into China's highly competitive food delivery space and threatening to disrupt the market share of leading players who rely on scale for success in this low-margin sector. In the post on official Weixin account, addressed to couriers working with JD Takeaway, the company said it was aware of pressures on them to not accept orders from and that it sympathised with their plight of being forced to choose between platforms. did not name competing platforms in its post. China's food delivery sector has long been dominated by giant Meituan, with Alibaba-owned the second-largest player in the country based on market share. Meituan and did not immediately reply to an emailed request for comment on post. Meituan, in several consecutive posts on its Weixin accounts, rejected claims without naming it directly. Meituan said it has never restricted couriers from working with other delivery services, and instead suggested that alone has curbed its couriers from working with other platforms. In another post titled "Instead of spreading rumours to attract online attention, it is better to fulfil your promises," Meituan quoted both a classic Chinese martial arts novel and a renowned Chinese Buddhist monk, signalling its desire to avoid engaging in slander. "If slandered, do not argue. I often see people who are slandered, and when they argue and explain, they suffer more," read one of the quotes. Meituan also said it had punished one of its drivers for falsely claiming he had been banned by Meituan for taking orders from other platforms in an earlier post, describing the driver's claim as "pure fabrication". has promised to provide sufficient orders to couriers banned by other platforms to ensure they can maintain their income level. It also said it would double its recruitment aim for full-time riders to 100,000 from 50,000 in the next three months. is the first platform to offer its full-time riders direct labour contracts, making them eligible to collect full insurance benefits. did not reply to a request for more details on its post.
