Malaysia is one of the most developed countries in Southeast Asia and so is its eCommerce market. Plenty of eCommerce marketplaces have entered the market over the years and reaped great profits.
A benefit of doing business in Malaysia is that English is an official language and regulations are transparent.
Working with the customs and local authorities is comparatively to neighboring countries that are less developed and where locals speak limited English.
Due to the great interest in Malaysia’s eCommerce market, we decided to write this article where we list the top eCommerce platforms in the country. We explain their history and what makes them unique from other websites.
You will also learn about fulfillment and payment options offered on some of the websites. Let’s get started.
1. Lazada
Lazada has been around since 2012 and is one of the biggest eCommerce platforms in Southeast Asia. Originally started by Rocket Internet, the platform was later acquired by the large Chinese conglomerate Alibaba Group.
Lazada has grown rapidly in the past years and is currently available in six Southeast Asian markets, including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines.
Worth mentioning is also that Alibaba Group owns the largest Chinese eCommerce platforms, Taobao and Tmall.
What makes Lazada so popular is its advanced fulfillment and shipping options, wide product assortment, and multiple payment options.
Buyers can use everything from bank cards, cash-on-delivery (COD), over the counter payments, just to mention a few.
Becoming a seller here is easy as well and won’t set you back more than a few hundred US dollars. You can be paid directly overseas by using Payoneer or World First that are the official payment solution providers of Lazada.
Last but not least, Lazada is one of a few eCommerce marketplaces that not only accept cross-border sellers.
It also has an advanced cross-border selling system. You can simply ship your products to Hong Kong and Lazada’s fulfillment provider, Timeslogistics, which takes care of inbound, storage, pick and pack, and shipping.
The shipping service provider is called Kobron and is part of the Lazada Global Shipping (LGS) service. They offer competitive rates that can be found via the so-called rate cards issued by Lazada continuously.
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- Selling on Tmall & Lazada
- Logistics & fulfillment options
- Payment gateways
- Incorporation & trademarks
2. Shopee
Shopee is the largest competitor to Lazada and was founded in 2015. Owned by one of China’s biggest tech companies, Tencent Holdings, Shopee has become popular thanks to its superior shipping services and low costs.
Buyers can enjoy free shipping and Shopee also has a comparatively large product assortment.
Even if many products are imported from China, there are plenty of local sellers who can provide products even on the same day, from time to time.
Worth mentioning is also that both Lazada and Shopee have authentic store solutions referred to as Shopee Mall stores and LazMall stores. These options have become increasingly popular among sellers.
To open a Shopee Mall or LazMall store, you have to be a dedicated distributor or the brand owner. This gives peace of mind to buyers, thanks to the authenticity.
Shopee is currently available in Taiwan ROC, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines.
The website will soon also be found in Brazil as Sea Group, the majority owner, plan to launch Shopee in South America.
Shopee and Lazada are typically the first two websites that foreign companies start selling on in Southeast Asia. By selling on both websites, you can reach a broad audience to a fraction of the costs of starting selling in China, for example.
3. LeLong
Lelong is a local Malaysian eCommerce website that is currently one of the most popular. The website is operated under Interbase Resources and the founders have around 30 years of combined experience in eCommerce.
LeLong also owns other websites such as Lmall.my, Pretty.my, and Superbuy.my. You can find many different product categories sold on the website, including:
- Fashion & Accessories
- Watches
- Sports & Outdoors
- Food & Beverages
- Mobiles, IT & Gadgets
- Electronics & Appliances
- Home & Gardening
- Health & Beauty
- Toys, Kids & Baby
- Automotive Parts
LeLong doesn’t have as strong a presence in Southeast Asia as the above-mentioned websites. It can only be found in Malaysia and Singapore.
4. Qoo10
Qoo10 was founded in Singapore in 2010 and is a Southeast Asian eCommerce platform. Originally started by Ku Young Bae, the website was initially called GMarket.
Nowadays, the website can be found in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, mainland China, and Hong Kong
Compared to large eCommerce platforms like Tmall and Amazon, Qoo10 focuses on merchants that are small and medium-sized. The website offers many products, including:
- Home & Living
- Food & Dining
- Baby & Kids
- Top-up & Voucher
- Women’s Fashion
- Beauty & Health
- Men & Sports
- Digital & Mobile
The same as for other major marketplaces Qoo10 has its own fulfillment service called Qxpress Fulfilment Service (QFS).
The service is easily accessible to sellers and was launched to strengthen seller’s core competencies, quick shipping, provide integrated logistics solutions, as well as providing top fulfillment solutions to clients.
5. 11Street
11Street is one of the most popular eCommerce platforms in Malaysia and Korea. The website is owned by SK Planet and the website was founded as early as 2011.
GMarket has long been one of the most visited websites in Korea, but 11Street manage to get hold of the top position in 2016.
11Street is not the primary option for foreign cross-border sellers in Southeast Asia. Having said that, you can find an abundance of products on display, including:
- Electronics
- Fashion & Clothing
- Accessories
- Cosmetics and Beauty Products
- Food and Beverages
- Home and Furniture
- Mom and Baby
- Health/Diet
It’s also worth highlighting that the website started its cross-border services in 2017, so things are moving in the right direction. To share some numbers, 11Street has around 55 million products and 200,000 sellers on the website.
It’s definitely a website you should have a look at if you import products to Malaysia and sell locally.
6. Zalora
Zalora is one of the biggest websites for fashion products in Southeast Asia and was established in 2012. The website was started by Rocket Internet and Kinnevik, two European-owned companies.
Zalora can be found in various Asian markets, including Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong SAR, Taiwan ROC, and Brunei.
Celine, Gucci, Michael Kors, and Longchamp are all brands that sell products on the website.
