As stuck at home consumers go online to shop after the pandemic, South Asia’s internet economy is all set to cross the $100 billion mark this year, said a recent report.
The report covers the market data of Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore and the Philippines.
According to the report, Southeast Asia’s internet economy will hit $105 billion this year. The report said that the region added 40 million new internet users this year, taking the total to 400 million. That implies 70% of the region’s population is now online.
The report while citing investment pundits, said “The coronavirus has brought about a permanent and massive digital adoption spurt.”
Moreover, the report said that Southeast Asia’s internet economy expanded 5% from 2019. E-commerce grew 63% to reach $62 billion in 2020, to become the largest vertical this year, whereas the travel sector contracted 58% to $14 billion.
Online retailers have emerged as winners from coronavirus lockdowns as people prefer to shop from their homes instead of making a trip to stores amid worries over a resurgence in infections.
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The online industry of the South Asian region is poised to triple to $309 billion in gross merchandise value by 2025, nearly in line with the $300 billion forecasts made last year. With an 11% increase in online users, Southeast Asia is one of the world’s fastest-growing internet markets. That compares with around 4.7 billion internet users worldwide, up 7.4% from a year ago, according to wearesocial.com, a digital monitoring service.
In addition to this, the report said that the investors still have sufficient capital to deploy but are focusing more on companies’ path to financial gains.
