SINGAPORE: Over 8,000 Singapore Shopee sellers have been onboarded to the Shopee International Platform (SIP) Singapore officially launched today which gave them access to the Malaysian and Thai markets.
In a statement today, the e-commerce platform said the SIP Singapore (SIP SG) programme, which will soon include the Philippines, supports local businesses in different countries to expand regionally at no extra cost.
Shopee Singapore director Chua Kel Jin said the SIP SG programme showed promising results during its three-month pilot phase, which started in September 2024, with orders and gross merchandise value (GMV) growing by eight times.
He added that SIP SG, with the support of Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG), helps sellers overcome challenges in cross-border business, such as logistics, payments, customer service, shop operations, and foreign exchange risks.
"To start a cross-border business, businesses need to invest. This costs money and time. Hence, they are hesitant to enter new markets. SIP helps solve these issues,” he told the media after the launching ceremony at the Shopee building, here today.
Under SIP SG, Malaysian and Thai buyers can access Singapore Shopee shops onboard the programme via their respective countries' Shopee apps.
Targeting to attract more Singapore sellers to join the programme, Chua said the focus is to improve sellers' experiences and address shortcomings encountered during the pilot phase, such as getting more categories supported by logistics partners.
"When it comes to logistics, it doesn’t support all categories. For example, shipping to Thailand may be a little more sensitive when it comes to food-related items, so it may not be supported by cross-border logistics,” he explained.
Soon, sellers will have the opportunity to leverage new product features designed to accelerate their regional expansion by providing greater flexibility and control in managing their business strategies in Malaysia.
The new feature will help high-performing sellers to curate product selection to match Malaysian consumer demand, set pricing to remain competitive and manage promotions.
Meanwhile, acknowledging that Singapore sellers may face stiff competition from their Malaysian and Thai counterparts in terms of pricing, Chua said promising results during the pilot phase showed that they have the edge by being innovative, providing good service, and offering variety.
"Some of the popular products are candy and premium pet products. The Philippines has one of the highest pet ownership numbers in the region. So I’m excited about this (programme to include the Philippines),” he said.
Local confectionery retailer Candy Cottage founder Chelsea Chan plans to add product assortment as she prepares to attract new overseas buyers.
"We do have our website; it's quite difficult to manage on our own as we are a small business. But now, through the SIP programme, our overseas customers (can) choose to buy directly from Shopee in their own country,” she said, adding that five per cent of monthly sales from overseas buyers since joining SIP SG. - Bernama
