DHL, Shopee team up to tap SE Asia

Partnership makes direct sales to overseas consumers faster, easier for companies on the Chinese mainland

German logistics company Deutsche Post DHL Group joined hands on Oct 19 with e-commerce platform Shopee in Shanghai to offer faster and easier access for sellers from the Chinese mainland and consumers in Southeast Asia.

The partnership between DHL eCommerce, a division of DHL, and Shopee, a leading Southeast Asian and Taiwan e-commerce platform, will enable sellers on the mainland to explore the Thai market, and there's an expansion plan in the pipeline for other Southeast Asian markets.

"E-commerce is becoming the propelling power for all market transformations," says Zheng Zhi, managing director of DHL eCommerce Greater China and North Asia.

Zheng said global B2C e-commerce trade volume will grow at 15 percent annually to $3.4 trillion by 2020, and cross-border B2C e-commerce trade will grow at an annual rate of 27 percent to reach $1 trillion by 2020. E-commerce will account for 12.7 percent of the world's total retail value in 2018, Zheng says.

The e-commerce sector of the Southeast Asian region is projected to have a compound annual growth rate of 32 percent between 2017 and 2025, with market value exceeding $88 billion by 2025, according to a research report by Google and the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings.

"The 600 million population in Southeast Asian countries and regions contains huge potential demand for e-commerce, especially considering the fact that 52 percent of the population is under 30 years old and reliant on smartphones for information and shopping," says Liu Jianghong, head of cross-border e-commerce at Shopee.

Liu says Southeast Asian internet users spend up to four hours a day on their mobile phones.

Online statistics, market research and business intelligence portal Statista forecasts that the e-commerce gross merchandise revenue in Thailand will exceed $5 billion by 2022, making it the second-largest e-commerce market in Southeast Asia.

Direct selling to overseas consumers has never been easier for Chinese mainland companies and has become a key growth driver for many businesses, with e-commerce offering an easy platform to enable international expansion.

"With logistics as a key enabler for cross-border retail, we want to empower our customers to tap into this huge growth opportunity," Zheng says.

Over the past few years, DHL has witnessed extremely strong growth of B2C parcels from the Chinese mainland, mainly powered by e-commerce.

With DHL eCommerce cooperating with Shopee, Chinese mainland sellers can easily sell and track all shipments directly on the app.

"In recent years, we have witnessed the rapid development of Southeast Asia's e-commerce market, and a growing number of Chinese mainland brands and sellers are staking a claim in this e-commerce gold mine," Liu says.

However, Liu says, the geographical complexity of the region has created some logistical challenges, and he expected that the collaboration will facilitate the business of cross-border sellers in the Chinese mainland who aspire to sell to Southeast Asia.

DHL started its e-commerce business in China in 2014. There are currently three operational centers and eight sales offices in the country.