Maybank Investment Bank Research has foreseen both opportunities and risks from ChatGPT Agentic Commerce. The research house said in a note on last Friday that Agentic Commerce is still in its early stages and will take time to reach meaningful scale, but its long-term implications for e-commerce are significant. On the risk side, artificial intelligence (AI) agents like ChatGPT could evolve into alternative distribution platforms for merchants, potentially bypassing established...

Lazada, Southeast Asia’s leading online shopping platform, has teamed up with South Korea’s shopping site Gmarket, to bring 20 million authentic Korean products for Southeast Asian shoppers on its platform. Lazada said in a statement on Monday that Shoppers across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam can now enjoy direct access to a wide selection of Korean favourites, such as Sulwahsoo, d’Alba, Mediheal, COSRX, Skinfood, Laneige and many more....

E-commerce platform TikTok Shop announced Wednesday that it is further injecting MYR 20 million ($4.74 million) into the local digital economy in Malaysia through its new #JomLokal Booster Stimulus Package, to provide enhanced support for local micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and homegrown products. Nur Azre Abdul Aziz, Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships at TikTok Shop Malaysia, said in a statement on Wednesday that with the new funding, the firm is deepening its...

Bunjang, South Korea’s tech-driven re-commerce platform, announced Wednesday that its global cross-border marketplace, Bunjang Global, has surpassed two million monthly active users, cementing its position as the new global benchmark for K-recommerce. The firm said in a statement that in the first half of 2025, Bunjang Global recorded a 333 per cent year-over-year increase in gross merchandise volume (GMV) and a 345 per cent surge in transaction count, reflecting its rapid global...

Maybank Investment Bank said Friday that it sees minimal pushback from the second round of seller commission raise from Sea‘s e-commerce arm Shopee. The research house said in a note that its its regional surveys (conducted in April to May) suggests limited volume disruption and a high degree of pass-through to buyers. According to its ecommerce buyer and seller survey, only about 13 percent of ASEAN consumers reported cutting online spending following recent price/fee moves, with...

WGSN, a global business intelligence and insights firm, announced Wednesday the expansion of access to its artificial intelligence (AI)-powered fashion buying platform to buyers across Asia’s major markets, including India, China, Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia. The firm said in a statement that this solution empowers fashion buyers across these leading Asian markets with predictive analytics, AI modelling, and a business intelligence tool, helping them optimize their decision-making...

Singapore-based Gill Capital Group, which manages fashion and lifestyle brands including H&M, ALO, and On Running in Southeast Asia, has partnered with Google Cloud to launch a first-of-its-kind generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) solution. Gill Capital said in a statement on Tuesday that through Google Cloud’s AI Cloud Takeoff (AI CTO) program, it has embarked on multiple AI innovation projects. One of them involves embedding a gen AI-powered search agent into e-commerce...

Paydibs, a Malaysia-based digital payments firm, has announced a strategic partnership with Alipay+, a global wallet unit under Ant International, to expand cross-border payment capabilities. Paydibs said in a statement on Tuesday that through this collaboration, its merchants can now accept payments from over 15+ leading e-wallets and bank apps in the Alipay+ partner ecosystem, including Alipay, GCash, Kakao Pay and others. This capability allows small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) to...

Philippine fintech player GCash has launched a new payment innovation, introducing a next-generation contactless solution that offers convenience, security, and global reach with partnership with Alipay+, Mastercard. GCash said in a statement on Thursday that GCash Tap to Pay can now be used by its users to pay at more than 150 million Mastercard acceptance locations across the world, powered by Near Field Communications (NFC) technology. This innovative solution for e-wallets to make NFC...

Carro, the Singapore-based online used car platform, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with fintech platform SY Holdings, entering a strategic partnership that will support Carro’s expansion plans through tech-enabled financing solutions. Carro said in a statement on Thursday that SY Holdings is a Hong Kong-listed digital intelligence technology company with a focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and industry supply chains. This strategic partnership will leverage artificial...

Maybank Investment Bank has raised Sea‘s full year revenue and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) estimates by 3 percent to 6 percent. The research house said in a note on last Wednesday that Sea’s strong tech-driven execution, underpenetrated markets and supportive competitive landscape position it for sustained high growth, while its disciplined, cost efficient approach allows both expansion and profitability gains. It is noted...

TikTok Shop doubled its global gross merchandise value (GMV) in the first half of 2025, with U.S. market hitting $5.8 billion, Momentum Works & Tabcut report showed last Friday. The duo said in a statement that TikTok Shop’s global GMV hit $26.2 billion in the first half, and if the current pace of growth holds, the platform is on track to double its 2024 GMV of $33.2 billion by year-end. In the U.S., TikTok Shop’s GMV has reached $5.8 billion (surged 91 percent year on...