Sellers' frustration over rising marketplace fees charged by dominant foreign players is driving the emergence of local alternatives, Paul Srivorakul, group chief executive of aCommerce, an end-to-end e-commerce enabler, told the Bangkok Post.
However, for major brands, the question is not whether local platforms exist, but whether they can deliver meaningful traffic, gross merchandise value and return on investment.
"History shows how difficult it is to challenge dominant incumbents. We saw this with 11street, JD Central and even Amazon's limited footprint in parts of Southeast Asia," he said.
Competing against Shopee, Lazada and TikTok Shop is incredibly tough, especially as tech giants such as Google/YouTube, LINE and Meta aggressively expand into commerce and increasingly become partners of these major e-commerce operators.
While local platforms offer a viable refuge for small and medium enterprises or niche sellers, they may struggle to attract larger brands, given that their traffic and gross merchandise value potential are simply too small to justify the overheads involved for major brands.
"Ultimately, local platforms may capture market share at the margin. However, they will not become core channels for major brands until they can prove they can scale traffic and deliver profitable, incremental sales."
Wiroongit Rattanasiraprapa, general manager of munkonggadget.com, said Thailand's e-commerce sector is approaching a sustainability crisis.
Local marketplaces are struggling to compete with foreign mega-platforms armed with vast marketing budgets, aggressive subsidies and deep discounting.
Consumers follow promotions, not national loyalty. They expect coupons, freebies, steep discounts and 0% "Buy Now, Pay Later" plans.
Sellers are also joining new platforms for commercial opportunities, not out of patriotism.
Moreover, merchants face mounting costs as commissions, service charges and near-mandatory advertising account for as much as 50% of their revenue.
Without sufficient capital for marketing, buyer incentives and traffic acquisition through local e-marketplaces, sellers are unlikely to generate meaningful sales.
"Urgent government intervention is needed to curb alleged predatory price dumping, regulate platform-funded subsidies, and cap commissions and related fees. Without it, Thailand's e-commerce market risks becoming a foreign-controlled monopoly," he added.
