A wave of new local e-marketplaces is emerging as new alternatives to the three dominant foreign players, which have combined revenue of around 172 billion baht.
The new entrants are seeking opportunities to capture growing seller interest in "local e-marketplace sovereignty".
The move comes as sellers face mounting pressure from rising sales commissions and additional platform fees.
Against a backdrop of economic challenges and uncertainty over legislation aimed at regulating platform fees, local sellers are widening their sales channels and turning to alternative marketplace options.
Thaimart.com, a new local marketplace founded by Panthawat Nakvisut, will be launched on July 7. It will offer zero gross profit (GP) fees in the first year, with increases based on a tiered structure thereafter.
PantipMall will make the full-scale debut of its e-marketplace app on Aug 8, while ShopChill e-marketplace will make its full-scale debut in early 2027. YJmall was recently launched by influencer Chatmongkol Somkew.
Existing local players include Nex Gen Commerce and ThailandPostMart.
"We saw that an e-commerce infrastructure is another thing the country absolutely needs. That is why we developed Nex Gen Commerce," Morragot Kulatumyotin, managing director of Internet Thailand Plc, parent company of the Nex Gen Commerce platform, told the Bangkok Post.
The platform provides a secure and sustainable alternative for Thai businesses that are heavily reliant on foreign platforms, Mrs Morragot said.
Nex Gen Commerce charges a GP rate of 1% and has pledged never to increase the rate.
Sellers do not have to pay anything if they do not make any sales. Those struggling to generate revenue can also receive mentoring and sales guidance from the platform's support team.
Buyers and sellers can choose delivery services from affordable logistics providers such as Thailand Post and Flash Express.
Nex Gen Commerce positions itself as a full-service business engine for Thai small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Its tools include a payment gateway, e-tax invoicing and direct connections to the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank, helping merchants access loans and other financial support.
It was selected by the Commerce Ministry as one of two official partners -- alongside ThailandPostMart -- for the national "Thai Chuay Thai" campaign aimed at boosting online sales among Thai SMEs.
The collaboration generated more than 100,000 app downloads and brought 10,000 stores onto the platform.
Mrs Morragot also sees growing demand for "digital sovereignty" among Thai merchants who are frustrated by rising GP fees and shifting algorithms on foreign-owned platforms.
"The government could help level the playing field by offering marketing subsidies or co-payment schemes that support local platforms," she said.
PantipMall app
"PantipMall wants to build a sustainable e-marketplace. This is a marathon, not a sprint," Niwat Chatawittayakul, chief executive of Digithun Worldwide Co, told the Bangkok Post.
Digithun is the technology partner of Pantip Mall and developer of the ShopSCAPE enterprise e-commerce solution.
Pantip Mall is positioning itself as a lower-cost alternative for small online sellers, he noted.
Pantip Mall has opened its marketplace in beta format. The platform currently has about 200,000 product listings from 500 sellers, with another 2,000 sellers waiting to join.
"We will leverage what Pantip already has: 2 million visitors a day, a strong community of reviewers and a large volume of trusted user-generated content," Mr Niwat said.
The company plans to introduce sales-support tools, potentially in the fourth quarter, including customer-response assistance, image generation and content creation.
Pantip Mall charges sellers a GP fee of 3% and provides sales tools free of charge.
The company is also working with Saha Group, Thailand Post, the Digital Economy Promotion Agency, the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion, and other government agencies to build long-term partnerships.
Mr Niwat added that sellers must learn to use artificial intelligence (AI) to improve overall operation and competitiveness.
Next year, the company plans to adopt Google's Universal Commerce Protocol, an open framework that enables AI agents to manage product discovery, negotiation and checkout on a user's behalf.
Zero GP
Peerasak Saetan, co-founder of iShip and ShopChill, said ShopChill was developed over a period of four years to support domestic sellers.
ShopChill e-marketplace draws on the group's broader ecosystem, which includes logistics aggregator iShip, a franchised parcel drop-off network and a technology-development company.
"Our group aims to generate 1 billion baht in revenue by 2026," Mr Peerasak said.
ShopChill's main selling point is a permanent 0% GP fee rate.
ShopChill relies on its other revenue stream which is from its premium "Chill Mall" section that offers established Thai brands and charges a GP fee of 10%.
ShopChill soft launched its service after the Songkran festival. The platform has attracted about 5,000 shops, 500–1,000 affiliates and 7,000 buyers. A full-scale launch is planned for early next year.
"E-commerce is a marathon, not a sprint. I have no intention of burning cash to compete aggressively with foreign giants," Mr Peerasak said.
Its strategy is to build on sustainable infrastructure. Over the next 3-5 years, he expects sellers' orders to become more evenly distributed across different platforms.
He called on the government to ensure a fairer tax environment.
Foreign merchants can currently sell products in Thailand with little or no local tax burden, while Thai corporate sellers may face tax rates of up to 30%, he said.
He urged policymakers to restrict selected foreign imports that harm local industries and help Thai sellers export their products more easily.
