Co-founder of Cube Asia, Cube Asia

Simon Torring

Co-founder of Cube Asia

Defining Social Commerce in Southeast Asia

Cube Asia

We offer granular market data and insights for online retail in Southeast Asia, helping brands and retail companies drive profitable growth. 

Why the Cube?
3 dimensions of granularity to help you get deep into the 1) geographies, 2) categories, and 3) types of data and insights you need for your business.

The Cube is a big-data machine that is continuously listening to public data sources and primary research, and triangulating across thousands of data points using probabilistic modeling to produce an accurate and granular picture of Southeast Asia’s online retail landscape.

Equity Bottom-Up

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<li>Shopee, Southeast Asia’s largest e-commerce player, has been on a strict financial diet to reach profitability in the last year.</li>
<li>That’s been welcome news for shareholders of its listed parent, Sea Ltd, but more challenging for sellers on the platform who have faced lower sales growth and higher selling costs after years of heavily subsidised operations. </li>
<li>In this blog post we report on the most important figures from Shopee’s newly published Q1-2023 results (<a href="https://www.sea.com/investor/quarterlyresults" target="_blank" rel="noopener">released 16 May</a>) as well as the key implications for e-commerce sellers in Southeast Asia.</li>
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Shopee, Southeast Asia’s largest e-commerce player, has been on a strict financial diet to reach profitability in the last year.
That’s been welcome news for shareholders of its listed parent, Sea Ltd, but more challenging for sellers on the platform who have faced lower sales growth and higher selling costs after years of heavily subsidised operations. 
In this blog post we report on the most important figures from Shopee’s newly published Q1-2023 results (released 16 May) as well as the key implications for e-commerce sellers in Southeast Asia.


Shopee Enters a New Era of Slower GMV Growth and Higher Fees for Sellers

<ul><li>2024 was a defining year for TikTok Shop, TikTok’s global e-commerce unit.</li><li>It had to balance continued growth in its early winner markets in Southeast Asia with breaking through in the West, all while navigating a complex regulatory battle in the United States.</li><li>A constant flurry of rumours, news, market launch changes, and publications of differing data points made it challenging to assess TikTok Shop’s true performance throughout the year.</li></ul>

2024 was a defining year for TikTok Shop, TikTok’s global e-commerce unit.It had to balance continued growth in its early winner markets in Southeast Asia with breaking through in the West, all while navigating a complex regulatory battle in the United States.A constant flurry of rumours, news, market launch changes, and publications of differing data points made it challenging to assess TikTok Shop’s true performance throughout the year.

The best is yet to come: TikTok Shop’s pivotal 2024, and what’s in store for 2025

<ul><li>While TikTok’s US ban has been stealing headlines, the platform’s global moves have been quietly making waves.</li><li>In December 2024, TikTok made a strategic move by launching TikTok Shop in Ireland and Spain, marking its first expansion after a one-year hiatus since launching in the US.</li><li>These launches are particularly interesting to observe as their adoption trends could offer valuable insights into TikTok Shop’s broader potential in Europe.TikTok’s existing user base in Spain provides a strong foundation for the success of its shopping platform.</li></ul>

While TikTok’s US ban has been stealing headlines, the platform’s global moves have been quietly making waves.In December 2024, TikTok made a strategic move by launching TikTok Shop in Ireland and Spain, marking its first expansion after a one-year hiatus since launching in the US.These launches are particularly interesting to observe as their adoption trends could offer valuable insights into TikTok Shop’s broader potential in Europe.TikTok’s existing user base in Spain provides a strong foundation for the success of its shopping platform.

Charging Bull: TikTok Shop’s Adoption Surge in Spain

Equity Research Analyst - Long-Short

Raj S, CA, CFA

<ul>
<li>Improving policy visibility on chips and geopolitics restores confidence in China’s AI infrastructure outlook.</li>
<li>Explosive AI-token growth is driving sustained hyperscaler build cycles and stronger IDC order pipelines.</li>
<li>GDS’s balanced China and DayOne portfolio supports double digit EBITDA CAGR; catalysts include new orders, C-REIT and DayOne IPO, implying 60-100% re-rating potential.</li>
</ul>


Improving policy visibility on chips and geopolitics restores confidence in China’s AI infrastructure outlook.
Explosive AI-token growth is driving sustained hyperscaler build cycles and stronger IDC order pipelines.
GDS’s balanced China and DayOne portfolio supports double digit EBITDA CAGR; catalysts include new orders, C-REIT and DayOne IPO, implying 60-100% re-rating potential.


GDS Holdings (GDS US): Best Play on China AI Infra With Chips-Geo Clarity and Hyperscaler Capex

Smartkarma Research Team, Smartkarma

Smartkarma Research

Smartkarma Research Team

Smartkarma

Smartkarma unites the fragmented investment industry, connecting institutional investors, independent research providers, and corporates within a single network.

Research Reinvented

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<p>Smartkarma hosted Cube's Co-Founder and Smartkarma Insight Provider, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/profiles/simon-torring" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="accounts:47333" rel="noopener">Simon Torring</a> in an exclusive Webinar on 15 October '25. Simon shared key updates about Southeast Asia's e-commerce industry, including newly released H1 market data for the region's leading e-commerce platforms, from the firm's proprietary Tradewinds data offering. </p>
<p>Catch the full discussion below: </p>
<div style="display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZGFdQFlxZvE?si=OgOI8xgl-8tXU_lV" width="560" height="315" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div>
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<p>For our next Webinar we are glad to welcome Cube's Co-Founder and Smartkarma Insight Provider, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/profiles/simon-torring" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="accounts:47333" rel="noopener">Simon Torring.</a></p>
<p>In the upcoming webinar, Simon will share key updates about Southeast Asia's e-commerce industry, including newly released H1 market data for the region's leading e-commerce platforms, from the firm's proprietary Tradewinds data offering. <br>The session will also touch on key industry developments such as platform competition, promotional intensity, and Shopee's expansion in Brazil, along with an e-commerce industry forecast.</p>
<p>The webinar will include a live Q&amp;A session.</p>
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<h3>The Webinar will be hosted on Wednesday, 15 October 2025, 20:00 SGT.</h3>
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<h2><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/home/webinar-registration-form-feb2025/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Register for the Webinar here</a></h2>
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<h3>About <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/companies/cube-asia/research" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cube</a>
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<p>Cube (formerly Cube Asia) offers granular market data and insights for online retail in Southeast Asia, helping brands and retail companies drive profitable growth. <br><strong>Why The Cube?</strong><br>The Cube offers 3 dimensions of granularity to help you get deep into the 1) geographies, 2) categories, and 3) types of data and insights you need for your business. <br>They operate a big-data machine that is continuously listening to public data sources and primary research, triangulating across thousands of data points using probabilistic modeling to produce an accurate and granular picture of Southeast Asia’s online retail landscape</p>

Smartkarma hosted Cube's Co-Founder and Smartkarma Insight Provider, Simon Torring in an exclusive Webinar on 15 October '25. Simon shared key updates about Southeast Asia's e-commerce industry, including newly released H1 market data for the region's leading e-commerce platforms, from the firm's proprietary Tradewinds data offering. 
Catch the full discussion below: 


For our next Webinar we are glad to welcome Cube's Co-Founder and Smartkarma Insight Provider, Simon Torring.
In the upcoming webinar, Simon will share key updates about Southeast Asia's e-commerce industry, including newly released H1 market data for the region's leading e-commerce platforms, from the firm's proprietary Tradewinds data offering.  The session will also touch on key industry developments such as platform competition, promotional intensity, and Shopee's expansion in Brazil, along with an e-commerce industry forecast.
The webinar will include a live Q&amp;A session.






The Webinar will be hosted on Wednesday, 15 October 2025, 20:00 SGT.












Register for the Webinar here












About Cube

Cube (formerly Cube Asia) offers granular market data and insights for online retail in Southeast Asia, helping brands and retail companies drive profitable growth.  Why The Cube? The Cube offers 3 dimensions of granularity to help you get deep into the 1) geographies, 2) categories, and 3) types of data and insights you need for your business.  They operate a big-data machine that is continuously listening to public data sources and primary research, triangulating across thousands of data points using probabilistic modeling to produce an accurate and granular picture of Southeast Asia’s online retail landscape

Smartkarma Webinar | Southeast Asia E-Commerce:  H1 Data, Key Developments & Forecast with Cube

China

Beijing Douyin Information Service Co. Ltd. provides online information and contents. The Company develops and operates short video platform, original short video community, news platform, and other related products. Beijing Douyin Information Service offers services worldwide.

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Shopee Enters a New Era of Slower GMV Growth and Higher Fees for Sellers

Shopee, Southeast Asia’s largest e-commerce player, has been on a strict financial diet to reach profitability in the last year. That’s been...

Simon Torring

The best is yet to come: TikTok Shop’s pivotal 2024, and what’s in store for 2025

2024 was a defining year for TikTok Shop, TikTok’s global e-commerce unit. It had to balance continued growth in its early winner markets in...

Simon Torring

Charging Bull: TikTok Shop’s Adoption Surge in Spain

While TikTok’s US ban has been stealing headlines, the platform’s global moves have been quietly making waves. In December 2024, TikTok made a...

Simon Torring

GDS Holdings (GDS US): Best Play on China AI Infra With Chips-Geo Clarity and Hyperscaler Capex

GDS US offers the best bet on China AI Infra with its dual growth engine (domestic and new international) now that there is Chips and Geopolitics...

Raj S, CA, CFA

Smartkarma Webinar | Southeast Asia E-Commerce: H1 Data, Key Developments & Forecast with Cube

For our next Webinar we are glad to welcome Cube's Co-Founder and Smartkarma Insight Provider, Simon Torring. In the upcoming webinar, Simon will...

Smartkarma Research

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