Most popular shopping platforms for social commerce Thailand 2021

In 2021, Facebook was the most popular site for social commerce in Thailand, with 86 percent of respondents purchasing from the platform in the last six months. Social commerce is a type of e-commerce that involves more social buyer-seller interactions through social networks.

 COVID-19 and the expansion of social commerce

Since the pandemic hit in 2020, the world went into lockdown, prompting local businesses to shift their focus online and push consumers to change their shopping habits. This new reliance on online platforms, combined with Thai consumers’ affinity for shopping from small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through social media, had immensely accelerated the popularity of the country’s social commerce scene. Facebook and LINE were among Thailand’s most popular online purchasing and selling channels while also being the country’s longstanding leading social media and chatting platforms.

 Direct-to-Customer as the core strength of social commerce

  The popularity of buying and selling through social media in Thailand has pushed the country’s social commerce sector to become very competitive in terms of customer service. Through social commerce, buyers and sellers can communicate immediately through chatting applications and live stream broadcasts, making it very easy and convenient to shop online primarily through Facebook and LINE. Because of this competitive edge, Thailand has become one of the leading countries in South East Asia for social commerce, with a market size greater than 10 million U.S. dollars in 2021.