Sea Ltd: E-commerce battle continues, but the noise is fading

Research evidence excerpt

Sea Ltd: E-commerce battle continues, but the noise is fading

Venugopal Garre +65 6326 7643 venugopal.garre@bernsteinsg.com 20 July 2026

DETAILS

Price increases continued across ASEAN this quarter, although the drivers differed from those observed previously. Shopee

kept listing prices broadly stable across markets, generally within a range of -5% to +5%, but sharply reduced coupon

discounts, resulting in higher final consumer prices. This approach should be margin accretive, even if it comes at the expense

of some headline growth. TikTok Shop took a different route. While it also reduced coupon discounts, the impact was largely

offset by lower delivery charges paid by consumers, helping limit increases in final prices across several markets. Listing

discounts meanwhile recovered after declining last quarter, potentially reflecting improving merchant confidence as concerns

around elevated fuel costs eased.

These differing approaches translated into changes in relative competitiveness. The proportion of products priced cheaper on

Shopee declined across all markets in our sample, reflecting the sharper increase in final prices on the platform. However, this

does not appear to signal a meaningful shift in competitive intensity. Last quarter, we highlighted the platforms' ability to pass

through higher costs, particularly fuel-related increases linked to the MENA situation. The latest data suggests a continuation

of that trend, albeit through different mechanisms. After nearly two years of persistent price declines, Sea appears increasingly

focused on balancing growth with margin improvement, while TikTok Shop remains more focused on protecting consumer value

by offsetting lower vouchering with reduced delivery charges.