Indonesia's two largest e-commerce companies, Tokopedia and Shopee, are constantly vying for market share in online shopping website visitors.
According to data compiled by iPrice, during the 2020 pandemic, Shopee's website visitor numbers were consistently higher than Tokopedia's. However, since the beginning of 2021, Tokopedia has overtaken and maintained its lead.
In the second quarter of 2022, Tokopedia attracted an average of 158.3 million website visitors per month, while Shopee's website only reached 131.3 million visitors per month.
Cumulatively, from the third quarter of 2019 to the second quarter of 2022, Tokopedia's website visitor numbers grew by 140%, while Shopee recorded 134% growth.
According to iPrice, the growth in e-commerce website visitors is driven by companies' investments in improving user experience (UX) and user interface (UI), as well as developing the quality of their website content.
However, these investments do not seem to have yielded significant financial benefits for the companies' sustainability. Despite the rapid growth in website visitors, Tokopedia and Shopee conducted large-scale layoffs this year.
In November 2022, PT GoTo Gojek Tokopedia Tbk, the parent company of Tokopedia, laid off approximately 1,300 employees, or 12% of its total workforce.
"Global macroeconomic challenges have significantly impacted businesses worldwide. GoTo, like other large companies, needs to adapt to ensure the company's readiness to face future challenges," said GoTo spokesperson Audrey Petriny in a press release on Friday, November 18, 2022.
Meanwhile, Sea Ltd, Shopee's parent company, is reported to have laid off approximately 7,000 employees by September 2022.
"The company (Sea Ltd) is struggling to stem mounting losses and win back investor confidence," said a Bloomberg source familiar with the matter, as reported by Katadata on Tuesday, November 15, 2022.