94% of Southeast Asia’s e-commerce sellers see AI’s potential
E-commerce platform Lazada’s report offers insights that help cautious online sellers use smart technology to enhance business practices
The growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) – smart technology that enables computers to copy human behaviour such as learning, problem-solving and decision-making – is helping to transform industries worldwide.
While some businesses have begun to adopt AI, many remain hesitant to fully integrate it into their operations. Research shows high training costs, as well as the time and expense of implementation, are key barriers to its broader adoption.
Globally, about half of e-commerce sellers are experimenting with AI, while around 30 per cent are fully integrating it into their businesses, according to last year’s “State of Commerce” study, published by the American software firm Salesforce.
However, AI’s adoption in Southeast Asia remains more cautious, with research carried out by Lazada Group, a leading online shopping platform in the region, showing that 61 per cent of retailers are sceptical about AI’s practical benefits – even though 89 per cent admit it is crucial to boost efficiency.
Its report, “Bridging the AI Gap: Online Seller Perceptions and Adoption Trends in SEA”, was published earlier this month in partnership with marketing data and analytics company Kantar Singapore.
The survey of more than 1,200 online sellers in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam shows that, while 68 per cent of online sellers in Southeast Asia demonstrate a strong familiarity with AI and regularly use these tools in their daily lives, only just over one third of respondents have actually adopted AI in their business operations.