Xtend unveils native eCommerce tool for brands in SEA

Xtend has launched a marketplace-first eCommerce solution designed to help brands in Southeast Asia increase visibility, connect with shoppers, and achieve trackable sales across platforms such as Shopee, Lazada, and TikTok Shop.

The new platform is tailored to the region's eCommerce climate, where much of online shopping activity happens within large marketplace ecosystems rather than on standalone brand sites. Citing Statista projections, the Southeast Asia eCommerce market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 8.79% between 2025 and 2029, reaching USD $187.16 billion by 2029.

Budget allocation in digital advertising remains largely dominated by platforms such as Meta and Google. However, companies across Southeast Asia are facing increasing challenges with rising costs and declining returns, partly due to audience saturation and difficulty attributing conversions within marketplaces. Brands often find it difficult to achieve mid-funnel visibility or to track return on ad spend inside major eCommerce environments.

The Xtend solution addresses these challenges by operating natively within platforms like Shopee and Lazada. It is structured to work with the unique category behaviours, product SKU variations, and intent patterns found within these digital ecosystems.

Key platform features

The solution includes several integrated components. SHOPit Brand Discovery offers curated product catalogues to direct qualified traffic to brand pages within eCommerce marketplaces, with the goal of bridging awareness and conversion. Commerce-backed inventory provides dynamic in-app listings, native placements, and branded showcases, extending campaign reach programmatically to relevant audiences.

Measurement is another primary feature of the platform. Xtend's approach provides end-to-end attribution from impression to return on ad spend, without requiring brands to install additional pixels or software development kits. This operates within the native capabilities of platforms such as Shopee, supporting brands' need for trackability.

The solution also uses first-party commerce data to generate actionable signals, identifying trends such as category-specific intent, repeat purchase behaviour, app usage, and marketplace conversion rates. Brands only pay based on performance, which the company notes offers a lower risk approach for significant campaign windows such as 9.9 and 11.11. Campaigns can be activated quickly, as brands already selling on Shopee do not need to create bespoke landing pages or upload new product catalogues.

Xtend reports that the solution has already demonstrated positive results in a recent campaign for Unilever in Indonesia, resulting in improved return on ad spend.

Brand integration and impact

Xtend's offering integrates brand storytelling with performance outcomes, aiming to help businesses engage earlier in the purchase journey and follow results through to completed sales. The system is designed to help brands identify and target shoppers who are already likely to purchase, optimising both short-term conversions and longer-term brand equity in a marketplace-dominated environment.

The platform was also presented as part of an industry event focused on marketplace growth within the Shopee ecosystem, attended by a range of sellers, creators, and partners from the region.

"In Southeast Asia's marketplace-first eCommerce environment, brands need solutions that operate natively where purchase decisions are made. By leveraging real shopping behavior data, we designed this solution to help brands build stronger influence within the platform ecosystem and translate it into sustainable business growth," said Muralidharan, Chief Commercial Officer at Xtend. 

Xtend continues to support its clients, which include businesses in commerce, fintech, and travel, aiming to optimise conversions across a range of markets through digital advertising solutions built to fit the needs of the Southeast Asian eCommerce sector.