not vested
Ads Business
Grab - while not an ecommerce platform in the traditional sense - is also one regional super app vying for a slice of the ads business.
In its Q3 2022 earnings call, Grab noted that revenue and GMV from enterprise and new initiatives rose 113% and 18% year on year respectively, driven by “growing contributions” from advertising.
That said, Grab noted that it was “just scratching the surface” in terms of ads penetration.
Ecommerce’s growing ads businesses may come at the detriment of customer experience and merchants, who might spend 10% to 20% of their sales to gain visibility on a platform like Amazon.
Doing so is also not without its challenges: Grab’s ads business is reportedly struggling with limited inventory, “clunky” tech, and an inability to sign major advertisers, according to The Ken.
Similar growing pains may apply to many of the region’s advertising hopefuls.
Source: Tech In Asia