This article was originally published in Chinese on Momentum Works’ WeChat platform, and translated into English by the Momentum Works team.

Recently, a ‘closure notice’ appeared on the Shopee France app, informing consumers that Shopee France will cease to operate from 23:59 on March 6, 2022. It has reassured customers that orders and after-sales services on and before 6 March 2022 will not be affected.

Cross-border sellers selling to France are said to have received similar notifications.

It’s actually less than four months since Shopee started operations in France. Our view at the time was that the French consumer market was still good and the opponents were mainly offline-to-online retailers, second-hand e-commerce and Amazon (their labour relations were not smooth). For Shopee to do well, the problem was not the competition but the management and operation ability as well as feedback from the market.

However, judging from the app store rankings, Shopee should have given up its launch in the French market at the end of last year.

 

Shopee continues to remain available in Poland and Spain – with the exception of the Spanish Apple Store, it is the top-ranking shopping app.

Towards the end of last year, Shopee made big waves with its new product in France, and it said that the effect was not bad. We don’t exactly know what unsatisfactory metrics led to their exit. Your comments are most welcome.

In general, withdrawing from countries with low input-output ratios as soon as possible and investing resources in other markets and fields that are productive in the short term is not a bad choice, especially in the current capital environment with high uncertainty.

However, I don’t know if India, which will definitely produce results in the short term, is a market worth investing in.

 

If you found this interesting and want to know more about Shopee, register for Momentum Academy’s Off the Record – Behind Shopee’s Doors. We will give you in-depth insights into their strategies, culture and what goes behind some of their decisions.

It is happening this Friday, 4 March between 3-4pm SGT. 

You can reserve your free spot here – https://www.eventbrite.sg/e/off-the-record-behind-shopees-doors-tickets-269307504997 

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Thanks for reading The Low Down (TLD), the blog by the team at Momentum Works. Got a different perspective or have a burning opinion to share? Let us know at [email protected].