Shopee Cuts Food Delivery, Online Payments Staff

Singapore-based eCommerce giant Shopee is trimming staff for its food delivery ShopeeFood and online payment ShopeePay teams in Southeast Asia, according to a Yahoo News report that points to an internal memo circulated Monday (June 13).

In the memo cited by other news reports, Shopee Group President Chris Feng said that “given elevated uncertainty in the broader economy, we believe that it is prudent to make certain difficult but important adjustments to enhance our operational efficiency and focus our resources,” according to the report.

The staff reductions will help Shopee optimize its operations in some segments and markets, Feng said.

“This reallocation of resources to further focus on our priorities will help us grow our business even better,” he wrote, per the report. “While we need to continue to optimize our efficiency, we are also generally still growing and hiring as needed to support that growth.”

The memo didn’t say how many people would be let go or which countries in southeast Asia would feel the brunt of the reductions, according to Yahoo Finance Singapore. The company is also putting the brakes on its pilot in Spain and pulling back some of its teams in Mexico, Argentina and Chile, the memo says.

Even after the cuts are made, Feng vowed to continue business as usual with Shopee Mexico, Argentina and Chile and ShopeeFood and ShopeePay in Southeast Asia.

Related: Shopee Launches Digital Retail Initiatives

It’s a precipitous drop from January for Shopee, which saw five partner brands hit at least $100 million in gross merchandise value (GMV) in 2021, while Shopee Mall saw an eightfold increase in the number of users shopping online at least once a month during the year.

At the beginning of the year, Shopee said it would start to use artificial intelligence to recommend more personalized entertainment content and deals based on shopping behavior and user interests.

Shopee launched the Regional Champion Brands Programme in 2020 and worked with its brand partners to co-create regional campaigns. Shopee has continued to support the 20 brand partners onboarded last year in 2022 with priority access to new initiatives and campaigns.