Dominating the Southeast Asian Market in Just One Year: The Secrets Behind a TikTok-Fueled Chinese Cleaning Brand Selling $2 Million
In just three months, this Chinese cleaning brand became one of the top three players in Southeast Asia’s home cleaning industry, thanks to TikTok. A year later, it’s the top seller in Malaysia, with three best-selling products generating $2 million in sales. How did this remarkable Chinese brand achieve such success? And how has it broken through in the competitive Southeast Asian market using TikTok? Since the 2023 wave of overseas expansion, “going global” has become essential for Chinese brands, with more and more seeking growth opportunities abroad. Among these is Seaways, a standout success story.
Seaways’ expansion abroad was more than a mere market entry; it was a complete transformation in product development and marketing strategy. So, how did Seaways stand out in the competitive Southeast Asian market? And how did it leverage content marketing and e-commerce channels to capture market share? Today, let’s explore Seaways’ story and see how this Chinese brand has steadily established a foothold in the global market.
01 Tapping into Southeast Asia’s Growth Potential
Seaways, founded in 2015, specializes in cleaning products, with key items including dishwashing liquids and bathroom cleaners. Initially a rising star in the domestic market, Seaways set its sights on foreign markets as competition in China intensified. The rapidly developing Southeast Asian market, in particular, became Seaways’ “goldmine.” Choosing Southeast Asia as the first stop was no coincidence. Recent years have shown unprecedented growth potential in Southeast Asia, making it the first choice for Chinese businesses going global. Research data indicates 27.36% of Chinese companies entering new markets are focusing on Southeast Asia, followed by 26.84% in Eastern Europe and 25.54% in the Middle East.
Statista data shows that in 2023, the e-commerce market across Southeast Asia’s six major countries — Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam — reached a staggering $137 billion. By 2030, this figure is expected to grow to $380 billion, attracting global brands’ attention. For Seaways, Southeast Asia is not just a potential-filled e-commerce market; it’s a culturally diverse region with rich consumer demand. Similar to Chinese consumers, locals prioritize household hygiene, with cleaning awareness gradually increasing. Particularly as the middle class rises, demand for high-quality cleaning products has surged among Southeast Asian consumers.
02 Insight-Driven Bestsellers
True globalization means localization in every market. Before entering, Seaways thoroughly researched local consumer habits and needs, discovering an interesting trend: though cleaning products were widely available, few truly satisfied customers. Southeast Asian consumers generally expect high standards for bathroom and toilet cleaning, yet existing products fell short in cleaning power. This gap presented an ideal entry opportunity for Seaways.
Seaways’ first move in Southeast Asia was to release a bathroom cleaner that addressed this pain point. After multiple rounds of development, the product provided strong descaling power and ease of use, perfectly meeting market demands.
This bathroom cleaner became popular immediately, with users particularly praising its visible before-and-after effects. According to Echotik data, Seaways has multiple TikTok shops across Southeast Asia, with the highest 30-day sales volume in Thailand.
Over the past month, Seaways’ Thailand shop, @seaways_thailand, sold nearly 45,000 items, generating approximately $206,000 in GMV.
🔍 Want to see further details and data of the small shop? Click on ‘read original’ or copy the link to open in your browser:
The top seller last month was a two-in-one laundry detergent, selling nearly 20,000 units.
The all-time best-seller is an antibacterial washing machine cleaner, which has sold 150,000 units at $4.20 each.
Through precise market insight, Seaways successfully created popular products that quickly won consumer approval.
03 Leveraging Content and Interactive Live Streams for TikTok’s Massive Traffic
Seaways understood that a good product alone wasn’t enough; effective content marketing to engage consumers was the key to success.
They focused on TikTok, combining short videos and live streaming to capture Southeast Asia’s massive market traffic.
Drawing from domestic short video expertise, Seaways’ team produced a series of short videos that directly addressed consumer pain points, often using storytelling to showcase product effectiveness.
They also partnered with over 1,500 local influencers to demonstrate product use. The hashtag #seaways has accumulated more than 22,400 videos on TikTok.
A popular video showing a “before and after” effect on product usage garnered significant attention for its clear, authentic visuals.
The top-selling video by @krunid_, a Thai influencer with 44.5K followers, gained 2.9 million views, with estimated sales of 34,000 items, totaling $52,600 in GMV.
Seaways also expanded into live-streaming markets like Thailand, engaging with consumers directly to answer questions and demonstrate product usage. This authentic interaction helped build trust, making Seaways’ brand image even more memorable.
Live streaming resulted in another sales surge, particularly among initially skeptical consumers who, after seeing product demonstrations and receiving real-time answers, felt assured and proceeded with purchases.
With TikTok’s data analytics, Seaways precisely targeted its audience and optimized products and marketing based on consumer feedback and purchasing behavior. This agility has kept Seaways highly competitive in a fierce market.
The success of Seaways is not just an isolated case but reflects a broader trend of Chinese brands rising on the global stage. According to the latest data, the volume of Chinese companies going global increased by 11% from 2022 to 2023, with the number of companies expanding abroad also rising sharply. Between 2020 and 2023, 184 investment events occurred in the overseas e-commerce retail sector, leading the market. From large enterprises to smaller brands, an increasing number of Chinese businesses realize that the global market is both a blue ocean and a critical foundation for future growth.
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