E-commerce battle heats up: momo aims to regain high-value stock status amid competition from Coupang and Shopee

Taiwan's e-commerce landscape is a battlefield, with local leaders momo and PChome struggling to maintain growth amid fierce competition from international players like South Korea's Coupang and Singapore's Shopee. momo, operated by Fubon Media, saw its 11-year streak of record revenues interrupted in early 2025, leading to a stock price slump. However, a recent announcement by Chairman Tsai Ming-chung about aiming to rejoin the ranks of high-value stocks has boosted its share price.

The COVID-19 pandemic initially fueled e-commerce, with momo's stock peaking at NT$1,885. As pandemic restrictions eased and in-person shopping resumed, the sector cooled. momo's established strengths, a comprehensive product range, reliable service, and extensive logistics network, helped sustain revenue. Yet, Coupang's entry, characterized by aggressive price subsidies, has significantly impacted momo's growth, particularly in consumer goods.

To combat this, momo is enhancing its platform by onboarding nearly 10,000 merchants, boosting its Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) with double-digit growth. The company also leverages its long-standing presence in Taiwan, fostering consumer trust in its product and service quality, which is reflected in its growing paid membership base. Despite these efforts, momo's cumulative revenue for the first five months of 2025 was NT$43.86 billion, a modest 1.5% year-on-year increase, marking the second-highest in history for the period.

Looking ahead, momo is pursuing a dual-track growth strategy. This includes strengthening its core business through improved customer experience and implementing AI to reduce costs and enhance efficiency. The company is also open to mergers and acquisitions to address a shortage of tech talent, particularly in AI. While recent investments in warehousing have increased capital expenditure and depreciation, these strategic moves are expected to unlock future growth potential and re-establish momo's market appeal.