If you’ve been scrolling through social media in Singapore, Malaysia, or Thailand lately, you may have noticed the sudden influx of Pinduoduo or PDD ads in the past few months. They appear in English, local languages and Chinese, promising free cross-border delivery with no minimum spend.
PDD appears to be quietly testing Southeast Asia through its flagship app, not the Temu app, targeting markets with large Chinese-speaking communities and consumers already familiar with buying directly from China.
To unpack what this move means, I invited Sam Tang who worked more than ten years in China as a business writer and marketing expert. His experience covers high-tech, consumer goods and media platforms, varying from multinational corporations to innovative start-ups.
Together, we’re looking at what PDD’s Southeast Asia push says about the future of e-commerce, how consumers are reacting and what PDD could be missing out.
PDD offers users a machine-translated interface, local payment options such as Touch’n Go (Malaysia), credit cards and free shipping.
As expected, the user experience is still rough around the edges. PDD’s trademark “7-day no-questions-asked returns” policy becomes less compelling when delivery itself takes over 21 days.
Even so, its product variety, low prices, and free shipping give it a clear edge over local platforms like Lazada and Shopee. The catch is obvious: shoppers will need to wait much longer, often three weeks or more, for their orders to arrive.
Why PDD is doing this
PDD’s revenue growth has slowed significantly, and profit growth has come under pressure. Its net profit declined 13% year-on-year in 2025 to 97.8 billion yuan, followed by another 15% drop in Q1 2026.
Policy headwinds are also piling up. The U.S. scrapped the “de minimis” exemption in May 2025, while the EU eliminated the tariff waiver for goods under €150 from July 2026. The pressure to find new growth is real. PDD is actively exploring emerging markets such as Latin America, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Africa.
Over the past few years, the China-to-Southeast Asia cross-border e-commerce has matured considerably. Taobao has been Lazada’s majority investor since 2016. Consumers are more comfortable buying directly from China. Chinese diaspora communities may already be familiar with PDD from travel or personal networks. Payment and logistics infrastructure between China and Southeast Asia has also scaled up. Therefore, PDD does not need to burn cash building everything from scratch.
Headwinds in Malaysia and Singapore
However, in Malaysia and Singapore, PDD is already running into headwinds.
Liu Ming, President of the Malaysia Retail Chain Association, has argued that PDD’s cheap goods are putting pressure on local small and medium-sized businesses. He has urged the government to strengthen regulatory frameworks, tax enforcement, and fair-trade policies to protect domestic players. According to Liu’s estimates, 150 containers’ worth of Chinese goods enter Malaysia daily through PDD alone.
In Singapore, there are no comparable shipping numbers available. But Taobao is clearly feeling the heat. It recently offered free shipping for some items with no minimum spend for shoppers in both Singapore and Malaysia for a limited period starting August 7, 2026, through the rest of the month.
With these moves and counter-moves, there are three questions worth asking:
Question 1: Is PDD’s low-price strategy still working?
Sam: There are two ways to look at this.
On one hand, PDD’s low-price play is clearly under pressure and the financials show it. The slowing revenue growth and ongoing profit squeeze suggests that relying on low prices is becoming a weaker growth model. That is why PDD has recently launched Xin Pin Mu(新拼姆), its new quality-focused initiative, which aims to sell quality products rather than compete only on cost.
Especially on the global stage, flooding markets with ultra-cheap goods is increasingly seen as an unfair competitive tactic.
On the other hand, for average or lower-income consumers, PDD’s prices may feel just right. The products meet daily needs and may even improve quality of life. If you browse Malaysian forums or speak with everyday shoppers, acceptance is remarkably high.
Many consumers do not see low prices as the problem. Instead, they ask why other sellers are charging so much more for what appear to be the same items.
Jx: Yes, but mainly as a customer acquisition hook.
“Free shipping with no minimum purchase” is a very powerful message in Singapore and Malaysia because shoppers immediately understand the value. It also positions PDD sharply against Taobao, Lazada, and Shopee that have minimum purchase amounts for free shipping.
But the problem is that the rest of the experience makes this promise sound like gambling on a PDD purchase. A machine-translated app, Chinese-language terms and conditions, and a seven-day return policy that makes little sense when delivery takes 14 to 21 days all create friction.
From a communications perspective, PDD has a strong offer but a weak reassurance layer. Low prices get people to try. Trust determines whether they come back to buy higher-value items such as furniture and electronics.
Consumers judge e-commerce platforms not only when things go right, but when things go wrong: refunds, returns, disputes, missing items, damaged products. If PDD wants low prices to feel like a benefit rather than a lottery ticket, it needs to communicate buyer protection, return policies, customer service, and quality standards much more clearly.
Question 2: Is PDD’s Southeast Asia campaign a short-term opportunistic move, or a long-term strategy?
Sam: This is classic PDD playbook behavior: test first, adjust on the fly, and if the returns are good, pour in resources without hesitation.
PDD does not usually ease into things. It moves fast to validate the ROI model as quickly as possible. Once it confirms the model works, it typically rolls out a long-term user acquisition plan. From what I’m seeing in Malaysia, the initial results suggest its spending is paying off.
As for whether the current approach reflects his long-term strategic intent, it remains unclear at the moment. Moreover, even if PDD is willing to pursue it, much depends on whether policies will allow it. It is too early to draw any firm conclusion now.
Jx: We can’t tell at this point. There’s nothing contradictory about a shorter term market testing followed by a longer term localization plan if the numbers work out.
AliExpress is a useful reference point. It started with pure cross-border e-commerce, then gradually added local warehouses, faster delivery options, and local return services accompanied by higher prices of 10-30% in some markets such as Spain. PDD may need a similar evolution. Otherwise, it remains a cheap import channel, not a trusted local platform.
Question 3: Is PDD’s “strategic silence” a wise move?
Sam: PDD’s communication style has always been unusual. It is extremely low-profile externally, vague on strategic messaging, and in many cases says nothing publicly about major decisions.
It reflects a very Chinese “less talk, more action” philosophy. PDD seems to prefer letting results speak for themselves rather than telegraphing its moves in advance.
This mindset runs deep among many non-tech Chinese business operators. PDD’s silence may look strange to outsiders, but internally, it may simply be part of the company’s operating system.
One can also argue that international companies such as Apple adopt a similar culture to keep most information under wraps until they are fully executed.
Jx: Strategic silence can be useful during a rapid market experiment because it gives a company flexibility and avoids overcommitting publicly. However, silence becomes a liability when consumers, regulators, merchants, and investors begin asking questions about quality control, returns, taxes, and long-term intentions.
There is a simple way to frame this: when building a brand, you can stay low-profile; when developing a market, you need to be visible; when playing the long game, you should be transparent (做品牌可低调，做市场需高调，做长期该透明).
PDD has clearly mastered the first half. Its advertising is highly visible, aggressive, and effective. The challenge is the longer term. This matters even more because Taobao is not staying silent. In its recent Singapore free-shipping announcement, Taobao sent a press release to the local media and communicated the offer details, eligibility, duration, and customer benefits in a way that is easy for local consumers to understand. If PDD remains relatively opaque while Taobao becomes clearer and more localized in its messaging, the latter might capture a larger share of cross-border shoppers, especially customers who value certainty over lower prices.
About the authors
JX (Jaxon) Tan founded Momentum AI Communications, a boutique PR consultancy based in Singapore, with a focus on sparking engagement, social listening and online surveys. He was previously based in China, where he led international communications for BGI Genomics and was head of content (APAC) for PR Newswire. Reach him on LinkedIn.
Sam Tang, founder of Momentum, focuses on Chinese brands and brands in China. Ex-Apple. He worked more than ten years in China as a business writer and marketing expert. His experience covers high-tech, consumer goods and media platforms, varying from multinational corporations to innovative start-ups.
