Tokoo vs Shopee and Lazada: Why Malaysian Sellers Need Their Own Online Store Too
Shopee and Lazada get you customers fast, but you don't own the storefront, the data, or the margin. Here's how a Tokoo store complements — or replaces — marketplace selling.
15 July 2026 · 3 min read
Shopee and Lazada are the fastest way to get in front of Malaysian shoppers who are already browsing with intent to buy. But "fast to get customers" and "good place to build a business" aren't the same question. Here's the honest comparison.
Marketplace vs platform: two different jobs
Shopee and Lazada are marketplaces — you rent a listing inside their app, and every sale competes against other sellers on their search and ranking algorithm. Tokoo is an e-commerce platform: it's the software you use to build and run your own independent store, with your own domain, on terms you set.
| Shopee / Lazada | Tokoo | |
|---|---|---|
| Who owns the storefront | The marketplace | You |
| Commission per sale | Yes, a percentage | None |
| Customer contact data | Mostly kept by the marketplace | Yours — order history, contact details |
| Branding | Limited to a shop page template | Your domain, colours, theme, layout |
| Discovery | Built-in marketplace search traffic | Your own SEO, social and WhatsApp |
| Checkout options | Marketplace's own payment flow | WhatsApp, manual methods, or online gateway |
The cost that's easy to miss: commission compounds
Marketplace commission is charged per transaction, forever, on every sale. A flat monthly platform fee behaves differently: as your sales grow, the fee stays the same, so your margin per sale improves instead of eroding. This is the core trade-off — marketplaces are a variable cost, a store platform is a fixed one.
You can't remarket to a customer you don't have contact with
On a marketplace, the customer belongs to the platform's messaging and notification system, not to you. On a Tokoo store, an order captures a phone number or account you can WhatsApp again next season, and customer accounts keep an order history scoped to your store. That's the difference between a one-time sale and a repeat customer.
Marketplace strengths
- Built-in shopper traffic and trust
- No need to drive your own discovery
Marketplace trade-offs
- Commission on every sale, forever
- You don't own the customer relationship
- Limited branding, no custom domain
Most sellers don't have to pick one
A common pattern for growing Malaysian sellers: keep a Shopee/Lazada listing for discovery and impulse buyers, and run a Tokoo store as the home base for branding, WhatsApp regulars, and repeat customers you can reach directly.
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Every plan opens a real storefront with WhatsApp ordering built in — no commission, ever.
See plansFrequently asked questions
Should I close my Shopee or Lazada store and move to Tokoo?+
Not necessarily. Many sellers run both — a marketplace listing for discovery and new customers, and their own Tokoo store for branding, margin, and customers they can contact directly. It's a channel decision, not an either/or.
Does Tokoo take a commission on sales like Shopee or Lazada?+
No. Tokoo charges a flat monthly fee (free on the entry plan) with no commission on what you sell, regardless of how much revenue your store does.
Can I keep my customers' contact details on Tokoo?+
Yes. Orders capture contact information, and customer accounts keep an order history scoped to your store — data a marketplace generally doesn't hand back to individual sellers.
Which is better for a brand-new seller with no following: a marketplace or Tokoo?+
A marketplace tends to get you your first sales faster because of built-in shopper traffic. As you build a following via WhatsApp, Instagram or TikTok, a Tokoo store becomes the better home for those repeat, direct customers.
Sources
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