After missing out on a big rebound in 2021, Southeast Asia’s total retail and ecommerce sales are both set to boom this year. Indonesia—set for a standout year—will shape the region’s metrics and account for nearly 65% of Southeast Asia’s ecommerce sales.

In Southeast Asia, total media ad spending snapped back to pre-pandemic levels in 2021 and will continue rising strongly this year. The growth in digital ad spending, though tamer in 2022, will again outpace that of the overall ad market.

Asia-Pacific will no longer produce huge increases in new social network users, but the sheer scale of the region means it should remain front and center for social media marketers. Facebook will remain on top, but TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat are making waves.

AirAsia, one of the world’s largest budget airlines, is on a mission to build a regional super app. While it follows in the footsteps of titans like WeChat in China and Gojek in Southeast Asia, if AirAsia succeeds, it will blaze a path for travel and other industries not endemic to the mobile space.

Southeast Asian neobank could gain traction with SMBs: Singapore-based YouTrip is expanding to businesses, with a corporate card as its inaugural product, and is well-positioned to benefit from the region’s abundance of smaller businesses.