Meta is aggressively expanding its social platform-based commerce ecosystem in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. The company aims to integrate unique APAC consumer behaviors, such as the December 12 shopping event, with AI-driven tools to facilitate the entire process from discovery to purchase and post-purchase support on its platforms.
On August 13, Meta held an online briefing for media in the APAC region to announce these developments.
◆ "AI Tools Available Regardless of Business Size"
Benjamin Joe, Vice President and Head of Meta's APAC region, stated, "Meta aims to be the best platform for business growth, supporting all businesses—from individual entrepreneurs to large advertisers—with the same AI-based marketing tools to drive growth."
In the second quarter of 2026, Meta reported a 28% increase in revenue compared to the same period last year, with 3.6 billion people using at least one Meta family app daily. Over 9 million small businesses are utilizing at least one generative AI advertising creative tool, and the adoption rate of image generation features more than doubled in the second quarter. Meta is enhancing its ad exposure prediction and ranking systems using large language models (LLMs), which is improving ad relevance and conversion performance.
◆ Half of APAC Consumers Purchase via Social Platforms
An annual holiday shopping survey commissioned by Meta and conducted by Ipsos revealed distinct shopping patterns among APAC consumers. Key findings include: 69% of APAC consumers prefer shopping on December 12 over Black Friday (49%); 47% shop on New Year's Day, more than double the 19% in North America; 50% of purchases in APAC are made through social platforms, exceeding the global average of 37%; consumers who discover products on Meta platforms spend 1.3 times more than those who do not; and trust in creator product reviews is 6 percentage points higher than in other regions.
To target these consumer behaviors, Meta is offering a multi-layered commerce solution that includes live broadcast ads, affiliate partnerships, product tagging, and Meta Business Agents. Live broadcast ads utilize the live streaming itself as advertising material, allowing for broadcasts without separate production and enabling transmission in about two minutes without sales commissions. Affiliate partnerships allow creators to recommend products and earn commissions on sales, collaborating with regional retailers like Shopee in Singapore, Lazada in Southeast Asia, and Flipkart and Myntra in India. Over the past year, more than 10 million creators in the APAC region have linked their Facebook accounts with affiliate partners, generating over $24 million in commissions in the past month alone.
Product tagging replaces the previous 'profile link' method, allowing creators to tag products directly in Reels and feed posts, with a 'commission eligible' label for transparency. Meta Business Agents are AI agents that automatically handle customer inquiries and order processing 24/7, integrated with platforms like Shopify, Zendesk, and Shopee, and are currently used by 1 million businesses on WhatsApp and Messenger, with plans for expansion to Instagram.
During the briefing, Singapore-based parenting content creator Debra, who has 880,000 followers, shared her experience with affiliate partnerships. She gained trust from her followers by showcasing parenting products she used after giving birth, and reported that a brand experiencing poor sales saw a recovery after her content exposure.
◆ 160 Million Scam Ads Removed: "Safety is a Prerequisite for Expansion"
However, ensuring safety is a challenge as Meta expands. The company reported removing over 159 million scam ads and 10.9 million scam accounts from Facebook and Instagram last year. In June, Meta collaborated with international law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Department of Justice and Thailand's Royal Police, to crack down on scam crime organizations, taking action against over 1.4 million accounts, pages, and groups, and seizing more than 1 million online assets, resulting in the arrest of 63 individuals in Thailand. The user education campaign 'One Step Ahead' reached over 330 million people across 18 APAC countries, and over 99% of adjacent content in ads on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads met brand safety standards verified by third-party organizations.
In response to inquiries related to South Korea, Meta stated it is addressing celebrity impersonation scam ads using deepfake technology with facial recognition and comparison techniques. On May 24 alone, about 200 suspected scam ads targeting South Korea were removed, and ads deemed scams are automatically blocked. When asked about the launch of the product tagging feature in South Korea, they responded, "It is possible." In the context of increasing competition in short-form and live commerce, Meta expressed its intention to act as an 'enabler' that expands brands' organic voices through creators.
◆ "Advertisers Earn $3 for Every $1 Invested: ROI Increases 30% Annually"
In response to questions about investment returns, Meta revealed that advertisers earn an average of $3 for every $1 invested on its platform, with this return on investment (ROI) increasing by 30% annually. This success is attributed to advancements in AI-based ad predictions and audience matching.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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