A new Southeast Asia report says missing payment options cost sales at checkout, and Indonesia shows it most. Here is what sellers abroad should know.
In Indonesia, 51% of online shoppers dropped a purchase in the past three months because the store did not offer their preferred way to pay. That figure comes from a new report by payments company Xendit and research firm Cube Asia. It covers six Southeast Asian markets.
Southeast Asia's online sales reached $197 billion in 2025. They are on track to approach $400 billion by 2031. The report draws on a survey of 6,000 online shoppers, a survey of 25 business leaders, Xendit's platform data and Cube Asia's research. Its main point is that checkout now decides whether interest turns into a sale.
Cash on delivery is fading across the region, but shoppers have not settled on one replacement. Each market is moving its own way.
Some links are forming between countries. Indonesia's QRIS already works across borders with Thailand's PromptPay and Malaysia's DuitNow. A shopper in one market can pay in another using apps they already have.
Of the business leaders surveyed, 92% said offering many payment methods is important or critical to growth. Only 12% believe their payment setup is ready for the next decade. Cost is the top worry, and many find local payment methods slow to launch in a new market. The report says a local payment can pass through several middlemen, and each one adds fees and time. Xendit says it connects directly to local payment systems to avoid that. It sells this service, so that claim is the company's own.
Only 8% of business leaders rank fraud among their top two payment concerns today. 48% expect it to be there within five years. Cross-border orders are the most likely to be flagged as risky, even when the buyer is genuine. Tighter controls that still let good customers through will protect sales.
AI is also changing who clicks buy. Most shoppers in the region already use generative AI tools to research and compare products. The first purchases made by AI agents on a shopper's behalf are likely to arrive in 2027. Those agents would need to be verified and follow limits such as a spending cap. They leave no human browsing trail, so businesses will need new ways to handle disputes.
If you sell across borders, check that your checkout offers the payment methods each market prefers, because shoppers leave when theirs is missing.
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