As an AI application development platform under ByteDance, Coze has made initial progress in overseas markets, particularly in Southeast Asia, gradually penetrating the region through technological advantages, localization strategies, and ecosystem integration. Below is a comprehensive analysis based on public information:
Centered on no-code/low-code development, Coze supports multimodal interaction, workflow automation, and knowledge base management, targeting users including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), developers, and content creators. Its international version (Coze) differs from its domestic counterpart (Kouzi) in technical architecture: the international version supports global mainstream models such as GPT-4o and Gemini Pro, and has implemented multilingual adaptation (e.g., Indonesian, Vietnamese) and cultural compliance optimization (e.g., Islamic finance clauses, GDPR data protection) for the Southeast Asian market.
Coze has launched customized templates for vertical sectors in Southeast Asia, such as e-commerce and education. For instance, cross-border e-commerce agents can automatically generate quotes compliant with local trade rules (e.g., FOB, CIF terms) and integrate local payment gateways (e.g., Alipay International) and logistics tracking APIs (e.g., Ninja Van). Additionally, its multimodal interaction capabilities (e.g., speech recognition, image OCR) help small and medium-sized merchants quickly process product information labeling and customer inquiries, reducing operational costs.
Hardware Integration: In collaboration with Fibocom, Coze launched an AI Agent hardware solution, enabling the entire process from environment configuration to deployment within 10 minutes—suitable for the digital transformation of SMEs in Southeast Asia.
Template Store and Monetization Model: Launched in October 2024, the Template Store allows developers to publish paid templates (e.g., social media marketing tools, membership management systems) and plans to introduce a subscription revenue-sharing mechanism similar to Notion’s, attracting local developers to participate in ecosystem development.
Technical Support and Community Operations: Through online training, developer forums (e.g., CSDN, Reddit), and offline Meetups, Coze provides localized technical documentation and case studies to lower the barrier to adoption.
Cultural Adaptation: Local business etiquette is integrated into script design (e.g., using “May Allah bless your business” for Middle Eastern clients), and contract terms are adjusted in accordance with national regulations (e.g., India’s Foreign Exchange Management Act prepayment restrictions).
Social Media and Content Marketing: Success stories (e.g., a 3C brand that increased its conversion rate by 35% after using Coze’s customer service agent) are shared on platforms like TikTok and Facebook, and local KOLs are partnered with to demonstrate the practical effects of AI applications.
User Growth: After the international version launched its paid model in August 2024, user numbers continued to grow. Particularly in e-commerce-active markets like Indonesia and Vietnam, SME users account for approximately 40-50%.
Industry Cases: A cross-border e-commerce company built a multilingual customer service system via Coze, reducing response time from 3 minutes to 15 seconds and lowering the transfer rate for complex issues by 60%.
Key Competitors: Competitors in the Southeast Asian market include international low-code platforms such as Zapier, Make (formerly Integromat), and n8n, as well as local startups like Manus (focused on task automation). Coze’s differentiated advantages lie in deep integration with ByteDance’s products (e.g., Douyin Business Account, Lark Office) and multimodal interaction capabilities.
Market Share: According to industry reports, Coze’s share in Southeast Asia’s AI development platform market is still in the early stages, but its penetration in vertical sectors like e-commerce and education is higher than that of general-purpose platforms.
Insufficient Brand Awareness: Compared to mature platforms like Zapier, Coze has lower brand exposure in Southeast Asia, requiring strengthened localized marketing and customer case dissemination.
Local Payment and Logistics Integration: Although Alipay International is supported, collaboration with local Southeast Asian payment gateways (e.g., DANA, GrabPay) and logistics service providers (e.g., J&T Express) still needs to be deepened.
Developer Ecosystem Development: The quantity and quality of paid templates in the Template Store need improvement, and more local developers must be attracted to participate in creation.
Technological Upgrades: Plans to launch multi-agent systems, RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) application enhancements, and underlying large-model openness to improve complex scenario processing capabilities.
Market Expansion: Focus on expanding into high-growth e-commerce markets such as Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand, and launch industry-specific solutions in collaboration with local partners (e.g., live-streaming e-commerce agents, cross-border logistics automation tools).
Developer Incentives: Cultivate the Southeast Asian developer community through revenue-sharing mechanisms, training certifications, and competitions to drive the prosperity of the Template Store ecosystem.
Coze’s promotion in Southeast Asia focuses on technological localization and ecosystem cooperation, using no-code tools to lower the digitalization threshold for SMEs while leveraging ByteDance’s traffic advantages to enter vertical scenarios like e-commerce and education. Despite challenges in brand awareness and ecosystem development, its differentiated multimodal interaction and cultural compliance capabilities provide potential for long-term competition in the Southeast Asian market. In the future, if Coze further deepens local payment and logistics integration and expands its developer community, it is expected to gain a foothold in Southeast Asia’s AI development platform market.
