As 2022 reaches its inevitable end, the final iteration of the monthly sales has come. The 12.12 year-end sale typically arrives at a convenient time for the holiday season.

However, as the world still grapples with inflation, shoppers have cut back on their spending habits, much to the concern of e-commerce platforms.

Online still reigns supreme

As concerns of shopper fatigue set it, it is comforting for e-commerce platforms to know that online shopping remains massively popular. In a 2022 year-end Blackbox-ADNA survey covering six Southeast Asian countries, 44% of polled Southeast Asians reported that online shopping with both local and international deliveries is their preferred way of shopping.

Online shopping with local deliveries appears to be particularly popular among Singaporeans (35%), Vietnamese (34%), and Malaysians (33%) with other countries not that far off. Online shopping became normalised during the massive lockdowns at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. It also helps that extensive supply chains and logistics infrastructure has facilitated a smoother shopping experience for many in Southeast Asia.

Opinions on e-commerce platforms have remained quite favourable among Southeast Asian shoppers. Notable regional brands such as Shopee (91%) and Lazada (90%) that are based in Singapore are viewed relatively favourably compared to other Chinese and American e-commerce brands. Unfortunately, Carousell’s history of unsavoury sellers meant that shoppers are less than willing to engage with the platform.

Even physical locations like shopping malls (17%) and districts (14%) have not evaded the influence of online shopping. Many retailers with physical stores such as Love, Bonito in Singapore’s Funan mall started out as online blogshops before going for a mix online-offline sales model to reach out to more customers. 

Two of the core reasons why online shopping is so popular among Southeast Asian shoppers is both convenience and discounts. E-commerce platforms typically provide delivery services to the door, much to the convenience of shoppers.

Filipinos appear to be most swayed by discounts and sales with 44% of respondents looking for a good deal. Given concerns over currency valuation, it is understandable that discounts would be of greater importance among Filipinos and Indonesians to a lesser extent.

It also helps that platform discounts and sales such as 12.12 provide value for money deals in the eyes of shoppers. 70% of Southeast Asian shoppers are likely to purchase items during peak online sales seasons. This also may explain why e-commerce platforms have persisted with these monthly sales despite worries over shopper fatigue and inflation.

Incentivising Shoppers

As e-commerce platforms grapple with less-than-ideal revenues and the wave of retrenchments, platforms still need to find ways to keep their existing shopper base and attract new customers. This may prove difficult as the main attraction of online shopping are the discounts and sales. As e-commerce platforms switch away from a “growth at all costs” mentality to one of sustainable business growth, it is unclear if these platforms can continue to afford such discounts.

Perhaps these platforms need to leverage on other advantages, namely variety and being up to date on trends. Fast fashion, however, remains popular among shoppers despite environmental concerns so cost will always be a major factor.

Even as the world struggles with inflation woes, people still need to shop, and Southeast Asians enjoy their online shopping. To learn more about how e-commerce platforms can continue this consumer trend, reach out to us on connect@blackbox.com.sg.