Shopee releases 2021 consumer insights before peak season: Five major user portraits reflect online shopping trends in Southeast Asia

July 27, 2021, China - Recently, Shopee, a leading cross-border e-commerce platform, announced new consumer insights in Southeast Asia for 2021: After surveying nearly 40,000 consumers in multiple markets including Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, etc., Shopee found that online shopping preferences in Southeast Asia have gradually differentiated, with shopping groups such as "cost-conscious", "shopping while shopping", "convenience-seeking", "bounty hunters" and "brand loyalists" reflecting the booming and diverse development trend of Southeast Asia's online shopping economy after the epidemic, and providing a reference for cross-border sellers preparing for peak season promotions.

Type 1: “Frugal”, patient and decisive, seeking the best value for money

Among the nearly 40,000 consumers who participated in the survey , the “budget-conscious” type of consumers accounted for the highest proportion on average. They are keen on online shopping, have clear shopping plans, and can patiently wait for promotional events to find the best price-performance ratio for their favorite products.

High shopping frequency : According to the survey results, more than half of the "budget-conscious" consumers in the market maintain a fixed online shopping frequency. Taking the Thai market as an example, more than 60% of consumers shop online every week ; in the Vietnamese market, the proportion of consumers who make online purchases every two weeks is as high as 87% .

Clear shopping plans : In addition, “budget-conscious” consumers generally have very clear shopping plans. In the Philippines, 66% of such consumers will confirm their orders after browsing up to 5 items; in Thailand, nearly half of consumers will make “shopping plans” a few days in advance, patiently wait for promotional discounts, and quickly harvest their favorite products.

In response to the shopping preferences of "budget-conscious" consumers, Shopee sets up a "Double Day" promotion node every month, with various on-site discount activities and rich rewards to increase user repurchase rate and subtly cultivate consumers' online shopping habits. At the same time, with the arrival of the peak season in the second half of the year, Shopee Cross-border will also launch a series of incentive policies to help more domestic merchants win the favor of "budget-conscious" consumers and trigger peak season traffic.

Type 2: “Shopping while browsing”, looking more and buying more, often making impulse purchases

As online shopping in Southeast Asia becomes more popular year by year, the wide variety of products on the Shopee platform has also catalyzed the emergence of "shopping while browsing" consumers. Such consumers attach great importance to the online shopping experience and pay special attention to whether there are enough diverse products and categories on the e-commerce platform for selection .

Impulsive shopping : For this type of consumers, once they find a product they like, it is difficult for them to give up buying it, so impulse shopping is also a common feature of them. In the Vietnamese market, up to 70% of "shopping while browsing" consumers have experienced impulse shopping.

Frequent browsing : “Shopping while browsing” consumers enjoy the pre-purchase experience of browsing product lists aimlessly. Their main goal is to find the product that appeals to them from the dazzling array of goods. In the Thai market, more than 80% of such consumers will browse nearly 10 items before finally placing an order.

To meet the needs, Shopee's live broadcast function Shopee Live allows "shopping while shopping" consumers to browse through various live broadcast rooms, communicate directly with merchants, resolve purchase concerns, and experience the fun of "shopping". In addition, in order to make the products on the platform more diversified, Shopee Cross-border is also actively supporting more types of merchants and more potential categories to go overseas, giving full play to the richness of the domestic supply chain, improving the platform categories, and benefiting more "shopping while shopping" groups.

Type 3: "Convenience-seeking", convenience is king, and home delivery is their favorite

Under the influence of the home quarantine policy in Southeast Asia, Shopee's convenient and safe online shopping experience has successfully won the hearts of "convenience-seeking" consumers. Most of these consumers are older and have clear shopping purposes . Home delivery is their primary reason for choosing online shopping .

Older age : The survey results show that most of the "convenience-seeking" consumers are older. In the Thai market, for example, more than 50% of this type of consumers are over 35 years old; in the Singapore market, this age group accounts for more than 2/3.

Clear shopping purpose : This type of consumers also have very clear shopping purposes. They rarely browse product lists and usually use more direct methods to find their favorite products. Taking the Philippine market as an example, about 50% of consumers will directly use keyword searches or chat with sellers to find products that suit them.

In order to allow more consumers to experience the convenience of door-to-door delivery, Shopee has continuously strengthened its logistics coverage and warehousing capabilities, realizing full-process shopping assistance from product retrieval to door-to-door delivery. In recent years, the platform's express delivery business Shopee Express has rapidly expanded its geographical coverage and actively penetrated into second- and third-tier cities and rural users. At the same time, more and more cross-border brands and sellers have begun to rely on Shopee's efficient cross-border logistics services to build a local warehouse delivery network and enjoy lower costs and more traffic.

Type 4: “Bounty Hunters”, who want both value and new products

For "bounty hunters", shopping on Shopee is like playing a level-breaking game. This group of people are keen to study the various discount tools and purchase rules on the platform in depth. Gifts, points, cashback and other purchases that can bring direct benefits are their favorites.

Younger age : Data shows that Generation Z has a more thorough understanding of the various gameplay and rules within the platform and is more likely to become a "bounty hunter." Taking the Vietnamese market as an example, one-third of consumers in this type of shopping group are under the age of 18.

Dare to try new products : In addition, "bounty hunters" are also very keen to try new things. Survey data shows that in the Vietnamese and Singaporean markets, more than half of "bounty hunters" are more inclined to find and buy new products that they have never bought before when shopping.

For bounty hunters, shopping is no longer simply about buying products, but a combination of entertainment and benefits. With insight into consumer demand, Shopee's in-app game matrix will provide massive discounts and preferential rewards at every major promotion node. Bounty hunters only need to participate in popular games such as Shopee Farm and Shopee Bubble every day to get rich rewards such as shrimp coins and store coupons.

Type 5: "Brand Loyalty", high loyalty, strong user stickiness

As the digitalization of brands accelerates, many loyal fans of brands are choosing to buy their favorite brand products on Shopee. Unlike “budget-conscious” consumers, “loyal fans of brands” are keen to buy products from their favorite brands and expect to receive exclusive discounts and membership points from the corresponding brands . They are less sensitive to prices and value whether there are many brands for them to choose from on the e-commerce platform.

To help more "brand loyalists" find their favorite products on the platform, Shopee holds a Super Brand Day on October 10 every year, where over 25,000 brands in the mall will bring unparalleled discounts to fans. At the same time, Shopee has recently launched the Shopee Mall membership program to help brands establish deeper connections with existing users and potential customers, and further improve loyalty and user stickiness.

At the same time, in order to help brands and sellers quickly open up traffic and expand the public domain customer base, Shopee has also joined forces with the two leading platforms, Facebook and Google, to carry out exclusive off-site advertising cooperation, combining the advantages of multiple parties to jointly explore the bonus traffic pool and promote the efficient flow of Southeast Asian audiences from outside to inside.

In 2021, digitalization is penetrating every corner of Southeast Asia at an unprecedented speed. As more and more consumers begin to rely on online shopping, a new form of consumption, Shopee has also seen more diversified shopping preferences and development trends. The second half of the year is approaching, and Shopee will continue to listen to user feedback, promote the iteration of platform functions and upgrade the service system, meet consumer demand with richer product types and more interesting shopping experiences, and provide business upgrades and digital transformation opportunities for merchants.

Shopee

Southeast Asia

Online shopping