Four major online shopping trends in Southeast Asia during the epidemic

E-commerce is one of the few sectors that has grown rapidly during the pandemic as lockdown measures were imposed in many parts of Southeast Asia and consumers turned to online shopping .

According to a survey of six major markets in Southeast Asia by GfK Market Intelligence, online sales of technology consumer goods (TCG) continued to soar in the first quarter of 2021. GfK's findings showed that sales in Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam increased by 43 %, or US$594 million, in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the first quarter of 2020.

Alexander Dehmel, head of market insights for Asia at GfK, said : “ The e-commerce market in Southeast Asia is very strong and has grown rapidly over the past two years, with the number of online shoppers growing rapidly . The pandemic was a key trigger , forcing many offline consumers to shop online . ”

Indonesia is one of the markets with the most stable growth in e-commerce contribution. Its online sales share in the total TCG market value has been growing, from 14% in 2019, 19% in 2020, to 23% in the most recent period, for three consecutive years. Singapore (22%) and Thailand (22%) are the two markets where online sales contributed more than 20% to the total TCG market in the first quarter of 2021.

According to research from market intelligence firm GfK, four key online shopping trends emerged during the survey period :

Tablet sales increased 80% in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020, and sales of mobile computing devices showed a similar growth trend, increasing from 9% in 2020 to 35 % in 2021.

Appliances that make cooking easier have seen a surge in demand. For example, deep fryers and food preparation products have grown by more than 300% and 30% , respectively . Healthy eating habits have also led to a 49% increase in sales of water filters in the first quarter of 2021.

For health reasons, more frequent cleaning is performed. In the first quarter of 2021, consumers began to purchase air treatment products online , and online channels contributed more than half (51%) of total sales . In addition, vacuum cleaners also saw a large increase in data , and online sales in the region in the first quarter accounted for about half of the overall market sales .

Demand for home entertainment devices such as tablets, headphones and speakers has surged . As consumers spend more time at home, GfK's survey results in the first quarter of 2021 show that mini / Bluetooth speakers account for the highest contribution of online sales at 75%, while headphones account for 65%. The rise of home gaming has also stimulated demand in the gaming market, with sales increasing by $270 million compared to the first quarter of 2020.

Southeast Asia

E-commerce