Tenfold efficiency increase: How a Zhejiang women's shoe seller achieved a leap in orders on Shopee

As a new engine for global e-commerce growth, the Southeast Asian market is increasingly becoming a new blue ocean for Chinese overseas sellers.

According to eMarketer data, Southeast Asia's e-commerce market revenue will reach US$113.9 billion in 2023, with a growth rate of 18.6%, far exceeding the global average of 8.9%. This rapid growth, coupled with Southeast Asia's huge demographic dividend, high investment in the digital economy, and the widespread use of mobile devices, has built a huge market foundation for cross-border e-commerce.

In the current wave of globalization, Chinese sellers are increasingly enthusiastic about expanding overseas markets. With its unique market positioning and strong service support, Shopee has become an ideal partner for cross-border sellers to enter the international stage.

Southeast Asia has a population of over 650 million, of which more than 50% are young people under the age of 30, with 427 million Internet users and an Internet penetration rate of 75%. This young population structure not only indicates huge consumption potential, but also contains unlimited development prospects.

As one of the fastest growing categories, fast fashion is attracting more and more attention from cross-border sellers. According to Statista data, the global fast fashion industry is expected to reach US$185 billion in 2027, with a compound annual growth rate of 11.7% from 2022 to 2027. The pursuit of fashion by young people in Southeast Asia has supported a huge fast fashion market, providing huge market opportunities for cross-border sellers.

1. Using supply chain advantages, Zhejiang sellers enter the Southeast Asian market from women's shoes

A company from Zhejiang has created Namvitae, a leading women's shoe brand in Southeast Asia . How did it do it?

Talking about his overseas expansion, the brand manager of Namvitae said that he had been involved in cross-border e-commerce related businesses since 2019, and the first one he did was the Shopee platform, and he has been doing it until now. He said frankly that in Southeast Asia, Shopee is an indispensable partner for sellers to do cross-border e-commerce . According to statistics from Momentum Works, the total e-commerce transaction volume of the Shopee platform in various markets in Southeast Asia in 2023 was US$55.1 billion, accounting for 48% of the market share.

A research report by Changjiang Securities shows that Shopee's optimized logistics system and easy-to-use operation logic have made it a leader in the Southeast Asian e-commerce market and attracted a large number of Chinese cross-border sellers. Its convenient backend operating system is of great help to sellers who are new to cross-border e-commerce. The user-friendly interface design simplifies the operation process, encourages sellers to increase investment, and drives business to grow exponentially and produce a cumulative effect.

The head of the Namvitae brand said that the company initially entered the women's bag market. Although women's bags and women's shoes belong to the same field of women's fashion and target the same consumer groups, their operating strategies and market positioning are significantly different. Therefore, when determining the business direction, the company conducts in-depth market analysis and precise positioning to meet specific consumer needs and stand out from the competition.

" Supply chain is crucial ," concluded the head of Namvitae brand. Because the company is located in Zhejiang, it is surrounded by abundant women's shoes supply chain resources, and Dongyang, Zhejiang, as an important production base for women's shoes, has mature shoemaking technology and rich industrial resources.

Compared with the initial women's bag business, the women's shoes sector has more convenient resource allocation and fewer operational challenges. The head of the Namvitae brand assessed the situation and shifted the focus of the business to the women's shoes market. After researching the Southeast Asian market, the head found that the local women's shoes market has great potential. As women's spending power increases, it is expected to maintain rapid growth, which adds confidence to Namvitae's transformation.

Naturally, Namvitae faced many challenges when it first entered the Southeast Asian market, especially logistics. Fortunately, the localized fulfillment service provided by the Shopee platform provided strong support for the brand and effectively alleviated this pain point. With Shopee's localized fulfillment solution, Namvitae was able to overcome logistics obstacles and ensure that its products could be delivered to consumers efficiently and conveniently.

2. Order volume increased 10 times! Shopee's localized fulfillment service helps sellers to increase sales

In the women's shoes market, fashion trends change very quickly, and the maturity of the e-commerce environment in Southeast Asia has led to a continuous increase in consumers' expectations for online shopping experience. This trend forces sellers to speed up the efficiency of logistics and inventory turnover to meet the market's demand for quick response and high service standards.

The head of Namvitae brand admitted that Shopee's localized fulfillment service helped them solve a big problem. Thanks to Shopee's logistics support, Namvitae can now stock up in small batches and in a more refined manner, which not only reduces the risk of inventory backlogs, but also allows them to flexibly adjust their stocking strategies according to market trends.

Through this model, Namvitae can send products directly to overseas warehouses. Once customers place an order, they can be quickly shipped from local warehouses. Usually, customers can receive the products within 2-3 days . This efficient logistics experience has a clear competitive advantage in the local Southeast Asian market, which can almost be said to be a "dimensionality reduction attack."

During the 9.9 promotion that just ended some time ago , Namvitae's Shopee store achieved a significant increase in orders, with the Philippines market being the most obvious. The head of the Namvitae brand said that the company has focused on the Philippines market this year, and this year's order volume has increased by about 9-10 times compared to last year .

The head of Namvitae brand said that during the promotion period, Shopee's localized fulfillment service played an important role. For hot-selling products, Shopee's localized fulfillment team will provide targeted stocking suggestions to avoid product out-of-stock affecting the pace of hot sales.

After solving the pain point of logistics fulfillment, Namvitae's unique insights into product selection also benefited it greatly on the road to becoming a "big seller".

Take the Malaysian market as an example. Its unique culture and religious background significantly affect consumer preferences. Most of the local consumers are Muslims. When choosing products, they will pay attention to whether the product style and color are in line with their religious beliefs. For example, they prefer conservative colors when choosing women's shoes. In addition, accurate consumer insights also affect product selection strategies. Local consumers have a more significant demand for large-size shoes, so Namvitae handles Malaysian market orders independently during the new product development and mold making stages to ensure that the shoe sizes meet the needs of local consumers and better serve the market.

The head of Namvitae brand said that taking the Thai and Vietnamese markets as examples, their main consumer groups are showing a trend of getting younger. McKinsey research shows that by 2025, Generation Z will account for a quarter of the total population in the Asia-Pacific region, and young consumers in Thailand and Vietnam are very interested in fashion and trendy products. Vietnam has a median age of 27 and ranks third in population in Southeast Asia, making it a hot spot for young consumers. Therefore, when formulating product strategies, Namvitae takes into account the needs and preferences of young consumers to adapt to changes in the Southeast Asian market.

3. Accurately reach target users, Shopee's all-round marketing matrix

“After locking in the target group, we will reach consumers through the full-range marketing matrix provided by Shopee, which is mainly a combination of on-site and off-site advertising,” concluded the brand manager of Namvitae.

"Most of them are still based on in-site advertising, which is a more intuitive display ad on Shopee. Although it looks simple, the return rate can always be maintained at a good level. In terms of off-site advertising, we will place our ads on social media that locals like to use, and do a customized promotion for the customer groups mentioned above. "

In addition to Shopee’s in-site advertising, Namvitae has recently been exposed to some new forms of advertising on the Shopee platform. According to the head of the Namvitae brand, the company has been trying Shopee Live for more than three months, and the results are quite good.

"For us, the format of live streaming overseas is similar to that in China. The only difference is that the live streaming is done by locals, who use the local language to show the shoes in the live streaming room."

Regarding the live streaming e-commerce model, the head of the Namvitae brand is very optimistic about its future development prospects in the Southeast Asian market. Judging from the development trend of live streaming e-commerce in China, there is still a lot of room for development in live streaming e-commerce in Southeast Asia.

Next, Namvitae plans to try more advertising formats on the Shopee platform to prepare for the peak season sprint at the end of the year.

4. As the year-end peak season approaches, Namvitae is betting on branding

In anticipation of this year's 11.11 promotion, the Namvitae brand demonstrated its keen grasp of market opportunities and efficient execution. The brand manager revealed that in order to cope with the sales peak during the promotion, Namvitae had basically completed most of the stocking work through Shopee's localized fulfillment service as early as mid-to-late October to ensure sufficient inventory to meet the expected high demand.

In addition, Namvitae also made full use of the various marketing resources provided by the platform and actively participated in all available promotional activities to maximize brand exposure and engagement. More importantly, Namvitae began to proactively reach out to its fans and customer groups about a week in advance, creating a strong atmosphere of anticipation for the 11.11 promotion through warm-up activities.

After careful preparation, Namvitae achieved record sales during the recently concluded Shopee 11.11 promotion, with the brand’s orders surging on the day of the promotion, reaching more than five times the usual level . In particular, its overseas warehouse shipments achieved a significant increase of 84% during the peak of the 10.10 promotion.

Looking ahead to the future development of the Namvitae brand, the brand manager emphasized that in the future, more attention will be paid to shaping the brand image and strengthening the product personality. Last year, Namvitae adopted a relatively simple approach to packaging. However, with the adjustment of the brand strategy, Namvitae realized that in order to better meet consumers' pursuit of high-quality life and enhance the brand's market competitiveness, efforts must be made in packaging design.

Starting this year, almost all Namvitae products are equipped with exquisite shoe boxes. The new packaging not only protects the products better, but also allows consumers to feel the brand's dedication and the unique value of the products through creative and aesthetic design the moment they open the box.

The head of the Namvitae brand frankly pointed out that the challenges of creating hits in the Southeast Asian market are increasing. The popularity of social media in Southeast Asia has had a significant impact on the fashion trends of women's shoes. Local consumers often go to Shopee to search for the same product after seeing a certain shoe on social media, which leads to rapid changes in the fashion trends of women's shoes.

Although the diversification of product styles does bring certain challenges to creating hits, from a macro perspective, women's shoes are still an emerging field with great growth potential in the Southeast Asian market. According to data from CICC Research, the Southeast Asian footwear market is the third largest in Asia, with the total market size of its six major countries reaching US$48.747 billion in 2023. With the rapid development of e-commerce channels and changes in consumer shopping habits, women's shoes have great growth potential in the Southeast Asian market.

In the new market space, new opportunities continue to emerge. With the support of the Shopee platform, the head of the Namvitae brand has firm confidence in the future development prospects of the brand. The rapid growth of e-commerce in Southeast Asia has provided huge market opportunities for women's shoe brands. It is expected that by 2025, the scale of the Southeast Asian e-commerce market will increase from US$120 billion in 2021 to US$234 billion. In such a market environment, Namvitae is expected to achieve sustained growth and expansion of brand influence in the Southeast Asian market through precise market positioning and effective brand strategy.

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