3 ways to spice up your marketing for the year-end shopping season

As the year comes to a close, brands and consumers alike are gearing up for the festive shopping season once again. The festive experience, according to Criteo, will drive in-store shopping as consumers enjoy the in-person shopping experience. Meanwhile, Criteo's insights from last year's consumer behaviour showed that they enjoyed being able to see and touch items that they are purchasing, getting better shopping ideas in store, and being able to make last-minute purchases if needed.

Search engines were found to be the most popular way consumers discovered products across categories such as apparel, consumer electronics, home furnishing and sporting goods last year, Criteo's MD, Southeast Asia and India, Taranjeet Singh said, citing its Consumer Sentiment Index Survey. This was followed closely by physical stores, brand websites or apps, retail websites or apps, and online ads. Hence, it is crucial for brands to have a strong omnichannel strategy to stand out, enable discovery and ultimately, encourage engagement and purchase during the retail experience.

Although the festive season might just be a month away, consumers are already considering their gift purchases months ahead of the holiday season. This is especially relevant for consumers in Southeast Asia, with the growth of double-day sales popularity in the lead up to the year-end sales. 

Apart from the major 9.9 and 11.11, regional retailers and eCommerce sites have also been rolling out monthly promotions such as 6.6 and 10.10 shopping festivals to drive sales. This creates opportunities for consumers to make advanced holiday gift purchases, and retailers should note to make these moments count, and capture the attention of their shoppers in advance of year-end seasonal shopping moments.

According to Singh, a key way that brands can do this is more meaningfully, apart from their existing digital mediums, is through video and connected TV. Citing its State of Video and Connected TV report, Singh said that around 51% of video and connected TV viewers in Asia Pacific confirmed that video streaming services have influenced their purchasing decisions in the last 12 months.

At the same time, shoppers who prefer online shopping also attributed their preference to the convenience that online shopping brings. This is especially apparent for younger consumers such as Gen Z and Millennials. Others reported a higher propensity to buy gifts online as they believe they’ll be able to find better prices.

Brands need to first relook at their commerce media strategy or put one in place. After identifying their main shopper demographics, Singh said brands can then leverage awareness, consideration, and conversion campaigns during the festive shopping season to drive audiences from one stage of the customer journey to the next. 

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Which shopping festival was the most popular in Southeast Asia?

The 12.12. shopping festival was the most popular one among Indonesian consumers last year, followed by 11.11 and 10.10, according to statistics from Criteo. On the other hand, no sales spike was observed during Black Friday.

For 12.12, Criteo found that online retail sales and traffic increased 196% and 63% respectively in Indonesia last year compared to 2019. 11.11 saw a 151% and 51% spike in online retail sales and traffic respectively, while 10.10 had a 46% and 18% increase in online retail sales and traffic respectively.

This was in line with the overall trend in Southeast Asia which also saw 12.12 emerge as the largest shopping festival for the region last year. Online retail sales and traffic for 12.12 increased 305% and 127% respectively, while 11.11 increased 296% and 116% respectively. On the other hand, 10.10 did not see as much traction, with only a 95% and 36% increase in online retail sales and traffic last year.

Meanwhile, 11.11 remained the most popular sales festival in Singapore and Vietnam. Singapore saw a 347% increase in retail sales and a 253% increase in product views. 12.12 recorded the second-highest increase in sales, at 210%. Other notable increases in 2020 for Singapore included a 137% increase in sales during 10.10, and a 124% increase in sales during the Black Friday period.

Vietnam had a 378% increase in online retail sales and 126% increase in traffic for 11.11. 12.12. in Vietnam recorded an increase in online retail sales of 369% and an increase in traffic of 150%. Meanwhile, 10.10 had a 171% increase in online retail sales and 47% increase in traffic. Black Friday did see an impact on Vietnam, recording an increase in online retail sales and traffic of 78% and 48% respectively. Nonetheless, it still lagged behind the three other online shopping festivals.

Singh said while there has been tremendous growth in Double Day sales over the last two years, it is seeing that the growth in eCommerce (when compared with their respective baseline year) have been slowing down as more in the region get accustomed to remote work, life, and play. This is especially apparent for 11.11 sales in Southeast Asia, where 2019 recorded a 369.4% growth in retail sales, while this slowed to 296.6% in 2020, Singh explained.

While retail sales continue to grow, Criteo sees that the rate of growth is narrowing. "It is thus more important than ever for brands to understand consumer habits across online and offline platforms, and relook campaign strategies so that they can stand out from competitors and gain greater market share," Singh added.

Will monthly Double Day sales days impact shopping festivals?

This year saw the emergence of monthly Double Day sales days in Southeast Asia. Despite this, Criteo said 10.10, 11.11, and 12.12 continue to be one of the best performing sales festivals in the region. A key reason why Singles’ Day continues to drive the largest traffic and sales in Singapore and Vietnam is because it is one of the first Double Day sales in the region, with the very first 11.11 sales dating to 1993.

However, as more consumers get accustomed to remote work, life and play, with growing preferences for eCommerce, it is likely that the sales and traffic performance curve will flatten and even out across different double day sales, based on the offers that are available to consumers.

For instance, in Singapore, Criteo said that even though the traffic curve experienced as much spikes as the sales curve, the conversion rate during these major sales moments are way higher than average – indicating that while there is a steady stream of audience visiting these eCommerce sites, the major sales moments from brands drive actual conversion.

According to the Criteo Product Insights finder, there were indeed sales spikes in Southeast Asia specifically for the apparels and accessories category during the following double-day 2.2, 3.3, 5.5, 6.6, 7.7, 8.8, 9.9 and 10.10 moments in 2021. This, however, was not surprising given that the region gained 70 million more consumers during the pandemic, and more consumers are shopping online throughout the year.

That said, the scale of 11.11 and 12.12 shopping festivals remains a lot larger than other Double Day sales as the longest-standing ecommerce moments in the region, so sales spikes are expected to be a lot higher than the rest of the months.

However, as the brands gradually roll out more attractive Double Day sales offers consistently through the months, Criteo said the industry likely to see even more sales spikes across earlier Double Day moments in the region. This come as more consumers are making advanced holiday gift purchases.

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Photo courtesy: 123RF

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