#MarketingExcellenceAwards SG 2021 highlights: Shopee reaps rewards of 11.11 marketing blitz

The past two years have seen a massive rise in eCommerce as companies adapted to the changing consumer demands.

While the 11.11 shopping festival is usually a time for celebration and scoring of the best deals, this festival had an added significance for Shopee in 2020. The eCommerce platform's goal was to leverage the region’s biggest shopping event to connect users, in particular, new-to-online users to eCommerce merchants, all from the comfort of their home.

With this goal in mind, Shopee sought to understand the consumers and Southeast Asia, in order to create relevant strategies for its 11.11 campaign. The execution saw Shopee bagging the gold award for Excellence in Mobile Marketing at MARKETING-INTERACTIVE's Marketing Excellence Awards 2021. 

Challenge

ECommerce has grown in importance for consumers and businesses, but yet, pre-pandemic, eCommerce accounted for less than 5% of all retail sales. While in 2020, more than 40 million digital consumers came online, many had no prior experience with eCommerce.

At the same time, many local businesses also found themselves struggling during as footfalls dwindled due to movement controls. Coupled with the fact that many local small and medium businesses had little to no experience with digital services, Shopee knew it had a role to play in easing the friction points.

But doing so also had its own challenges.

According to Shopee, its 11.11 campaign was faced with two main issues. Firstly, the eCommerce platform had to create awareness of the brands in the cluttered competitive landscape with a campaign that resonated with its target audience. Secondly, eCommerce was new to many consumers.

Strategy 

Shopee set in motion its primary objective to build brand awareness over a sustained period and drive purchase consideration.

As more people turned to eCommerce in 2020, Shopee wanted to make its 11.11 campaign not just the biggest, but the most inclusive. To achieve this, Shopee set out to show how everyone can benefit from eCommerce, and how the platform makes eCommerce purchases easy for everyone. 

Shopee decided to present unique and hyper-relevant experiences to new digital consumers who had not shopped online before.

According to Shopee, with the exercise, 90% of its consumers who were new to digital platforms indicated that they would continue using such platforms after the pandemic. This alone was validation for Shopee that its first interaction with consumers who fell under this category had formed long-lasting impressions. This led to a four-point strategy.

1. Mobile-first 

According to Shopee, most of its new consumers came online through the use of mobile phones. Furthermore, with its own data indicating that 95% of its orders were made through mobile, it was no surprise that the campaign was built around mobile experiences. 

2. Entertainment enthusiasts 

For new digital consumers, many came online due to having to stay home during the pandemic. According to Shopee, these individuals were looking to be entertained, with social media and video streaming being the first apps they started using. At the same time, TV continued to remain a popular option, especially as most new digital consumers were from outside metro areas. To catch their attention, Shopee decided to leverage formats these individuals were familiar with.

3. Discovery-led 

Social media is playing an increasingly important role in a consumer's purchase journey. In the discovery and evaluation part of the journey, social media feeds and reviews are popular ways for shoppers to get product inspiration. Other than social media, search and TV ads also played an important role in their discovery journey. As a result, Shopee saw it was important to first engage with its consumers across these channels, before bringing them in-app.

4. Value-shoppers

Shopee’s research found that low prices and free shipping were the biggest pull factors for consumers. Thus, the eCommerce platform decided to weave this in prominently across its marketing touchpoints to increase relevance with the target audience.

Execution 

For the 11.11 campaign, Shopee created a "surround sound" effect to engage with users across their entire shopping journey. 

1. Deepened discovery with search and social

Shopee partnered with Google to launch a first-of-its-kind marketing solution to better reach users beginning their journey on search. The eCommerce platform also partnered with brands to increase visibility of the products on social media to bring in-app.

2. Local brand ambassadors across channels

Instead of leveraging on the star-power of an international celebrity, Shopee decided to take a hyper-local approach by partnering iconic names that local users would know and love, such as Phua Chu Kang in Singapore and Malaysia, and “Queen of all Media” Kris Aquino in the Philippines. These home-grown icons were featured across different touchpoints such as on its TVCs, social channels and live interactions on Shopee Live, lending an air of familiarity.

3. TV shows

Shopee screened live TV shows and integrated the experience on Shopee Live and offline on local TV channels during prime time hours. These shows featured an action-packed agenda with celebrity appearances, games, performances and giveaways. Users could play in-app games with celebs who were on TV and exclusive deals appeared on TV and Shopee Live concurrently.

4. Seller livestream

Shopee helped local businesses connect with online customers through Shopee Live by providing trainings and incentives, boosting their visibility and offering KOL host support. Meanwhile, its KOL programmes helped to discover and train budding livestream talent, giving these individuals the opportunity to earn an income through livestreaming.

Results 

Overall, the campaign managed to garner positive results, having sold more than 180 million items on 11 November and more than 120% year-on-year increase in orders. According to App Annie, Shopee was ranked first in the "Shopping" category for downloads in the fourth quarter in Southeast Asia. Furthermore, sellers who were participating on the campaign saw 10 times more orders than an average day.