Shopee held its annual Shopee Brands Summit 2023 in February. Themed ‘Sailing Through Evolving Seas: Winning with Consumers in E-Commerce’, this year’s summit focused on how brands can adapt to a changing global business environment and leverage untapped opportunities in e-commerce.
Despite ongoing macroeconomic headwinds, speakers at the Summit highlighted the continued untapped potential for e-commerce in the region as more people come online, including younger shoppers and those outside of tier-1 cities.
During the event, Shopee focused on three key trends for brands this year: increasing demand for digital services in Southeast Asia, rise of a new generation of buyers with different needs and the growing importance of establishing a secure shopping ecosystem.
Zhou Junjie, Chief Commercial Officer at Shopee, said, “We have seen how digital services like e-commerce can improve people’s lives and transform the way consumers and businesses interact. With the macroeconomic landscape constantly changing, it is important for brands to innovate their engagement strategies and strengthen their data analysis.”
Increasing demand for digital services
Consumers in the region are spending more time on online platforms. Shopee recently launched its 2023 Consumer Trends Report, which found that in Singapore, browsing on Shopee is a daily routine for two in three users.
Additionally, more consumers are also relying on e-commerce for all their purchases, from daily essentials to big ticket items such as electronics and furniture.
Rise of a new generation of buyers with different needs
Shopee has observed the rise of younger, more purposeful buyers aged 34 and below coming onboard its platform. For example, in Vietnam, shoppers aged 18 to 34 made the most orders on Shopee last year.
Shopee has found that this group of consumers are shopping differently from previous generations, with trust and quality being essential in their consumer journey.
Shopee’s 2023 Consumer Trends Report found that young consumers pay particular attention to product quality, security of payment methods and the credibility of KOLs who endorse the brand and its products.
In Malaysia, seven in 10 shoppers make purchase decisions based on product demonstrations, unboxing videos and the inclusion of a warranty while Indonesia saw a three times increase in products purchased through links shared by Shopee’s KOL affiliates compared to 2021. In Vietnam, users are increasingly utilising Shopee’s review feature, leaving more than 268 million product reviews last year.
In addition to online shopping, younger consumers are also exploring more of Shopee’s engagement features and services, which in turn, allows brand partners to leverage Shopee to engage customers from discovery to delivery. In Indonesia, three in eight Shopee users use Shopee Video to look for product reviews and promotions and Vietnamese shoppers spent more than 37 million hours on Shopee Live last year for both entertainment purposes and to look for product information.
