Tag: E-commerce

Indonesia – Indonesia’s e-commerce platform Tokopedia has launched anew its loyalty program ‘TokoPoints’, which can be earned by users through every purchase of physical products on the platform using any payment method.

‘TokoPoints’ can be exchanged for all transactions of physical products and various digital products, without a minimum or maximum point redemption limit. The use of ‘TokoPoints’ for physical product transactions can also be combined with other promos, like free shipping.

Gabriella Kawilarang, the senior lead product manager of Tokopedia, said that along with the evolution of TokoPoints, the platform hopes to enhance the shopping experience of users and provide them more advantages in Tokopedia.

Kawilarang further shared that online shopping is increasingly becoming a mainstay for people in the midst of the pandemic, saying that this is evident from the increase in the number of monthly active users of Tokopedia, which has now exceeded 100 million, prompting Tokopedia to relaunch TokoPoints. She said that the relaunch will offer more added value to users, as this is part of their commitment to their brand mission ‘#SelaluAdaSelaluBisa’, which means that Tokopedia can accommodate whatever the user is looking for and wants to do.

“Tokopedia will also continue to collaborate with strategic partners to provide a more inclusive, attractive, and efficient shopping experience for the public through various special offers and transparent prices all at hand. This joint effort is hoped to be able to encourage more people to adopt digital platforms, both in fulfilling their daily needs and achieving more, for the sake of simultaneously helping the recovery of the national economy through technology,” added Kawilarang.

Tokopedia has also noted that the highest increase in transactions during the first quarter of 2021 are the following categories: Food and Beverage, Animal Care, and Health, as well as Party Supplies and Craft, and Books.

Singapore – Ride-hailing platform Grab has announced a regional e-commerce partnership with DON DON DONKI (DONKI), the famous Japanese retail company, to serve as its preferred on-demand delivery partner in several countries across the Southeast Asia (SEA) region, such as Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand.

The new partnership will also see Grab offering its cashless payment service across DONKI retail stores, which will first be available in Malaysia, enabling consumers to shop and pay for DONKI products on the Grab app through GrabMart and GrabPay.

First off, Grab users can look forward to an extensive catalog featuring up to 900 SKUs, including snacks, ready-to-eat meals, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, as well as daily essential items across health, beauty and household segments.As per usual users can receive GrabRewards points for every transaction, where collected points from GrabRewards can be redeemed for special discounts on Grab services and at GrabRewards’ partnering stores.

Furthermore, the partnership will also be creating in-marketing campaigns to better engage consumers online and offline. During this month, both Grab and DONKI are launching a joint campaign in Singapore to encourage fans to explore the new GrabMart shopping experience. By using the promo code ‘DONKI’ upon checkout, consumers will be able to enjoy 30% off, as well as a free delivery with minimum spend on DONKI products on GrabMart.

Saad Ahmed, the managing director and regional head of commercial for Grab, shared that they are extremely excited to be partnering with DON DON DONKI on their Southeast Asia expansion, knowing that many Grab users are fans of Japanese products and are going to appreciate the retail company’s wide range of good-quality, value-for-money Japanese foods, fresh produce, and products.

“The Grab platform enables retailers like DON DON DONKI to easily plug into our ecosystem, connect with our large and growing base of online users and provide ultra-fast on-demand delivery to them through our scalable fleet. We are committed to supporting retailers in Southeast Asia build out their digital strategies and reach their business goals through our unique platform tools and services,” said Ahmed.

Meanwhile, Satoshi Machida, the president of Pan Pacific Retail Management (PPRM) Singapore and Malaysia, the parent company of DONKI, said that over the past few years, they have strived to bring Japanese products closer to consumers in SEA by opening up new stores in every corner of the region.

“As one of the leading e-commerce platforms, this partnership with Grab will allow us to gain a foothold online and reach out to more consumers as a complement to our on-going market expansion,” added Machida.

Singapore – Data and AI company ADA has announced a new business line in APAC that combines data-driven marketing strategies with end-to-end e-commerce solutions. 

The service is aimed at clients seeking comprehensive solutions to drive traffic, manage customer experience, optimize conversions throughout the funnel, and create engaging content on digital marketplaces as well as owned e-commerce sites.

“E-commerce is a strategic priority for ADA and our clients as businesses emerge from the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic. We’re excited to be expanding our footprint by bringing our unique heritage in data-driven marketing to empower the next generation of e-commerce champions,” said Srinivas Gattamneni, chief executive officer at ADA.

Anurag Gupta, chief operating officer and chief of agency at ADA explained that through XACT, ADA’s proprietary data management platform, and with the help also from first-party customer data, a global luxury skincare brand has adapted itself from an offline selling platform to e-commerce.

“The resulting campaigns far exceeded targets, with 490% growth achieved in e-commerce monthly sales versus pre-pandemic, 275% growth versus promotional months and 24.5% return on ad spend,” Gupta added.

ADA had noted a report from Google, Temasek and Bain & Co. showing that the e-commerce market in Southeast Asia continues to surge as COVID-19 accelerated online purchases, with gross merchandise value expected to jump to US$172B by 2025.

Manila, Philippines – Filipino consumer behavior during the pandemic has shifted to frequent use of e-commerce platforms and cashless payments systems, a new report from financial services Visa shows.

In the Philippine-centric report, Visa noted that 52% of Filipinos shopped online through apps and websites for the first time during the pandemic and 43% of them made their first online purchase using social media channels.

Online shopping activity behavior also rose within the period of past year, as the report showed close to 9 in 10 Filipinos have increased their online shopping activities on websites or apps, whilst 7 in 10 are shopping more on social media channels. 

More than half of the consumers are also more inclined to shop from large online marketplaces (53%) and home-based businesses (61%). These new shopping preferences might turn into habits that last beyond the pandemic.

As part of the growing behavior of online purchases, food deliveries also rose, as more than 9 in 10 Filipinos used home delivery in the Philippines and 67% of them increased their use of home delivery services during the pandemic. This can be attributed to the existing quarantine and lockdown restrictions being implemented by the government in the country.

“The pandemic has transformed the way Filipinos shop and pay. Based on the latest highlights from our annual study, we see adoption of new consumer behaviors including more Filipinos using digital commerce platforms and helping to accelerate the usage of digital payments in the country. We see double digit growth for e-commerce transactions for purchases on marketplaces and digital goods,” said Dan Wolbert, country manager for the Philippines and Guam at Visa.

Wolbert also noted that some of the initial purchases made by first-time online consumers include food and groceries, bill payments as well as pharmaceutical products.

Using physical cash as payment has dwindled by the offset of the pandemic, as best compared to pre-pandemic consumers averaged to 7 out of 10 payments made in cash, compared to mid-pandemic consumers who only averaged to 5 out of 10 payments made in cash.

Filipinos cited using more contactless payments (73%), perceiving cash as unsafe because of the potential spread of infection (54%) and more places adopting digital payments (50%) as the top reasons for carrying less cash. In addition, Filipinos see bill payments (81%), grocery shopping (71%), and overseas travel (68%) as the top categories where they would likely go completely cashless in future.

The study also showed that contactless payments had 66% increase in usage amongst current users due to the pandemic. In addition, 88% of Filipinos who had not used contactless payments stated interest in using this payment method in the future. Top benefits perceived by Filipinos for usage of contactless cards include not having to carry cash with them (88%), feeling safe from infection (75%) and being an innovative payment method (68%).

“We believe that contactless payments will continue to grow as Filipinos appreciate the benefits of contactless payments, including perceiving this payment method to be more hygienic due to the absence of physical interaction at point-of-sale. Even though we’ve made progress in digital payments adoption, there remains huge opportunities for us to encourage more Filipinos to embrace digital payments as we look to expand digital payments acceptance across the country,” Dan added.

The study was conducted on 1,014 Filipinos aged 18-65 years of age across key cities in Manila, and in several provinces.

Jakarta, Indonesia – Indonesia’s e-commerce company Tokopedia has recently launched Tokopedia Parents, a special ecosystem in the platform where parents can browse essential products and obtain relevant content relating to households.

The new feature was inspired by the increase in transactions in the Mom & Baby and Kids’ Fashion (MBKF) category on Tokopedia, which reached almost double throughout 2020 compared to 2019 transactions. The Home & Living category likewise jumped more than twofold during 2020, according to the platform. 

For the new Tokopedia Parents, the platform has collaborated with Indonesian actress and pop singer Chelsea Olivia to be its brand ambassador and help bridge parents and communities.

Commenting on her ambassadorship, Olivia said that Tokopedia Parents helped her as a parent to find various inspirational activities as well as daily necessities that can support family activities during the pandemic.

“My partner and I need to build effective communication patterns to keep a positive environment at home. In doing activities with our two children, my partner and I also have to be more creative so that they don’t get bored,” said Olivia.

Indra Yonathan, the vice president of Tokopedia, shared that Tokopedia Parents is a form of Tokopedia’s commitment to ‘#SelaluAdaSelaluBisa’ in providing the widest possible stage for business activists in related industries, especially local MSMEs, in order to adapt in the midst of a pandemic.

“On the other hand, parents can get a number of other added values ​​through Tokopedia Parents that can make shopping for family needs safer and more economical. There are also webinars, talk shows, and discussion forums for the parent community to share information and experiences with a number of inspiring speakers,” said Yonathan.

Meanwhile, Ir. Prijadi Santoso, M.Si, the assistant deputy for Improving Family Participation, Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection (Kemen PPPA), also commented, “We appreciate Tokopedia’s initiative in presenting Tokopedia Parents. This is in line with KPPPA’s commitment to supporting the resilience of Indonesian families, especially in the midst of a pandemic. The hope is that every parent can get easier access to various information and education, from parenting to maintaining health.”

To celebrate the launch of Tokopedia Parents, the platform recently held a ‘Tokopedia Parents Online Fair’ campaign, last 10 March 2021, where it gave shoppers a number of offers, including discounts of up to 90% from various business activists such as local MSMEs.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – IKHLAS, the Muslim-friendly business line under airasia, has announced a new e-commerce platform called ‘Shop with IKHLAS’ in response to the growing demand of Muslim customers in the online market.

Through the platform, Muslim users can choose from a wide range of products from praying mats and amenities, dry food, and pre-packaged meals, as well as halal fresh meats, beauty, health supplements, books, and Islamic art, garments, merchandise, and much more.

With the initial launch of the e-commerce platform, IKHLAS is offering a 10% discount on products in Shop with IKHLAS from 15 – 31 March 2021.

“We are thrilled to introduce this marketplace on our site, focusing on Muslim friendly products. Most importantly, we are pleased to be supporting local businesses through this platform so we can continue helping them to stay afloat during these challenging times,” said Ikhlas Kamarudin, head of IKHLAS.

‘Shop with IKHLAS’ is also running a Mystery Box campaign for a limited-time only from 20 March – 30 April 2021. Twenty (20) lucky winners will stand a chance to receive a Mystery Box prize worth RM300 each. Customers can enter the draw by posting an unboxing video of any products or services purchased via IKHLAS’s website on their Instagram with their own hashtag and tagging IKHLAS and five (5) friends and share why they use IKHLAS’s products and services.

“The launch of ‘Shop with IKHLAS’ is timely with Ramadhan around the corner and we aim to be a one-stop Muslim-friendly lifestyle platform that provides affordable products and services for the Muslim community nationwide,” Kamarudin added.

Every purchase in the e-commerce platform will a portion of the sales be donated to its Sadaqah service and will be used to purchase basic necessities for people in need nationwide.

Manila, Philippines – To celebrate this year’s International Women’s Day, Procter & Gamble (P&G) has partnered with Southeast Asia’s (SEA) e-commerce platform Shopee to launch its latest campaign, #ChallengeTheChores.

The campaign aims to challenge gender stereotypes by promoting a sense of joint responsibility within the household and encouraging family members to team up and share the responsibility of doing household chores as the brunt of the work has fallen on women during the pandemic, with several extra responsibilities and commitments added to their already busy lives.

To further explain the significance of addressing this call for shared responsibility, a feature on how household chores can be equally divided and tackled together will also be released.

The campaign will be launched progressively across five SEA markets, including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, and Vietnam, featuring a series of challenges that aim to motivate families to take on household chores together, such as doing the laundry and attending to a child’s needs.

During the campaign period, shoppers in each market can also look forward to live streams featuring key opinion leaders. The campaign also includes exclusive in-app activities to acquire special deals and win prizes, as well as the classic Shopee Catch game to collect many P&G products giveaway or vouchers.

According to Shopee, women are the most active shoppers on the platform in product categories such as household and other fast-moving consumer goods. As e-commerce becomes more prevalent, Shopee looks to leverage its platform to encourage conversations through interactive campaigns for its consumers.

Alexandra Vogler, senior director of P&G e-commerce for Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa, commented, “P&G is deeply committed to equality and inclusion. Through this campaign, we want to raise awareness of the imbalanced distribution of chores. Through an entertaining short film and an interactive, gamified experience, we hope to inspire people to #ChallengeTheChores and drive greater equality within households.”

Meanwhile, Martin Yu, director of Shopee Philippines, said that they are proud to partner with P&G on this meaningful initiative, saying that besides encouraging families to take on equal responsibilities of household chores, they also seek to provide our users with a wide assortment of products to make everyday household chores convenient and manageable. 

“We look forward to launching more of such engaging campaigns with P&G that would enrich the shopping experience for our users,” said Yu.

Singapore – With more people relying on e-commerce during the pandemic, shoppers have also increasingly become more selective with the platforms they’re using, and in the Southeast Asia region, about half of consumers across markets were found to uninstall shopping apps, according to a report by e-commerce aggregator iPrice Group, in partnership with SimilarWeb and AppsFlyer.

Data from the report showed that in the first and second quarter of 2020, an average of half of the consumers in SEA countries Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia as well as Thailand, and Singapore ditched using shopping apps, with the group of consumers demonstrating the behavior with a slight uptick in the second quarter of 2020. The highest average uninstallation was led by Vietnam with 49%, followed by 47% in Indonesia, 41% in Malaysia, 37% of consumers in Thailand, and 36% of shoppers in Singapore. 

When it comes to app acquisition, on the other hand, there has also been an increase in installations, in tandem with data showing that some apps are being let go. With over 12.4 million installs analyzed, the report found that there was a 2% average increase of organic installs on iOS and android shopping applications from users in the SEA region from January to June in 2020. 

The report noted that among many things that led users to install shopping applications were lockdown periods, online sales, and app features, such as free shipping and discounts. E-commerce companies partnering with superstars, such as K-pop group Blackpink, actor Lee Min-ho, and footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, among others, have also become a factor in attracting consumers.

With web traffic among e-commerce sites, on the other hand, the report revealed that online shopping platforms across SEA markets gained a positive increase year-over-year from 2019 which can be seen most in Singapore, whichexperienced a surge of 35% compared to 2019, followed by the Philippines (21%), Vietnam (19%), Malaysia (17%), Thailand (15%), and Indonesia (6%).

Online department stores’ web traffic also experienced a 52% average increase from the first quarter of 2020, proving that most countries in the region flocked to online department stores instead of physical stores due to social distancing.

However, platforms that particularly offer cosmetic products showed a web traffic decrease of 35% from the first quarter to fourth quarter of 2020. Fashion and electronics sites also experienced a 14% decrease in traffic in the six countries.

With more visits to online shopping platforms, comes the increase in average spending. The same study revealed that SEA consumers’ average spending increased by 19%. Although fashion and electronics sites saw a slight decrease in web traffic, the average basket size for these categories significantly increased, as well as for sports and outdoor products.

According to the study, consumers in SEA spent an overall average of US$2 per order in 2020, which was 19% higher than 2019’s. Singapore recorded an average US$61 spent per order, while Malaysia locked in US$41, with both showing the highest average basket size in 2020 in the region.

“These unusual shifts have presented a sign of digital acceleration in online retail despite the global pandemic that is affecting consumers in the region,” noted iPrice.

Singapore – As e-commerce platform Lazada nears its ninth birthday celebration, it has announced a star-studded Lazada ‘Super Party’ concert this year, boasting a performance guest list which includes global singer-songwriter Katy Perry and K-pop boy group NCT Dream.

The Lazada Super Party is set for simulcast on 26 March across six countries in Southeast Asia to kick off Lazada’s ‘Surprise Birthday Sale’ on 27 March. Consumers across Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam can tune in to the Lazada Super Party concert via Lazada’s in-app livestream channel LazLive, as well as local broadcasting networks and social media platforms. 

Centered around the theme ‘Everyday Heroes’ , Lazada said this year’s concert not only pays tribute to frontline essential workers that have been working tirelessly throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, but also shines the spotlight on individuals in the community who have in their own ways touched the lives of people around them.

According to Chun Li, chief executive officer at Lazada, the e-commerce’s ninth birthday aims also to recognize positive impacts made by every individual in their community, including sellers, brands, and customers.

“Lazada has grown into the robust e-commerce platform, thanks to the strong support and trust that our sellers, brands, customers, and partners have given us over the years. We are excited to continue setting the benchmark for the e-commerce industry, by propelling entrepreneurs and brands forward in their digital transformation journey, and serving consumers through a safe, convenient, and experiential shopping journey,” Li stated.

Meanwhile, Mary Zhou, chief marketing officer at Lazada commented, “I’m delighted for global superstars like Katy Perry and NCT Dream, as well as Southeast Asia’s biggest names, join us in this year’s celebrations dedicated in honor of individuals and communities who have stood strong and resilient in the past year. I look forward to the opportunity for Lazada to bring joy to consumers in Southeast Asia through our annual signature Lazada Super Party concert and Birthday shopping event, and that our community will remain hopeful for the future.”

Part of the star-studded lineup as well are artists Agnez Mo, Raisa and 3 Diva from Indonesia, Haqiem Rusli and Ismail Izzani from Malaysia, Mimiyuuuh and Alden Richards from the Philippines, Jasmine Sokko and Nathan Hartono from Singapore, “Bella” Ranee Campen and Da Endorphine from Thailand, as well as Ha Anh Tuan, Tran Thanh and Den from Vietnam.

In a statement, Katy Perry said, “Thank you for supporting and loving me all this time. I am excited to meet you soon at the Lazada Super Party, to hopefully spread a little light, love and joy and have everyone sing along with me, even if we are physically apart. I wish for Lazada to help all of their customers as they need, and for everyone to always look on the bright side of life.”

Other in-show events slated include Lazada’s signature Shoppertainment segments like ‘Voucher Rain’, as well as ‘Guess It!’ and ‘Shake It!’ in different countries where viewers can win vouchers and exclusive giveaways, as a prelude to Lazada’s Surprise Birthday Sale that can be utilized on 27 March.

In addition, Lazada consumers will also be able to get their hands on a new ‘Happy Cake’ game on LazGames. Users gain points by simply opening gift boxes, completing daily tasks, and stacking nine cake levels to win rewards such as platform vouchers. Furthermore, shoppers can also redeem additional shopping rewards through Lazada Bonus, a special shopping allowance that can be used platform-wide on participating products marked with the Lazada Bonus badge and is stackable with other promotions. 

Singapore – Singapore-headquartered e-commerce platform Shopee retains its leadership as the most-visited e-commerce site in the Southeast Asia region in 2020, followed by similarly Singapore-born e-commerce Lazada, the newest report from e-commerce aggregator iPrice showed.

In the latest report that is in partnership with SimilarWeb and Appsflyer, Shopee topped the ranks, garnering on average 281,385,626 visits on the platform. In 2019, similarly earning the top spot Shopee had a total combined regional traffic of 2,061,511,094 on the platform.

Lazada is the second most-visited e-commerce platform, with a total average visit of 137,154,967 in 2020, where in 2019, it recorded total regional traffic of 1,843,848,694, likewise trailing Shopee. 

Meanwhile, Indonesia e-commerce platforms Tokopedia and Bukalapak ranked third and fourth respectively, each of them garnering on average 88,889,000 and 35,728,425 platform visits respectively, compared to their total visits of 906,032,258 and 646,348,016 in 2019 respectively.

Thegiodidong, a Vietnamese e-commerce platform, ranked five on the list, with an average 28,650,650 visits last year, in comparison to its 351,327,843 total visits in 2019.

The other platforms in the list saw some changes in the ranking, as Vietnamese e-commerce Sendo.vn dropped two ranks from its sixth rank in 2019 to being in the eighth rank in 2020. Meanwhile, Vietnamese e-commerce Tiki and Indonesia e-commerce Blibli moved one step higher than Sendo this time, garnering the sixth and seventh places respectively. 

Three brands, namely Singapore’s Qoo10, Indonesia’s JD ID, and fashion e-commerce site ZALORA, failed to be in the final list of top 10 key players in 2020 despite showing relevance in the second and fourth quarter of 2020.