Singapore – Consumers within the Australia-New Zealand (ANZ) and Singapore markets have shown mixed consumer behaviors with the upcoming holiday seasons, a report from advertising analytics company Blis showed.

The study focused on three indicators that reported greater impact on consumer behavior during the global pandemic crisis. These include geographical location, modifications to mobility, and the psychological need for interaction.

ANZ showed contrasting consumer behavior in going out of their homes. Australia tallied 41% of the respondents that showed caution during June this year, albeit the rate has since then changed to 26% in September. On the other hand, New Zealand carried greater confidence at going outside, with a 54% rate in June, albeit slightly dropping to 49% in September due to resurgence of new cases in the country.

About 41% of the respondents in Singapore, on the other hand, wanted to leave their houses with 21%  stating that they are cautious.

In terms of mobility behavior, Singapore demonstrated greater confidence for public transport mobility, with 32% showing positive notes, while ANZ clocked 21% and 26% respectively in terms of mobility confidence. The study noted that effective lockdown measures are a prime cause of these consumer markets showing greater confidence in going outside.

When it comes to psychological behavior, New Zealanders reflected a higher percentage of taking the risk to visit food-related establishments, such as restaurants and bars, which tallied a 46% response rate. On the other hand, Australia and Singapore had less confidence to eat outside, with a 35% and 31% response rate respectively.

As the holiday season is fastly approaching, the ANZ market reported greater interest in spending their festive shopping at a physical store (AU, 33%; NZ 36%) yet have mixed views on spending limit (NZ: same amount as last year, AU: less spending). On the other hand, Singapore showed uncertainty whether they will shop in-store or online, yet showed behavior of shopping earlier for the festivities.

Shanghai, China – Customer-centric innovations and features—this has been Alibaba’s focal point this year as they recently announced their plans for the annual 11.11 Global Shopping Festival.

As ‘11.11’ continues to grow by the year, Alibaba focused on launching new strategies in the midst of changing consumer behaviors. Strategies include promotion of Alipay’s digital lifestyle platform, ‘doubling’ of shopping windows that will aid in featuring more brands and merchants, consumer reach and promotions, and utilization of livestreaming technology to drive more engagement from customers, especially from Chinese consumers, which has been noted to create the largest international presence to date.

Alibaba’s Alipay digital lifestyle platform aims at connecting almost two million local service providers in China, including micro-merchants such as street stalls and small-scale grocery stores. On the other hand, the company recently launched its Taobao Deals’ “RMB1 Sales” campaign, which aims at encouraging consumers to purchase goods at huge discounts and free shipping. Lastly, in regards to the livestreaming strategies, Alibaba aims to launch a shopping festival concept in Southeast Asia-namely in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam markets.

Jiang Fan, president of Taobao and Tmall, expressed his hopes for the 11.11 Global Shopping Festival, stating that through these innovations, the company hopes to adapt to the changes this year has brought to the consumer market.

“The pandemic has fundamentally changed consumer shopping preferences and accelerated digital transformation of many businesses. Through our expansion from ‘single’ to ‘double,’ 11.11 will be offering more opportunities for merchants both online and offline to engage with consumers as well as provide a better consumer experience overall,” Fan stated.

Malaysia– With many people shifting their marketing behaviors online, notable statistics have shown a significant increase in the number of digital consumers in the Southeast Asia region, particularly in Malaysia, a report from consulting firm Bain & Company shows.

Conducted in collaboration with social media giant Facebook, statistics noted that Malaysia clocked a total of 83% of digital consumer growth, making it the country in Southeast Asia with the highest concentration of online consumers, which are then followed suit by Singapore with a 79% growth and the Philippines with 74%.

Moreover, the report showed that the Malaysian demographic, those that are 15 years old and above have an average of 51% on their willingness to switch consumer brands from time to time.

In regards to trying out new and unheard-of brands, statistics for Malaysian consumer behavior stooped, from 43% in 2019 to 40% in 2020, showing reluctance to try out unique and new brands.

With COVID-19 restricting movement including physical shopping, statistics for purchasing demand across online channels for Malaysians doubled to 40% this year.

“Brands need to enhance their value proposition both online and offline, and be flexible and adaptable to change, now more than ever. Within the eCommerce space, we aim to ensure strong digital content, product availability online and a robust supply chain,” commented Phee Chat Chow, executive director for marketing, communications and innovation at Nestle Malaysia and Singapore