Mobile shopping drives Chinese New Year e-commerce in South-east Asia: Report

ONLINE shopping spiked during the recent Chinese New Year holidays in South-east Asia, with more customers making the jump to in-app buys.

Thailand and Singapore roared ahead in sales volume increases; app traffic volume was also significantly up in Indonesia, compared with October 2020.

This is according to an analysis of 260 billion visits and three million transactions at 71 regional retailers, carried out by advertising-technology firm Criteo.

On a year-on-year basis, sales in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam rose by an overall 68 per cent on the previous festive season.

Transactions were buoyed by purchases made through mobile apps, which rose by 69 per cent year on year, outstripping the gentler 35 per cent increase in Web sales.

In fact, both Vietnam and Singapore notched an annual sales uplift over the new year, despite posting year-on-year declines in Web sales. For instance, e-commerce was up by 94 per cent overall in Singapore, even with a 24 per cent fall in browser-based buys.

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Taranjeet Singh, managing director for South-east Asia and India at Criteo, told The Business Times: "This is because Singaporeans are shifting to apps for their online shopping.

"Specifically, Singapore recorded a 110 per cent year-on-year uplift from app sales."

But, given the lull in traffic and sales observed during the actual holiday period, Criteo recommended that retailers engage customers five to 20 days before Chinese New Year, and from the third day of the new year onwards.

Merchants should also focus on the use of mobile apps, such as through livestreams and a ramp-up in time-sensitive promotions, the firm added.