SEA e-commerce dips: Ramadan and another year of COVID-19

For a second year in a row, Muslims in Southeast Asia had to observe Ramadan under the COVID-19 cloud and technology company Criteo has found some shifting e-commerce patterns in the 2021 holy month, from 12 April to 12 May, compared to last year.

Why it matters

Southeast Asian e-commerce underperformed this year compared to last year’s Ramadan period, with a notable dip observed in the final week of the holy month suggesting consumer caution in spending amid the ongoing economic downturn.

Key insights

• Mobile sales saw the largest lift throughout Ramadan in 2021, with a 107% surge at the end of the religious period on 12 May.
• Earlier on 1 May, app sales rose by 60%, while desktop sales saw the smallest spike of 40% during the second week.
• Only two categories posted growth from pre-COVID Ramadan in 2019: fashion/luxury and mass merchant products.
• Fashion/luxury outperformed mass merchant products during Ramadan, up 50% from baseline from 23 April to 5 May.

Sourced from Criteo