30 November 2021

SEA’s digitally savvy shoppers drive retail reinvention: Report

For 2022, fashion and lifestyle e-commerce player Zalora forecasts robust growth and reinvention in Southeast Asia’s retail landscape, with its latest Trender 2021 Report outlining key technological shifts in digital payment and consumer experience that accompany shoppers’ increasing digital savviness and taste for luxury and sustainability, among others. 

Why it matters

Amid the uncertainties ahead, resilient brands can pivot and take advantage of the opportunity to expand their presence in the digital world with an agile omnichannel approach and customer-centric focus to ride the region’s retail recovery as travel gradually resumes.

Key insights

• Augmented reality and virtual reality technologies are seen easing sampling to reduce pre-production waste in fashion, while bridging the gap with brick-and-mortar in a reimagined hybrid future.
• Eighty percent of SEA internet users are digital consumers, and brands recognising this shift in adoption quickly expanded their online presence to reach these new digital consumers.
• Ninety percent of Southeast Asians referred to at least one digital channel in the shopping journey, as COVID-19 boosts digital savviness and appetite for shoppertainment, social video.
• The demand for beauty and personal care, kidswear, and luxury is sustained across the region, alongside rising adoption of “buy now, pay later” and digital payments.
• Indonesian shoppers are most likely to spend on beauty products and sports equipment as a form of leisure, despite a dip in consumer sentiment due to the pandemic.
• Filipino shoppers spend the highest average number of hours online, at close to 11 hours, and are most likely to make purchases based on sustainability considerations.
• With the highest percentage of digital natives at 88%, or 22 million, Malaysian shoppers spend close to nine hours online on average and are the most likely to be value-driven.
• As spending on international travel and out-of-home entertainment both dipped by over 60%, shoppers in Singapore are most likely to invest in luxury purchases.

Quote

“The dawn of a new era of retail is already here in Southeast Asia. As consumers become more discerning and connected, we are seeing incredible innovations happening in the retail sector that completely reimagine the shopping experience.” – Gunjan Soni, CEO, Zalora Group