Shopee, the leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, wraps up the year-end sales season and marks its fifth birthday by launching its annual 12.12 Big Christmas Sale. Its recent 9.9, 10.10, and 11.11 shopping events set new records and signified the changing landscape and potential of e-commerce in the region. This 12.12, Shopee celebrates five years of digital acceleration in the region and highlights three key trends that have shaped and will continue to drive the growth of e-commerce: Social, Personalization, and Integration. 

Martin Yu, Director at Shopee Philippines, said, “Shopee was born with the vision of making online shopping accessible, easy, and enjoyable. We built Shopee from the ground up, listening to people’s specific needs in each of our markets and turning our understanding into well-executed localized strategies that make Shopee what it is today. This year’s 12.12 Big Christmas Sale has added significance as we celebrate our fifth birthday and come together with our brand partners, sellers, and shoppers to support one another through a challenging year. As we look back on our journey, we are proud to have adapted quickly to serve the needs of our local communities.”  

This 12.12, Shopee highlights three key trends that will continue to power the growth of e-commerce in 2021 and beyond.

1. Social: Bringing the human touch to online shopping

Advancements in technology, coupled with changing shopper habits, have resulted in online shopping evolving from a transactional experience. Today’s users are more social than ever, and they demand a more engaging online shopping experience with rich and unique content. In 2016, Shopee was one of the first e-commerce platforms in the region to launch a live chat function, Shopee Live Chat, enabling direct conversations between buyers and sellers. Today, an average of 30 million messages are exchanged daily on Shopee Live Chat.

Through the years, Shopee has continuously improved on and introduced new in-app engagement features such as Shopee Games, Shopee Feed, and Shopee Live to make the online shopping experience more social. Shopee anticipates that this trend will stay, with e-commerce increasingly becoming a platform through which people can connect and enjoy shared experiences. Shopee will continue to drive this trend through unique initiatives like Shopee Mom’s Club, which provides like-minded consumers with one-stop exclusive access to baby product deals and parenting content. There’s also a Book Club for a new generation of digital readers in Vietnam and a “Pawrents” club to meet the growing online demand for pet products in Singapore.

1. Personalization: Catering to the ‘Me’ economy

Personalization is critical in e-commerce today. A highly personalized experience makes online shopping more efficient, enjoyable, and unique for consumers, while also helping brands and sellers drive traffic and growth. Shopee takes a hyper-localized approach by running seven different apps in each of its markets and localizing in-app features. Shopee also continually refines its recommendation engines to offer more customized and relevant shopping suggestions to fit consumers’ needs. 

For brands and sellers, offering personalized recommendations to shoppers helps increase overall awareness and conversions. Businesses that use Shopee’s in-app advertisements generate 65% more sales activity than those that do not. This is powered by Shopee’s own AI capabilities, which ensure that advertisements are delivered to the right users.

As the industry progresses further into the ‘me’ economy, businesses need to innovate in order to improve the online customer journey. In the coming year, Shopee also expects to see the rise of smart shoppers, a new demographic of young, tech-savvy individuals who expect a highly personalized online shopping experience.

1. Integration: Creating a seamless customer journey

As retailers adapt to the new normal, they must deliver a seamless customer journey across all touchpoints. Shopee helps brands and sellers of all sizes by providing fundamental operational support through integrated payments and logistics, while creating innovative experiences that value-add to the overall customer journey.

• Delivering an experiential home shopping experience with P&G: Together with P&G, Shopee introduced its first-ever experiential online Show Me My Home initiative, which allowed shoppers to discover and shop for P&G’s popular household items in a simulated household environment. This brought greater convenience for stay-at-home consumers, while mimicking the offline experience of walking in a store. 

Yu closed, “2020 has been a transformative year. It has shown us the importance of technology and its ability to not only connect people and meet their basic needs, but also to entertain and engage. We are just at the beginning of our digital journey and looking ahead, we believe e-commerce will have an even more profound impact on businesses and consumers, creating new ways of living, working, and engaging. As we wrap up the year with the 12.12 Big Christmas Sale, let’s continue to look out for one another, uplift those in need, and welcome the new year on a high note.”

12.12 Big Christmas Sale 

From November 18 to December 12, users can enjoy free shipping with ₱0 minimum spend, 20% cashback, and ₱1 deals at the Shopee 12.12 Big Christmas Sale. 

Key highlights of Shopee 12.12 Big Christmas Sale: 

• Amazing promotions and big rewards with ShopeePay: From December 3 to December 11, shoppers who use ShopeePay can look forward to free shipping,  discount vouchers, and a chance to win cash prizes.
• #MyShopeeWish TikTok Challenge: Join the #MyShopeeWish TikTok Challenge to win prizes. The #MyShopeeWish TikTok Challenge is from December 7 to 30. Winners will be announced on January 15, 2021 on Shopee’s official social media accounts. For more information, head over to https://shopee.ph/m/my-shopee-wish.
• Big discounts from leading brands: Shoppers can enjoy up to 50% off from leading brands on Shopee Mall, including L’Oreal Paris, P&G Beauty, Abbott, Unilever Home and Food, Havaianas, Nestle, Huawei, Vivo, Pampers, RB Enfagrow, and Infinix.

Additionally, brands such as Unilever, MASS Appliances, Soundcore by Anker, Platinum Karaoke, Union Appliances, Amazfit, Kyowa, PULUZ, Pedigree, Bio-Science, Organic Skin, Shigetsu, Mikana, Organic Official, INSPI, GSK, Tigernu, MetroSunnies, New Balance, Colgate-Palmolive, Haylou, Alaska, and Fila also offer amazing discounts. 

For more information about Shopee 12.12 Big Christmas Sale, visit https://shopee.ph/m/christmas-sale. 

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