Shopee’s New Consumer Trends Report Reveals Consumer Trends Driving Seller Resilience and Relevance

KUALA LUMPUR, 6 JANUARY 2023 – Shopee Malaysia kickstarted the New Year by launching its three-part 2023 Consumer Trends series called ‘Adapting to Malaysia’s Digital Consumers in 2023’. The first part of the series that focuses on sellers found that 63% of Malaysian Sellers feel excited and positive about e-commerce opportunities in 2023. In particular, sellers from the Health and Beauty (71%), Toys, Kids, and Babies (69%), and Fashion and Lifestyle (66%) categories are the most optimistic, stating that they are on the right track to capture the opportunities in 2023.

Parts 2 and 3 of the series that focuses on Malaysian buyers and influencers will be shared in greater detail in the upcoming weeks. Findings can be utilised by businesses to tap e-commerce and digital services to drive resilience and stay relevant.

The survey covering over 1,000 Malaysian marketplace sellers in December 2022 found that sellers are excited to take advantage of three main e-commerce trends observed by Shopee, in staying digitally resilient and relevant on e-commerce: 1) Increased and savvier use of digital services, 2) Growing adoption of digital services among consumers living outside big cities, and 3) The rise of younger, more purposeful buyers.

1. Increased and savvier use of digital services 

When asked what milestones they would like to achieve for 2023, given the digital savviness of buyers who spend more time online, 8 in 10 sellers agreed that they wanted to increase product discovery, consideration and purchase online. Specifically, 5 in 10 wanted to take advantage of Shopee’s hyperlocal campaigns tailored to engage consumers and Shopee Loyalty Program rewards to increase traffic and demand, 2 in 10 wanted to engage audiences with higher value transactions from Shopee Mall and cross-border platforms, and the remainder wanted to use Shopee’s customised recommendation tools like Daily Discover to gain better visibility and consideration.

With the Shopee Growth Program, all local sellers are also eligible to boost store performance and sales with one week free trial of the highly popular Shopee RebateNOW where buyers enjoy 10% off between 9 till 15 January 2023. In addition, local marketplace sellers can claim up to RM100 Free Ads credit for two months to enhance their store visibility and traffic between January to March.

2. Growing adoption of digital services amongst consumers living outside big cities 

With technology giving better access to affordable and convenient digital products and services outside big cities, 7 in 10 sellers surveyed are interested in reaching consumers who live in Borneo in 2023. Thanks to Shopee’s integrated logistics infrastructure, sellers can take advantage of the nationwide network of warehouses and delivery hubs to reach more customers in Sabah and Sarawak. Among the sellers most keen to tap new audiences in Borneo, by category, are: FMCG (81%), Sports, Entertainment & Recreation (75%), and Groceries & Pets (74%).

3. The rise of younger, more purposeful buyers

 In response to the rise of younger, more purposeful buyers entering the marketplace in 2023, 50% of sellers surveyed are interested in catering to value-based shoppers who support Local Malaysian Made goods via Shop Malaysia circle, and Green Sellers via ShopeeGivesBack microsite. They are also excited about the inclusion of more educational content in influencers’ live streams that demonstrate the importance of supporting these causes.

As part of their 2023 New Year Resolutions, 95% of sellers want to upskill themselves with free Shopee University Courses in Sales, Marketing, and Operations. The most popular Shopee marketplace features they would like to incorporate in their strategies are: Marketing Tools (35%), Listing Optimizers (29%) and Business Insights (27%). A small percentage of sellers require Batch Tools (8%) to process bulk orders efficiently.

Kenneth Soh, Head of Marketing Campaigns at Shopee Malaysia said, “I am beyond excited for the marketplace sellers who have positive resolutions in 2023 to try new features and discover new opportunities. Just two weeks ago, I personally handed out 34 awards at our Shopee Super Awards to Super Growing, Super Customer Satisfaction and Super Favorite Sellers, so I know that they can succeed. We always put a spotlight on sellers who light the path for other sellers to succeed and create a supportive environment for them.”

Survey Methodology

• The first part of 2023 “Adapting to Malaysia’s Digital Consumers in 2023” survey was conducted by Shopee Marketplace, between 23 December and 27 December 2023. Voluntary feedback was obtained from 1,085 Malaysian sellers on the platform.