Over 60% of Southeast Asian consumers plan to shop via mobile for the festive season this year amid the re-opening of physical stores, and 55% are increasing their spending budgets
Singapore, 13 October 2022 – InMobi, a leading provider of content, monetization, and marketing technologies that help businesses fuel growth, recently released the findings of The 2022 Southeast Asia Holiday Shopping Guide, a report by InMobi that surveyed over 2,200 smartphone users across Southeast Asia. The report aims to shed light on the shopping sentiments of Southeast Asian consumers for the coming festive season, particularly for users in Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore, and outlines effective mobile advertising strategies to capture and engage this fast-growing market.
Amidst post-COVID-19 pandemic recovery and global inflation, holiday sales nevertheless remain a highly anticipated event among Southeast Asian consumers. Nearly eight in 10 respondents to the InMobi survey indicated that they were planning to increase or maintain their holiday spends compared to 2021, even though 70% noted a decrease or no change in their household income. As such, four shopping trends are expected for the 2022 holiday season: learning, exploring, and buying on the go, using different channels to realize the same shopping traditions, a phenomenal surge in online shopping, and selective store footfalls.
The report also found that mobile apps, which rose to prominence as the shopping channel of choice during the pandemic, are playing an increasingly prominent role in the shopping journey. They have become go-to channels for learning, exploring, and buying – especially with app-only discounts and easy returns and exchanges. Some 72% of respondents in Singapore, 85% in the Philippines, and 77% in Indonesia indicated that mobile apps were their preferred channel for their shopping plans.
Notably, the report highlights that the 11.11 and 12.12 sale events are among the most important and popular sale events of the year for Southeast Asians. Based on their shopping journey and purchase behavior, the holiday shoppers can be categorized into three key buyer personas: Category Explorers (40%), Bargain Hunters (39%) and Brand Lovers (22%).
“The popularity of mobile apps as a shopping channel has only grown with time among Southeast Asian consumers, despite the region now being in the recovery phase and lifting restrictions on in-store shopping. Given their increasing importance in the consumer purchasing journey, it is essential for brands to refine and leverage mobile-first marketing strategies to attract and retain connected festive shoppers in Southeast Asia – especially during the end-of-year celebrations, which is when shopping hits an all-time high,” said Rishi Bedi, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, InMobi.
The report shares additional insights on Southeast Asian shopper attitudes leading up to the upcoming festive season:
The top three items purchased on mobile by Southeast Asian shoppers were skincare and makeup, apparel and accessories, and gadgets. Groceries remained the top choice for in-store purchases, along with big ticket items such as home appliances and automobiles.
While mobile is the preferred channel for shopping, mobile apps are dominating the purchase journey. 67% of shoppers plan to shop through mobile apps whereas only 36% plan to use desktop websites and 14% plan to visit the stores.
The growth rate of online women shoppers was 1.5x to 2x compared to men in 2020. Interestingly, the growth rate of the share of online shoppers aged above 45 years was 2x in 2020 vs 2018.
With the rise in mobile shopping, InMobi has partnered with Gojek, Southeast Asia's leading mobile on-demand services and payments platform, Telkomsel, Indonesia's largest telecom provider, and iNQUiRO, a Philippines based technology company that helps businesses make data-driven decisions, to help brands in Southeast Asia connect with shoppers through enhanced advertising and consumer intelligence. InMobi also recently partnered with the iPrice Group, Southeast Asia’s leading online shopping companion, to help brands bring Personalized Shoppable Ad Storefronts to millions of online shoppers. Shoppable Ad Storefronts, consisting of Instant Shoppables and Branded Stores, is a technology that enables real e-commerce experiences within mobile ads, tailored to the audience.
To read more about The 2022 Southeast Asia Holiday Shopping Guide, visit https://go.inmobi.com/2022-holiday-shopping-guide-sea/ or contact mobilemarketing@inmobi.com.
About InMobi
InMobi is the leading provider of content, monetization and marketing technologies that help fuel growth for industries around the world. The company’s end-to-end advertising software platform, connected content and commerce experiences seek to activate audiences, drive real connections and diversity revenue for businesses everywhere. With deep expertise and unique reach in mobile, InMobi is a trusted and transparent technology partner for marketers, content creators and businesses of all kinds. Headquartered in Singapore, InMobi maintains a large presence in San Francisco, London and Bangalore and has operations in New York, Chicago, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Delhi, Mumbai, Beijing, Shanghai, Jakarta, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Sydney, Melbourne, Seoul, Tokyo and Dubai. To learn more, visit inmobi.com.
