Data Storytelling: The Map of E-commerce Year
Written by: Isabelle Romualdez
We at iPrice Group regularly come out with a Map of E-commerce Report wherein we determine the rankings of E-commerce players in Southeast Asia.
These reports have always garnered us many publications and references from the top media in the region.
However, getting media coverage for periodic reports can be quite tricky as journalists are always in the lookout for something new. Hence, for the Map of E-commerce Yearend Report of 2019, we, along with our data partners App Annie and SimilarWeb, analyzed Southeast Asia’s E-commerce landscape itself.
We expanded our data to find out more vital insights on what drives these E-commerce players to be successful and how Southeast Asians access their sites and apps.
Aside from just analyzing the web and app performances of the region’s E-commerce players, we took a look at Southeast Asians’ consumer behavior in relation to these players.
The Most Visited E-commerce Websites and How They Acquired Web Traffic
Our report shows that many of the best performing E-commerce sites have been consistent, and these are the highlights we recognized from the top 10 most visited e-commerce websites:
- Shopee, Lazada, Tokopedia, Bukalapak & Thegioididong had the most consistent web traffic performance throughout 2019. All have remained in the region’s top 5 most visited platforms.
- Local e-commerce companies, Blibli & Sendo, also had impressive traffic improvements in 2019, with an increase of 27% and 23% respectively in both desktop and mobile web traffic.
- Despite being available only in Indonesia, JD ID experienced exponential growth of 105% in web traffic in 2019. Its growth was potentially supported by the Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com in expertise, technology & resources.
With data from SimilarWeb, we were able to find out how these E-commerce sites acquired web traffic. Analyzing the traffic performance of the players in our database, we broke it down into 5 categories: direct, organic, paid, social, and others.
According to the data, brand strength is concluded to be important for e-commerce companies when acquiring web traffic because an average of 48% of web visits are acquired directly.
Moreover, E-commerce sites acquired traffic from organic searches by an average of 38%, indicating that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) also plays a huge role in how e-commerce companies garner their userbase.
Interestingly enough, however, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand’s e-commerce sites acquire traffic mostly through direct traffic (by typing it on their browser’s URL), while the more mature countries, like Singapore and Malaysia’s e-commerce, acquire traffic mostly through organic searches (by typing it in search engines or accessing through other entities such as clicking links in an article).
Acquiring traffic through social media and paid advertisements are not as effective as direct traffic and organic searches in Southeast Asia.
The Best Performing E-commerce Mobile Apps and What Drives Their Apps’ Usage
Along with App Annie, we analyzed the top 10 most used mobile e-commerce apps in Southeast Asia and here are the highlights:The ranking of the most used e-commerce apps shows clear stability throughout the year.
- Sendo became the 5th most downloaded app for two consecutive quarters despite being available only in Vietnam.
- Wish rapidly rose through the ranks in the second half of 2019. It is the 4th most downloaded app in 2019.
- Zilingo is one of the very few fashion retailers to ever appear in the top 10 most downloaded e-commerce apps.
The stability of the top players’ performance indicates strong consumer loyalty.
Despite having new entrants with a high number of downloads, consumers still keep engaging with the current apps. This indicates the importance of having a strong mobile app for any e-commerce company.
We also recognized how strong mobile apps utilized “Shoppertainment.” It is now a new competition among e-commerce apps, wherein they utilize mobile entertainment to drive sales or traffic.
For example, Lazada introduced quiz game, “Guess It!”, on its app, while Shopee launched Shopee Live Festival in 6 countries.
Indonesian site, Tokopedia, collaborated with Kpop sensation, BTS, for promotional activities, while Tiki and Sendo launched their own livestream app features in Vietnam.
All these Shoppertainment efforts reaped benefits as it helped keep these apps in top spots.
Online Sale Events Drive Consumer Spending
Data reveals that there was an increase in consumer spending by an average of 56% on big online sales events compared to an ordinary day in 2019.
Southeast Asian consumers are definitely more likely to spend during big sales periods. These sales deem to be effective just as how physical sales used to bring crowds of people into malls.
The average amount spent on Singles’ Day (11.11) was US$47, which is 74% higher than the average of an ordinary day, while the average amount spent on 12.12 was US$44, which is 63% higher than the average of an ordinary day.
Notably, SEA consumers spent the most on Singles’ Day (11.11) more than any other day.
The top three categories that were most popular among Southeast Asians during online sale events in 2019 are (1) Electronics, (2) Home & Living, and (3) Fashion.
Purchases and orders from these categories were pretty consistent during the 4 biggest online sale events, except during 10.10 when Sports took over Home & Living.
