HCM City (VNS/VNA) - Onlineshopping is expected to surge in the remaining months of this year with manye-commerce players launching promotions.

During this period the biggest promotion will be Singles’ Day on November 11,which has become popular in Asia and a huge commercial hit.

According to Criteo, an advertising platform, November 11 was originallycelebrated in Chinese universities and meant for singles. It then spread toother markets like Taiwan, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Singapore.

Silvia Siow, Criteo’s head of account strategy for Southeast Asia, Taiwan andHong Kong, said: “In recent years the day has become a major opportunity bothfor shoppers and online retailers.

“This is not just a one-day celebration but the clear start of the wintershopping season.

“A strong retail sales uplift across various product categories is seen in theweeks following November 11 with the most spectacular sales spike happening inDecember.”

For Vietnamese market, Siow said, the retail sales during November 11 last yearincreased by 245 percent compared with the time from 24 to 30 September 2017.

She told Viet Nam News that sales would further increase this year.

“Online retailers should not stop promotions with a single day and have tocontinue to capitalise on the momentum created by this big promotion day asbigger consumption will follow in December.”

In Vietnam last year the biggest sales day was December 12 but sales remainedhigh for the next two days, she said.

Retailers should benefit from the momentum created by November 11 and maximisesales by sustaining promotional efforts until December 21, she suggested.

♑[Infographics: Vietnamese consumers’ demand for online shopping]

An online shopping insights and trends piece presented jointly by Facebook andShopee, which found that shoppers in the region, especially mobile shoppers,are increasingly regarding Singles’ Day as an integral part of the year-endshopping season.

According to Facebook conversion data across six APAC markets, 1.3 times moreconversions were generated on November 11 than on an average day that samemonth while the share of mobile conversions during the holiday season grew to76 percent.

To capture the opportunities, in the current week online marketplaces launchedpromotion programmes.

Shopee, an e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, launches November11 Shopee Sie Sale which features an upsized and improved package of non-stoppromotions from 25 October to 11 November, including the return of thehighly-popular themed days, new in-app games, and deals at up to 50 percent offacross all categories and more.

Pine Kyaw, managing director of Shopee Vietnam, said: “Consumers across theregion, including Vietnam, are increasingly embracing Singles’ Day as a keydate in their online shopping calendar. This is the third year that Shopee isrunning a November 11 event and it is slated to be our biggest ever November 11event to date.”

Kyaw said last year’s campaign far exceeded his company’s expectations on allfronts and that motivates them to organise this year’s November 11 event withmore incentives to bring consumers excitement and surprises.

Another online marketplace, Lazada, invites shoppers to make the most of itsNovember 11 shopping festival along with plenty of entertainment, celebrityinteractions and shopping deals and discounts. 

Lazada said Vietnamese shoppers would be able to enjoy the full customershopping experience during its biggest sale just like all shoppers inIndonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand with bigger andbetter deals.

Shoppers across Southeast Asia can look forward to more than 50 million deals,including discounts of up to 90 percent on more than one million items duringthe 24-hour shopping spree.

“For a company to enter and succeed in Vietnam we recognise the importance ofunderstanding and serving the unique local market needs,” Zhang YiXing, CEO ofLazada Vietnam said. “Hence, Lazada Vietnam want to provide the full shoppingexperience for Vietnamese shoppers where our consumer can have some fun whilebrowsing, buying and getting discounts.” — VNS/VNA