Ever since its inception, the Chinese holiday-inspired, Single’s Day Sale better known as 11.11 Sale has annually rocked Southeast Asia with excitement and anticipation. Shoppers across the region will splurge and shop to their heart’s content as e-commerce marketplaces offer lucrative deals and offers. As well as, eCommerce marketplaces internationally are on the race of rolling out 11.11 marketing strategy
In 2019, Lazada managed to close a whooping 1 million items sold in the first hour of 11.11 sale. Shopee on the other hand reportedly sold 70 million items in one day.
This year, according to Alibaba Group’s news hub, Alizina, Malaysia came in at fourth in terms of top overseas countries purchasing from China, behind US, Russia, and France by gross merchandise value. With the change of shopping habits since the COVID-19 outbreak in Malaysia, online sales were already steadily growing in densely populated cities long before the anticipated sales month. With intense competition in the air and challenges to overcome, e-commerce platforms, brands, and sellers all had to think outside the box to make the best 11.11 marketing campaign this year.
Shopee -11.11 Marketing Campaign
Building up to this year 11.11 marketing campaign, Shopee boasted flash sales as low as RM0.11, and RM1 deals with partnered brands and sellers. Not only that, Shopee also promoted their in-app games to win Shopee Coins that can be used as in-store payments. Hourly and daily deals were also promoted, prompting many deal hunters to check Shopee’s app every day and every hour.
The highlight of the RM1 deal campaign was the launch of the new Proton X50 SUV, with a lucky winner getting to purchase the car at only RM1.
In terms of advertising, Shopee signed a deal with Singaporean actor Gurmit Singh to reprise his role as the afamed Phua Chu Kang to be featured on their television advertisements. Advertisements featuring the lovable character were launched as early in August in both Malaysia and Singapore.
Moreover this year, Shopee Malaysia engaged with not only renowned brands, retailers and sellers, but also micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to achieve an average sales of RM55,000. Shopee’s engagement with over 3,000 Malaysian MSMEs also spurred the recovery of Malaysia’s economy that suffered damage from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Shopee’s 11.11 markeing campaign proved to be a huge success with reports of a single customer who spent RM70,000 in a single receipt.
>>> Read more: How Shopee’s marketing strategy steps up in the SEA sales event 2020
Lazada -11.11 Marketing Campaign
As the country’s second most popular e-commerce marketplace, Lazada doesn’t step down from the competition and promotes discounts of up to 90% on around 70 million items, from exclusive international and local brands in LazMall and Lazada-ONLY products.
Claiming that they have the lowest prices and best deals, Lazada promises a 11x cash-back guarantee if their prices are beaten by competitors; A very daring promotional campaign that sets a new bar for e-commerce platforms across the Southeast Asia region.
To continue enticing shoppers to use their platform, as a part of their 11.11 marketing campaign, Lazada also offers free shipping with minimum purchases of RM11, and Crazy Flash Sales for as low as RM0.11 on recognisable international brands.
Going on a different approach to advertising, Lazada partnered with Golden Screen Cinemas (GSC) to produce Malaysia’s first cinematic e-commerce livestream trailer for their ‘Lazada 11.11 Biggest One-Day Sale’ campaign. The trailer features several local personalities promoting the 11.11 sale campaign and entertainment shows that were be livestreamed in the Lazada app. On top of that, viewers who watched the trailer to the end were treated with a secret promo code to earn a RM5 voucher to be used with their purchases.
Lazada’s campaign managed to set record sales as many of their partners managed to make sales of over RM1 million during the campaign. Local small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) also managed strong performances which contributed to the recovery of Malaysia’s economy.
>>> Read more: Become a Top Seller on Lazada: Tips and Tricks
Other E-Commerce Platforms
While Shopee and Lazada battled it out to win over customers, brands and local SMEs were also competing to provide the best deals and promotions throughout the month. Utilizing their own online platform, renowned brands such as Sephora and Zalora Malaysia churned out attractive storewide deals that were not made available on either Shopee or Lazada. Natura offered 20% discounts on all their skincare products in their own website paired with an attractive free tote bag with every purchase. Amazing Graze on the other hand offered bundle deals of RM111 with exclusive products and RM11 deals that were only available on their website.
Other brands like Watsons and Family Mart set up their own e-commerce platforms to cope with the change of shopping habits in Malaysia, and also offered their own deals and promotions in conjunction with the 11.11 Sale.
>>Read more: 8 e-commerce platforms in Malaysia to sell on
Not Just E-Commerce
Riding the hype of the 11.11 Sales, the F&B industry also joined in on offering attractive deals to satisfy Malaysians palates. Grab Food offered 20% discounts on selected menu items with partnered brands. Brands such as KFC, Llaollao, Burger King, Baskin-Robbins, and Gong Cha among others promoted month long deals on selected menu items such as Buy 1 Free 1 and RM11 promos.
Given the impact caused by the pandemic, hotels were also rolling out with their own promotions to try and draw customers to their establishments.
It seems that this year, the entirety of Malaysia’s economy banked in on the 11.11 sale to try and revive their sectors that the COVID-19 pandemic has damaged. Some shopping malls attempted to revitalize their spaces and lure customers by offering unique shopping experiences during the 11.11 period. However, due to the country’s Movement Control Order (MCO), turnout is not up to expectation as shoppers are still concerned about the virus.
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A Brief Summary
Similar to previous years, Shopee and Lazada are still dominant and stand out in the Malaysian E-commerce market. While each e-commerce marketplace had different approaches and targets for this annual event, both of them have achieved remarkable results and helped promote local SMEs. The results of their efforts also helped revitalise the economy from the failing months affected by the global pandemic. Following the success of the 11.11 marketing campaign in Malaysia, it is expected that more businesses will adapt to the online platform, promising Malaysia’s e-commerce economy to continue to grow and improve from here on