Shopee to bet on delivery options, BNPL and video to attract younger customers

SEA’s e-commerce arm Shopee is looking to grow its share of younger customers – those aged 32 years and below – by focusing on delivery options, buy-now-pay later (BNPL) services and video.

The focus areas emerged in a survey commissioned by Shopee on the features younger customers want in e-commerce platforms. The survey polled about 400 respondents from each of the following markets – Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

The survey found that 68 per cent of respondents aged 32 years and below spent an average of 30 minutes on Shopee daily.

“What we found out is when younger users start to shop and engage on the platform, they tend to stick to the platform,” said Ian Ho, Shopee vice-president.

The survey also found that more than 30 per cent of younger customers abandon 70 per cent of their shopping cart on Shopee; a majority, 52 per cent, said the key reason they did this was because the items were above their budget. A customer abandons their e-commerce shopping cart if they fail to complete the check-out process. (*see amendment note)

To combat this, Shopee will expand its BNPL service, Shopee PayLater, to all users; existing users of Shopee PayLater would get their credit limit raised, in line with their credit score.

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Shopee also plans to move this BNPL service to offline merchants, bucking the trend of BNPL operators retreating.

“There are a lot of brands already selling on Shopee; we are working with them on how we can offer BNPL services to their offline shops,” said Ho.

Video is another segment Shopee is focusing on, with live-streaming and short-form videos launched in selected markets. Ho says brands are also looking to come on board to do live-streaming.

“We are in the process of growing the ecosystem and matching brands and sellers with influencers and celebrities, to ensure they can do live streams if they want,” he said.

There is a section in the app that lists short-form videos of products sold on Shopee, which has helped to increase conversions to sales and stickiness to the platform, said Ho. This feature has been rolled out in Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia.

Shopee is also looking to expand its return and refund policy under its push to widen its delivery options, and will include “change of mind” as a reason to return a product for a refund. This expanded return and refund policy debuts in Singapore on Mar 28.

The platform also wants to commit to giving refunds in an average of three days, as a tactic to attract and retain customers on its platform.

Delivery options will also be expanded to include next-day delivery in Singapore and Indonesia; a two-hour delivery option will also become available in the Indonesia and Malaysia markets.

Ho said: “From enhancing service levels to providing new types of shopping entertainment content, our latest initiatives draw on shoppers’ feedback.”

These new features will also be rolled out to sellers on Shopee, but they will have to opt in for them. Ho said the e-commerce marketplace is encouraging sellers to enable the features, rather than opt out of them.

But he recognises that not all sellers can take on the challenges of managing all the expanded delivery options in their day-to-day operations, though this is not the case for brands or authorised resellers on Shopee Mall, or Preferred Sellers.

Shopee Mall is a by-invitation-only premium retail space reserved for brand owners and authorised distributors who are required to, for example, provide free shipping for their customers and carry out returns/refunds within a time frame.  

Preferred Sellers on the Shopee platform are those selected by Shopee on the strength of excellent sales and operational performance, and are distinguished by a “Preferred” badge on their shopfront and listings.

Ho said: “If you are a Shopee Mall or Shopee Preferred Seller, from a consumer standpoint, you are expected to deliver better service. In our mind, a better service includes next-day delivery.”

*Amendment note: This article previously stated that over 70 per cent of younger customers abandoned their shopping cart on Shopee.