Mega-Sales Days encourage brand-switching behaviour: study

SOUTH-EAST Asian consumers are more likely to switch to a different brand during Mega-Sales Days and remain loyal to the newfound brand thereafter, a study by Facebook and Bain & Company has found.

The follow-up study on investigating digital shopping habits found that 91 per cent of consumers said they were more likely to try products from a brand they have never bought before during a Mega-Sales Day event. The figure suggests a two-fold increase in consumer openness to new brands during a big sales event like Mega-Sales Days.

Mega-Sales Day events are large-scale shopping events that span several days across the year, such as the 10.10 Sale, the Singles' Day Sale and Black Friday.

Of the 3,919 Internet users surveyed across six countries in South-east Asia including Singapore, consumers were also found to be more savvy in planning their purchases. Almost three quarters of consumers had aligned their purchases with the sales as they anticipated the big sale events in advance. This applies especially to big ticket items like smartphones, home living and electronic devices.

Of all the purchases made during such sale events, almost seven in 10 shoppers made impulse buys, particularly on items in the food and beverage category as well as fashion. 

The Mega-Sales Days are also proving to be a point of entry for new customers hopping onboard the e-commerce wave. Of the six South-east Asian countries surveyed, more than half of the shoppers in Thailand and Vietnam were first-time e-commerce consumers at 64 per cent and 53 per cent respectively. 

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Despite the current restricted business environment, South-east Asia’s digital economy is still on track to cross US$300 billion by 2025 with over 40 million people coming online for the first time in 2020, said Praneeth Yendamuri, partner at Bain & Company.

Social media also had a key part to play in boosting participation in such sales events. The report showed that 63 per cent of all South-east Asian Mega Sale shoppers had used social media to discover new products. This figure was significantly higher for those in the Philippines, with more than 75 per cent turning to social media to unearth new products.

"Mega-Sales Days have evolved beyond being just a discount-driven activity. They are now a collective cultural moment and present opportunities for businesses to build their brand and ensure that their product or service finds the people who are most likely to love it," said Benjamin Joe, vice-president of South-east Asia and emerging markets at Facebook.

Businesses that want to prepare themselves for such sale events in the future can adopt a three-pronged approach, said Mr Joe, by making content shoppable, establishing a digital storefront and driving discovery among shoppers.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg also announced a slew of new commerce features on Tuesday, including a Shops on Whatsapp and Marketplace function, which will allow customers to chat with a business before buying something. Some of the new features are however available only in certain countries such as the US.