Discounts and flash sales drive local online purchase - Shopee Malaysia

E-commerce platform, Shopee Malaysia, said its nationwide consumer behaviour study conducted in June revealed that discounts and flash sales were the biggest drivers of online purchases.

Free shipping came in second followed by programmes that reward shoppers if they find a lower price on another platform, it said in a statement.

Shopee also said that 97 per cent of the 7,500 survey participants indicated that they planned their online shopping around discounts, flash sales and availability of vouchers.

"Malaysians love discounts and flash sales and, it appears that getting maximum value out of online shopping has become a lifestyle choice among Malaysians.

"Many users would log in multiple times a day to get updates on the latest deals when they intend to buy something online," said Shopee Malaysia Regional Managing Director Ian Ho.

Over 46 per cent of respondents also indicated that they would browse the online marketplace three to six times daily to compare prices and check for deals while over 26 per cent indicated that they would log in more than six times a day to hunt for deals.

It also revealed that most Malaysians would shop online during lunch time and after dinner.

The study also found that the savviest online shoppers were between 18 and 32 years old who typically made up the majority of participants of sales and campaigns.

Women, aged between 18 and 24, tend to shop for fashion, health and beauty products during sales, while those aged between 25 and 35 preferred home and living products, as well as, toys, kids and baby products, Shopee said.

Meanwhile, most men aimed for mobile and gadgets, accounting for 60 per cent of mobile phone sales.

Furthermore, it said Malaysian online shoppers ranked clothes and fashion, home and living, health and beauty, mobile and gadgets, and home appliances as their top five categories to search for deals.

It added that Malaysians also tend to be more price sensitive towards expensive items like mobile phones and home appliances, as 25 per cent of respondents indicated that they were willing to wait for at least a month to find better deals or discounts on more expensive items.