Thousands of products started from just VND9,000 at Shopee’s 9/9 Campaign

September 08, 2017 | 08:00
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Shopee aims to become the one-stop platform for Vietnamese online shoppers and sellers alike. To facilitate this goal, Shopee will launch mind-blowing hourly flash sales known as 99 Online Shopping Day on September 9. Pine Kyaw, managing director of Shopee Vietnam, shared with VIR’s Thanh Van how the e-commerce platform expands its reach among Vietnamese online shoppers.
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Shopee will launch one of the region’s largest online campaigns in September. How does this campaign help attract more shoppers to your platform?

On September 9, Shopee will launch 9.9 Online Shopping Day across seven countries in the region, including Vietnam. The campaign is more than just a mega sale event because it is expected to attract a large number of consumers to the platform, especially first-time buyers to experience online shopping at Shopee. As a result, Shopee will increase general awareness of online shopping and deepen customer engagement among Vietnamese online shoppers.

Specifically, the campaign offers a plethora of promotions and flash deals for fashion, beauty, fitness, gadgets, technology, home and baby products starting from VND9,000. This is the lowest price guarantee for over 1,000 stock keeping units across multiple categories. The event is more appealing coupled with free shipping for all buyers.

Following last year’s campaign, Shopee recorded five-fold increase in terms of overall engagement, traffic, and orders regionally. It was a huge success for Shopee, so we aim to achieve similar results or even better this year. In Vietnam, Shopee has teamed up with over 350,000 preferred sellers, official partners, leading brands and key influencers to make 9.9 Online Shopping Day the biggest online shopping event of the year.

A lack of trust is consumers’ main reason for not shopping online. How does Shopee convince buyers to make the decision to click “buy”?

Our app has a feature allowing buyers to chat with sellers. If buyers are interested in any product, they can talk to the sellers to learn more of it. This feature not only increases buyer confidence in the product itself, but also minimises returns and misrepresentation during online shopping.

In addition to our efforts to cut prices, we have also made the purchasing process smooth and effortless. As a result, Shopee buyers can complete a purchase with just a few taps on their smart phones. Meanwhile, we have also launched Shopee Guarantee to ensure safety for buyers. We will hold the payment until buyers receive the goods and will release it to sellers after a successful delivery.

Shopee works closely with delivery partners to make sure the products are delivered on time. Thanks to their nationwide coverage, 3PL logistics services providers can deliver products to customers across the country, and are especially suited to reach those who live in rural communities. Above all, Shopee promises free shipping for every order above VND180,000 ($7.9), which is very appealing to buyers.

Overall, it is a cycle through which Shopee brings consumers the best deal, keeps online shopping experience easy, and delivers products on promise. This improves consumer’s confidence when shopping online and ultimately brings them back to our e-commerce platform to shop.

What are the major online shopping trends in Vietnam? What tactics does Shopee use to attract potential and existing customers?

There has been increasing receptivity to online shopping among young generations due to high mobile phone connectivity. Young people now spend time on popular digital channels like Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, as well as online movie-sharing websites. Digital channels allow Vietnamese consumers to access media every time and everywhere.

Shopee has developed its strategy around this behavior to cater to potential and existing clients. We focus on increasing market share among buyers using the channels, especially teenagers and young adults. So far, we find that digital advertising remains the most effective ways to drive our business forward.

With regards to retaining clients, we have Shopee Coins, which are given after every successful transaction. The coins act as bonus points to encourage buyers to purchase the next time. In fact, our repeated purchase rate is quite high, so we are exploring new features to aid customer loyalty.

Last but not least, the secret to Shopee’s fast growth in e-commerce is its large assortment of items from a variety of sellers. When buyers come to our platform, they can find almost any popular product. Moving forward, we continue to expand the categories by collaborating with entrepreneurs and major corporations in the country.

How does Shopee use social networking sites like Facebook to interact with buyers?

Facebook is the biggest social media network in Vietnam, with 51 million active monthly users and 30 million active daily mobile users. People spend five times as much attention on videos than on static images on Facebook and Instagram. To capitalise on the trend, multiple Shopee sellers will live stream their products during 9.9 Online Shopping Day, which will help buyers to learn about Shopee and give it a twirl.

As e-commerce live streaming is growing in popularity, it is huge opportunity for our sellers to grow their businesses. Shopee has developed a series of educational modules on live streaming, available via its Shopee University program in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. These educational sessions are specifically designed to help sellers gain insight into live streaming and how to use it effectively.

In addition, Shopee has garnered over four million fans on its Facebook fan page, which is encouraging as the company has only been operating in the market for less than two years. Shopee has built a team to read comments and respond to feedbacks on social media channels. This keeps Shopee in touch with what consumers are thinking and what problems they have to constantly improve its online shopping experience.

By By Thanh Van

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