Driven by the pandemic, e-commerce pioneer Lazada saw the number of shoppers surge 1.5 times from 2020 to 2021 and sales orders double while retaining the leading position in the segment with more than 30 million active users per month.
The platform indicated it will invest more in discount marketing campaigns to attract new users and retain existing consumers to capture the growth of the online retail market which has reached 356 billion baht in value in 2021.
"Lazada still remains the market leading e-commerce platform with the largest user base in Thailand from January to September. Our app users cover nearly half of the population," Werapong Goo, chief operating officer of Lazada Thailand, said at the "Seller Opportunity Day" virtual event.
According to him, Lazada saw gross merchandise value (GMV) jump 1.6 times from 2020 to 2021 as shoppers shifted to the online mode in the wake of the pandemic.
With the 11.11 shopping festival, Lazada is offering attractive promotion campaigns, including free shipping, a discount of 50 baht for every 500 baht spent as well as the distribution of surprise coupons worth 1,111 baht.
The biggest group of Lazada users is those aged 19-29 at 33%, followed by those aged 30-39 at 29%.
The top five product categories sold on the platform are consumer products, outdoor items, health-related products, office equipment and pet products.
Mr Werapong said hundreds of thousands of vendors have joined Lazada over the first nine months of this year and there are more than 20,000 sellers on the platform who can earn at least 100,000 baht from monthly sales.
Lazada has also rolled out Lazada Bonus discount programme that helps consumers save money when shopping and more than 11 million have used Lazada Bonus totalling 150 million baht during the previous 9.9 festival.
Another programme is called "free shipping max" for participating shops, and data shows the free shipping promotion can boost vendors' sales by 40%.
Munthana Lorgrailers, chief marketing officer of Lazada, pointed out a survey shows 94% of Thai respondents said online shopping can fulfil their needs – the highest percentage in the world versus the global average of 72%.
According to her, 52% of Lazada shoppers said online advertising influences their shopping decisions, followed by 30% who said influencers shape their shopping decisions.
In approaching 11.11 shopping festival, Lazada expects sales growth of 60% from last year's festival and the sales volume is expected to be more than 10 times the normal period.
Thanawat Malabuppha, president of the Thailand E-Commerce Association, said online retail in both business-to-consumer and consumer-to-consumer modes is expected to grow 21% year-on-year to 356 billion baht in 2021.
Mr Thanawat, who is also chief executive of Priceza, a price comparison shopping website, said Thais spend an average of eight hours per day on the internet and five hours on mobile internet.
According to him, shopping is the third most popular online activity among Thai people, trailing entertainment consumption and communication engagement.