KUCHING: Shoppers are keeping an eye out for this year’s rendition of #MYCYBERSALE will see MDEC partners with the National ICT Association of Malaysia (PIKOM), which has been given the mandate to lead the biggest annual online sale this year.
As the top Cashback platform that connects with more than 500 e-retailers in Malaysia, ShopBack is once again joining #MYCYBERSALE 2017 as the official Cashback partner, and on top of that, being appointed as a member to the PIKOM E-Commerce Malaysia marketing committee, given its experience and vast insights on online shoppers’ purchasing behaviour.
To find out the expectation of Malaysian shoppers for this year’s #MYCYBERSALE, ShopBack Malaysia conducted a survey and collected 3,892 responses from its users.
PIKOM deputy chairman Ganesh Kumar Bangah said, “ShopBack Malaysia’s users are the exact type of user profile that #MYCYBERSALE aims to target. They consist of savvy individuals who use ShopBack’s Cashback platform to make smarter purchasing decisions, ranging from essentials like transportation to indulgences like wellness packages, from the extensive list of e-retailers they collaborate with. The insights from this survey are helpful for us to form a holistic approach for our target market, and eventually deliver a bigger and better #MYCYBERSALE 2017.”
Out of 3,892 responses, 77.8 per cent know about #MYCYBERSALE. 44.8 per cent shopped in the past #MYCYBERSALE, while one-third of the respondents have heard about the event but yet to make any purchase so far.
When asked if they would like to shop during this year’s #MYCYBERSALE, 62 per cent confirmed their interest while 36.7 per cent indicated that they may make a purchase. Only 1.3 per cent said they wouldn’t do so.
“This is a positive sign given there are limited sales information revealed by e-retailers at this point of time,” highlighted Alvin Gill, country general manager of ShopBack Malaysia.
The findings also show that electronics is the most popular category, followed by health and beauty, home and living and fashion. Based on shoppers’ preferences, Alvin encourages online marketplaces in the country to put a heavier focus on these categories, and as for the e-retailers in other industries, applying an effective marketing approach could help to make their products more appealing.
Most of the shoppers indicated a price slash of more than 50 per cent would attract them the most, and the second and third factors that would affect their purchasing decision are promotional/discount code and free shipping. Interestingly, shoppers voted 14 days refund policy as the least important factor, after free gift and exclusive flash deals.
There are close to 55 per cent respondents who referred Facebook and Google search as their main information source for #MYCYBERSALE 2017. E-retailers could consider pouring more investment and efforts into these two online channels to entice shoppers.
“Pricing is clearly the most powerful tactic during online sales. Our data also shows that shoppers tends to be very active during post-meal period i.e. after 2pm and 8pm. Pushing marketing messages via digital advertisement at the right timing would help in generating traffic and sales.
“Such message has to be tailor-made for desktop and mobile in order to achieve the best outcome,” Alvin added.
72.8 per cent of respondents chose credit/debit card as their usual payment method, 24 per cent complete transactions using online banking, 3.2 per cent opt for cash on delivery, and the rest will make payment via ATM machines or convenient stores like 7/11.
#MYCYBERSALE 2017 will be held from October 9 to 13, covering everything from electronic gadgets to groceries by about 1000 e-retailers in the country, with an aim to reach RM300 million GMV within the five-day period.