SINGAPORE — Criteo S.A. (NASDAQ: CRTO), the global technology company that provides the world’s leading Commerce Media Platform today announced the latest regional retail sales and travel data observed during Ramadan, including sales performance in the first three weeks of April 2022.
As Southeast Asia’s predicted GDP growth continues to rise, consumers in the region are also having larger Eid celebrations this year. Comparing the retail sales performance in the first two weeks of Ramadan each year, with 2020 sales figures as the baseline, this year has seen a 14% increase in sales. This comes as community measures and travel restrictions in the region start to ease – such as Singapore, where the cap on the number of unique visitors per household has recently been lifted. In addition, Thailand and the Philippines have opened their borders for fully vaccinated visitors while Malaysia and Indonesia have removed entry restrictions and quarantine requirements.
“With the easing community measures and travel restrictions, more consumers in the region might be looking to host larger gatherings or planning domestic and international trips to celebrate this festive period with their families. As a result, we are seeing the largest retail sales lift in 2022, in comparison to the past two years,” explained Taranjeet Singh, Managing Director, Southeast Asia and India, Criteo.
“For brands and retailers, this strong consumer appetite brings more opportunities for them to encourage spending during this festive period through more targeted and differentiated sales campaigns,” Singh continued.
SEA Retail Trends during Ramadan 2022
Examining the sales trend more closely, we see that sales were at its peak since the very beginning of Ramadan this year, specifically on the month’s double day – 4 April 2022. In the region, this double date effect is most apparent for App sales (+76%) followed by Desktop sales (+36%), then Mobile (+12%). On average, online retail sales in SEA were up 73% compared to the first 4 weeks of March 2022 as well.
Across markets in the region, Indonesia saw the sharpest increase during the double day sales on 4 April, at 85%. This is followed closely by Singapore (+59%) and Malaysia (+30%) on the same day.
SEA Retail Trends during Eid 2021
In 2021, there was steady increase in retail sales during Ramadan (+21%). Indexed unit sales across product categories also reached its peak during May’s double day sale – on 5 May – before dropping again in the lead up to Eid 2021.
The top three product categories that saw a surge in retail sales on 5 May include Health & Beauty (+199%), Furniture (+119%), and Electronics (+107%).
Following Eid 2021, retail sales across several product categories bounced back again, with Religious and Ceremonial Prayer Beads seeing the largest increases in sales around Eid. Markets like Indonesia and Malaysia also saw a 40% increase in retail sales bump post-Eid 2021, signifying the importance of a sustained retail sales campaign.
“Interestingly, retail sales on 5 May last year seemed to be even stronger than the years prior. As double-day sales continue to gain greater popularity amid COVID-19, this year’s double-day sales events – including 6/6 and beyond – are likely to be a bigger hit. While a sustained campaign is important, brands and retailers should also direct their efforts to creating distinct double day advertising and sales campaigns in order to take advantage of these moments and encourage large purchases,” added Singh.
Travel Trends during 2021 and 2022
As travel was still recovering from COVID-19 in 2021, there was a 31% drop in travel booking during Ramadan in April 2021 in comparison to the years pre-COVID. This was followed by a 20% surge in bookings during the week following Eid.
As travel bookings were up 28% YoY in SEA in March 2022 and travel borders in the region continue to loosen, Criteo expects more travel bookings nearer to the end of Ramadan, especially as more consider visiting their family and friends abroad during this festive period after years of border closure.
Seizing the opportunity to drive sales this Ramadan and Eid
With easing community measures and travel restrictions, it is likely that consumer spending during this festive period will remain higher than the past two years. With that said, competition across both physical and digital platforms is getting more intense amid COVID-19, so it is crucial for brands to better understand shopper behaviour to stay competitive during this sales period.
Some recommended strategies from Criteo include:
- Strengthen your omni-channel strategy: Shoppers across all generations are increasingly taking a hybrid path to purchase. While not all consumers would purchase in physical stores, they have expressed its importance in completing their shopper journey. For instance, 8 in 10 shoppers in Singapore are most likely to make purchases online after seeing the product at a retail store. Hence, retailers and brands should focus on delivering a seamless offline to online experience. Ultimately, to build customer loyalty and drive long-term growth by driving customer lifetime value.
- Sustained campaigns are important, but do not neglect double days: Looking at the consistent sales spike across the region’s double day sales, including 5/5 in 2021 and 4/4 in 2022, brands and retailers should also take this opportunity to create a distinct double day advertising and sales campaign to encourage bigger purchases in 2022. These efforts should not be short-term or one-off as well, as we have witnessed how spikes in retail sales and travel bookings are observed even post-Eid.
- Develop a commerce media strategy: As shopper data continues to be gathered online, brands and retailers can enhance their first-party database with commerce data to drive commerce outcomes and create sustained awareness, consideration, and conversion campaigns this festive period and beyond.
