Learn how to overcome common eCommerce challenges in Southeast Asia. Get insights on lead generation, website optimisation, customer nurturing, and more.
eCommerce in Southeast Asia is growing rapidly, but it is not without its challenges. In this blog post, we will explore some of the most significant challenges faced by eCommerce businesses in the region and discuss potential solutions.
Common Challenges in the Southeast Asian eCommerce Sector Common ecommerce challenges in Southeast Asia include things such as generating new leads, optimising your website, and staying agile in the fast-changing industries. Let us take a look at those challenges and how to overcome them:
1. Generating new leads consistently One of the biggest challenges faced by eCommerce businesses in Southeast Asia is generating new leads consistently. Regardless of the industry you’re in, food and beverages, fashion and apparel, electronics and gadgets, beauty and makeup products, sales and purchases fluctuate during festive seasons and promotional periods.
One solution to this problem is to focus on content marketing. Apart from the regular entertaining content, creating valuable content that educates and informs your target audience can attract potential customers to your virtual store. You can also leverage social media platforms like Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram to reach a wider audience.
2. Optimising your website Optimising your website is key to ensuring a seamless and pleasant experience for users and customers alike. For brands, optimising your website means getting maximum performance and conversion. This includes ensuring that your website loads fast, is responsive, and easy to use and navigate. Besides, it is also crucial to understand the browsing journey and purchase behaviour of your customers, so that you deliver a smooth shopping experience to your customers.
To optimise your website, you can invest in a reliable hosting provider that offers fast loading times. You can also work with a web developer to ensure that your website is optimised for mobile devices and easy to navigate. We also encourage you to constantly test and gather feedback from users and customers for the optimal customer experience.
3. Customer nurturing and up-selling Often, once you have acquired customers, the challenge is to keep them engaged and encourage them to make repeat purchases. This requires a focused effort on customer nurturing and up-selling.
You can nurture your customers by sending them personalised emails and offers based on their preferences and past purchases. You can also offer loyalty rewards and discounts to encourage repeat business. Up-selling can be achieved by recommending complementary products or services based on their preferences or related purchases. Not only sending out personalised emails let your customers stay up to date with your latest products and services, but it will also improve customer loyalty and increase your ROI over time.
4. Staying agile and on trend within a changing market The ecommerce market in Southeast Asia is constantly changing, with new competitors entering the market and consumer preferences evolving at a rapid pace. Coupled with the fact that consumers often easily switch to a rival brand within the snap of a finger once their expectations are not met, delighting and retaining your customers becomes a challenge.
To keep up with a changing market, you need to stay informed about the latest trends and developments. You can do this by attending industry conferences, networking with other eCommerce businesses, and conducting regular market research.
5. Managing cart abandonment and increasing conversions One of the biggest challenges faced by eCommerce businesses is managing cart abandonment and increasing conversions. This could be driven by multiple factors such as finding better deals elsewhere, slow-loading checkout pages, or discovering multiple hidden charges and high shipping fees.
To reduce cart abandonment, you can offer free shipping, simplify the checkout process, and display customer reviews and testimonials. To increase conversions, you can offer personalised recommendations based on customer behaviour, use scarcity tactics to create a sense of urgency, and offer discounts or freebies.
6. Accurate product description for better SEO and ranking Accurate product descriptions are crucial for better SEO and ranking, but many ecommerce businesses struggle to create descriptions that are both informative and engaging. This often leads customers to leave your virtual store, with their needs and concerns unanswered.
For better SEO and ranking, maximise your available assets to drive searchability. This includes having accurate product descriptions for your products, using internal linking, and creating high-quality content.
To create accurate product descriptions, you can use keyword research tools to identify the most relevant keywords for your products. Apart from the product descriptions, be sure to have captivating and relevant images and videos on your virtual store. Label them with the most searched or common keywords your audience uses to drive more traffic. You can also use customer feedback and reviews to highlight the key features and benefits of your products.
In simple terms, internal linking means linking one page to other pages on your website. This way, you can help search engines understand the structure of your website and how your content is related. Create or use relevant anchor text when linking to other pages on your website.
In the present era, content has become a pivotal component of a business, and it is imperative for marketers to acknowledge its significance. Customers nowadays appreciate the content generated by brands, which can range from cooking recipes to fashion tips, assembling furniture, makeup tutorials, skincare recommendations, and much more. Crafting pertinent content for diverse target audiences not only adds value to your customers but also reinforces your credibility as an authority in your domain.
How to Strive in the Southeast Asian Market We strive to provide you with valuable insights for success. After consulting with our growth experts, we have compiled additional insider tips to help you maximise your visibility and sales performance on eCommerce platforms. It's important to keep in mind that you’re evaluated by multiple metrics, so implementing these tips can help achieve your business goals.
1. Understand the region As with any winning business process, you must first understand the characteristics of the region you want to enter, and in this case, you must understand the characteristics of consumers in Southeast Asia.
Research from Bain and Company
Southeast Asia is also a region with diverse consumers, especially in terms of payment method preferences
The number of ecommerce platforms in Southeast Asia is also quite diverse. Users in Indonesia, for example, are reported to use an average of 5.1 different shopping platforms each year.
2. Sell consistently First and foremost, algorithms consider the duration of visitors' stay in your store when determining your ranking. So, check your inventory regularly to ensure you always have sufficient stock and supply. This ensures that visitors can always find what they need and are more likely to browse and stay in your store for an extended period. Active daily transactions always increase your visibility.
3. Join daily campaigns In addition to joining monthly or seasonal campaigns, such as Payday or Super Brand Day, participating in daily campaigns like flash sales can increase your sales performance and join rate. Consistent sales growth signals to algorithms that your brand is thriving and deserving of a top spot in the marketplace platforms, enhancing your ranking and searchability.
4. Avoid closing your virtual store Finally, shutting down your virtual store is not advisable as it can have a negative impact on your sales performance. Doing so can result in low searchability and visibility within the eCommerce platform. All your efforts put into building up your store and ranking higher will go to waste, and starting from ground zero will require more time and effort. Instead, it’s best to keep your store active and continue to engage with your customers to maintain your visibility and sales performance.
Tackling challenges head-on eCommerce in Southeast Asia presents many challenges, but with the right strategies, solutions, and insider tips, you can overcome them and achieve success. Focus on lead generation to attract new customers, website optimisation to improve the user experience and increase conversions, customer nurturing and up-selling to increase customer retention and revenue, and staying informed about the market to make data-driven decisions. Additionally, managing cart abandonment and creating accurate product descriptions can also help improve your sales performance and searchability.
To remain visible and on top of the ranking, it's essential to ensure your sales performance is consistently strong, as this leads to better searchability on eCommerce platforms. By tackling these challenges head-on, you can overcome obstacles and build a successful eCommerce business in Southeast Asia.
Facing any of the challenges above and keen to learn how to overcome them? Drop us a message and our rep will be in touch with you!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about eCommerce in Southeast Asia How big is Southeast Asia eCommerce? According to CNBC , the Southeast Asia ecommerce market, despite the global pandemic, is expected to have $218 billion in transactions in 2023, an 11% increase from last year. This growth can be attributed to the changing focus of some of the major players in the region, from growing at all cost into building healthy profitable businesses by deepening engagement with existing customers.
A report from Statista retail online shopping is rapidly growing in southeast asia with five countries (Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand) in the region experiencing an increase of more than 18%. As the market expands, the number of first-time online shoppers also increases as shopping online has become the go-to choice for many people in the region.
What are the trends in consumer behaviour shaping eCommerce in Southeast Asia? A study conducted by Rakuten shows at least 5 trends in consumer behaviour in Southeast Asia: valuing sustainability, prioritising customer service, using customer reviews as a key source of information, wanting to be able to track shipments, and wanting goods to arrive on time.
More specifically, the report explains that at least 50% of customers who responded said they would move to a business's competitor if the business had poor customer service. Positive reviews from other customers also have a strong influence on customer behaviour to make repeat purchases.
