The retail landscape is shaping a new era of cautious consumerism never seen before.  

Consumer consumption is changing and is set to make waves in 2024. With the rising cost-of-living, buying habits are setting new trends; holiday shopping is being replaced by online sales events, white-label brands are moving towards sustainable products, and brands are re-imaging their brand goals. 

As part of dentsu’s Southeast Asia (SEA) Retail Evolution Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) retail study, we surveyed 3000 APAC marketers in 6 SEA countries, covering Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia, to understand the retail industry better.  

Close to 45% of consumers are switching to more affordable brands, leading to a change in spending patterns. Economic and geopolitical uncertainties play a big hand here. To bridge this gap, retailers responded by adopting circular economy principles, sourcing sustainable materials, and reducing waste in their operations. Major brands shifted their focus to discounts on branded products, quality low-cost alternatives, loyalty programs, and re-commerce schemes to encourage consumers to economical consumption. 

Uninterrupted media presence is also solidifying the future of retail. The SEA e-commerce industry is dominated by titan brands such as Shopee, Lazada, Tokopedia, and TikTok Shop. Shopee continues to hold nearly 50% market share in the region¹. Retail Media Networks (RMNs) are expected to grow in 2023, with an estimated 10.1% increase to $122 billion, making them the fastest-growing channel this year and next². According to WARC Media, this growth will continue, proving to be a positive shift for the retail industry. 

Hybrid retail is another growing trend in line. As per our survey, Vietnamese consumers skew higher than the other markets surveyed on shopping online only (7%), and on shopping primarily online but purchasing some items in-store (18%). Consumers in Malaysia (47%) are more likely to say that prices are better online. We know where their loyalty lies! Similarly, 43% of Indonesian consumers are more likely to say that they get better deals online.  

This pattern highlights consumers’ increasing preference for a seamless and consistent omnichannel experience with flexible shopping benefits, such as BOPIS (buy online, pick up in-store), balancing the human and automated interactions, both online and in-store. 

With game-changing technology, the retail experience is at every step of the purchasing cycle. In the Philippines, Lazada utilized AI-powered advertisements to target customers with personalized product recommendations for its 6.6 sales event, leading them to the LazBeauty and LazLook channels³. By integrating digital payments across channels, buyers and retailers are promoting a hyper-convenient shopping experience. 

However, it all starts with choosing the relevant brand values and customizing the buying experience for the consumers. This is where dentsu steps in. We aim to help our clients understand the framework of their brand and customer’s needs.  

To learn more about the latest trends and suitable campaigns reshaping the retail industry, download the Retail Evolution Whitepaper. 

Or complete the form below to speak to one of our experts about mastering the now to next to drive growth.

_{References:   1) Medium. Capital Helix.  ‘The Race to win Southeast Asia E-commerce: Shopee vs TikTok and others.’ Available at https://medium.com/@helixcapital/the-race-to-win-southeast-asia-e-commerce-shopee-vs-tiktok-and-others-ee9a3a0852e8 Accessed 1st November 2023.  2) WARC 2023. Huang Celeste 2023. ‘Retail media to be the fastest-growing channel in 2023, reaching $122bn.’ Available at  https://www.warc.com/content/paywall/article/warc-curated-datapoints/retail-media-to-be-the-fastest-growing-channel-in-2023-reaching-122bn/en-gb/148817 Accessed 1st November 2023. 3) Think with Google 2023. Hamlin Jerome, Powell Rachel 2023. ‘Spotlight on SEA’s year-end shopping marathon: Using AI to ramp up for sales’ Available at https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/intl/en-apac/marketing-strategies/automation/leverage-ai-retail-marketing-sea/ Accessed 6th  November 2023.}