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Gen Zs in Southeast Asia prefer e-commerce platforms for discovery and research: Shopee

Samantha Chiew
·3-min read

With Gen Zs' interest in e-commerce and online shopping rising, Shopee is launching a few new initiatives to capture this trend.

Shopee, Sea’s e-commerce arm, on March 19 released its latest study on Gen Z shopping behaviours. The survey of more than 2,400 shoppers conducted by Kantar’s Profiles division revealed that nearly 70% of Gen Zs in the region consider e-commerce platforms a key entry point for their shopping journey, relying on these platforms to research their purchases.

Despite exploring alternative channels for product research and discovery, majority (73%) of Gen Z respondents completed their purchases on e-commerce platforms. Notably, 56% of those who initially engage with social commerce platforms for research prefer returning to e-commerce platforms to complete transactions. The preference for e-commerce stems from several key factors, including the wide selection of products (79%), good product quality (77%) and convenient payment methods (59%).

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Shopee’s survey also reported that one in three Gen Zs would spend at least five days researching their purchases, reading reviews and watching product demonstrations (27%), reading about product features and specifications (24%), and pricing information (14%).  While they take their time to conduct in-depth research for their purchases, a seamless return and refund process, along with next-day delivery services, emerge as top considerations for carting out​​.

In response to these evolving shopping behaviours, Shopee is introducing next day delivery and instant delivery in selected markets.

Shopee is also expanding its return policy to allow Change of Mind (COM) for more products and items, providing additional flexibility throughout the shopping journey. This expanded COM policy would increase customers' peace of mind and convenience and provide consumers with more options and flexibility overall. For Singapore, the expanded COM policy will commence on March 28.

Furthermore, the survey also highlighted that eight in ten of the Gen Z respondents seek engaging and entertaining shopping experiences, further reinforcing the role of content touchpoints like Shopee Live in their shopping journey.

Catering to the increasing demand for simple, bite-sized content, Shopee is introducing Shopee Video, the platform’s newest feature that allows shoppers to follow and watch their favourite creators, available in Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines. It is slated to launch in Malaysia in the upcoming months.

In its media briefing, Shopee also announced that it is increasingly rolling out its Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) payment option for shoppers. However, Ian Ho, vice president of Shopee explains that this will be rolled out slowly, as Shopee and SeaMoney, Sea’s digital payments arm, whitelist the approved users, determine their credit scores and set a maximum for them to spend through SPayLater, its BNPL platform.

Ho says: “Gen Zs in Southeast Asia highly value using e-commerce platforms for product research and purchases, emphasising their need for a smooth, reliable, and integrated shopping experience. From enhancing service levels to providing new types of shopping entertainment content, our latest initiatives draw on shoppers' feedback. As the leading e-commerce marketplace in the region, we are fully committed to continuously innovating and enhancing their experience to meet their evolving needs. We look forward to continued support from our valued customers.”

To recap, Sea in its FY2023 ended December 2023 results announced that Shopee has seen “positive trends in both growth and profitability”.

“Despite an environment of intensified competition in Southeast Asia, we believe Shopee had a meaningful gain in market share between the start and the end of 2023. We are happy to have solidified Shopee’s market share in the region, and we intend to maintain our market share in 2024. We expect Shopee’s full-year gross merchandise value (GMV) growth to be in the high teens range and its adjusted ebitda to turn positive in the second half of this year,” says Forrest Li, Sea’s chairman and CEO in its FY2023 media release dated Mar 4.

Looking ahead, Li expects Sea to see another profitable year in 2024.

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