According to the 2018 SAP Consumer Propensity Report, 56% of Singaporeans abandon their online shopping carts sometimes or all the time. The report found that for the Singapore market, prompt delivery in time for the traditional festival is key.
30% of Singaporeans abandoned their shopping carts due to longer-than-expected delivery times, the study found. For Chinese New Year 2019, the data is expected to be the same.
“With logistical decisions directly impacting sales, retailers here must take steps to mitigate any issues that could hamper deliveries,” said S.Pranatharthi Haran, Head of SAP Customer Experience, SEA at SAP.
“Retailers may consider offering alternative delivery methods such as secure lockers, self-pick up and click-and-collect options to meet shoppers’ needs during this festive period.”
Haran recommends that retailers turn to data analytics to predict and prepare for expected rise in demand, especially around Chinese New Year 2019 popular festive products, while also helping retailers better understand buying and search history. The study from SAP found that nearly a third of online shoppers were encouraged to complete their purchase when retailers demonstrated a full understanding of their shopping history, aided by a recommendation engine. For the APAC region, the study found that a major pet peeve consumers often have with online shopping is the hassle of returning and exchanging clothes that don’t fit.
“One way that retailers can counter this is by sending different sizes of the same product for consumers to try on and return,” said Jennifer Arnold, VP of Marketing, APJ & Greater China at SAP. “36% of APAC consumers expressed their wish for such a feature and providing this experience will not only help retailers elevate their shopping experience, but also in developing brand loyalty.”
While this may increase the costs of shipping for the retailer in the short run, in the long run it allows the store to understand the size preference of the customer ID in advance, opening room to retarget similar sizes and styles in the future. Given the tense competition for shopper eyeballs and wallets on Chinese New Year 2019, the cost of conversions tends to rise during this and similar holiday seasons. This potentially exposes advertisers and agencies to avenues of ad fraud both for brand safety concerns and bot traffic.
“Brand advertisers and publishers should be wary of domain spoofing and bots as fraudsters attempt to capitalize on the high holiday traffic,” said Luke Taylor, COO of TrafficGuard.
“App advertisers should be verifying clicks, installs and engagements to avoid misattribution and SDK spoofing. CNY is a short window – If you waste time scaling without removing fraud, budget will be wasted and you’ll have little to show from the festive period. By making sure all transactions are valid, you can scale genuine traffic and capitalize on the opportunity that CNY presents.”
Taylor recommends that retailers check that the online traffic is from your pre-defined target, with his data finding that a lot of APAC campaigns receive out-of-target traffic, an anomaly that can negatively impact campaign results and site analytics.
“Wherever there is an opportunity for brands to spend money on advertising, there is an opportunity for fraudsters to make money too,” said Taylor. “It is important to remain vigilant over CNY and for the rest of the year too!”
