KUALA LUMPUR: Shopee continues to observe an upward trend towards value-based shopping behaviour throughout Ramadan and Hari Raya Aidilfitri with a 2 times increase of searches containing keywords such as ‘eco-friendly’, ‘Halal’ and ‘sustainable’ in 2023 compared to the same period in 2022.
Halal-related terms were the most popular searches with keywords such as ‘Halal’, ‘buatan Muslim’ ‘Muslim made’, ‘Halal product’, and ‘Muslim Halal product’ searched over 671,000 times on the platform. This was over a 100% increase in searches compared to last year when the same keywords were searched over 325,000 times throughout Ramadan and Hari Raya Aidilfitri.
Value-based shopping behaviour was also observed in gifting and when users were preparing their homes for Hari Raya. Given that gifting is a common culture during Hari Raya season, searches for more traditional gift wrappers also saw a 1.9 times increase. Keywords such as ‘bakul rotan’, ‘kain batik’, ‘sarong cloth’, ‘kain sarong’ and ‘batik cloth’ were used over 61,000 times in 2023 compared to the previous year. This is aligned with the batik-inspired Raya gift boxes trend that started in 2021 and continued to be even more popular this year.
Kenneth Soh, Head of Marketing at Shopee Malaysia said, “Value-based shopping is about supporting Made in Malaysia products in underserved communities, and oftentimes rural sellers who are authentic and provide great services. Many times, it’s about paying close attention to what a seller stands for and does, and checking out what the influencers and affiliates say about the brand, to ensure an alignment of values. At Shopee, we continue to innovate, making online shopping personalised, engaging, hyper-localised and easily accessible through in-house technology and data.”
With Malaysians being hospitable in nature and open houses being a popular culture, Shopee users chose smarter home appliances to make their homes more comfortable for visiting guests. However, this year, comfort is also associated with energy-saving when keywords such as ‘inverter aircond’, ‘LED bulb’, ‘mentol LED’, ‘mesin basuh jimat air’, ‘eco-friendly washing machine’, ‘eco-friendly fridge’ and ‘peti sejuk jimat elektrik’ being searched 76.8% more than last year.
Evidently, searches for cleaning products also increased in line with the demand for more natural solutions. Search terms such as ‘Natural cleaning’, ‘natural cleaner’, ‘eco friendly house cleaner’, ‘eco friendly detergent’, ‘eco friendly floor cleaner’, ‘homemade cleaning supplies’, ‘homemade cleaner’, ‘chemical-free house cleaner’ and ‘chemical-free cleaner’ rose in popularity this year by 1.3 times.
The search for Halal and value-based products went hand-in-hand as users were more supportive of local sellers outside the big cities. The top five cities are Hulu Langat, Selangor; Gombak, Selangor; Seremban, Negeri Sembilan; Kinta, Perak; and Melaka Tengah, Melaka based on items sold, showcasing the true #ShopeeSapotLokal spirit.
During the holy month of Ramadan, over 80,000 Shopee users came together to support the Bakul Rahmah initiative under Shopee Gives Back through Shopee Farm in their efforts to give back to society. With this, Shopee was able to donate 20,000kg worth of rice to The Lost Food Project and Kechara Soup Kitchen. This effort has supported a total of 4,000 underserved families across Kuala Lumpur and Pahang.
