The characteristics of Southeast Asian e-commerce consumers can be summarized in the following five points.
(1) Young
Of the 600 million people in Southeast Asia, 52% are under 30 years old, which is a very high proportion. Especially in Indonesia, 63% of the population is under 30 years old. It is no exaggeration to say that this is a vibrant market. Being young means impulse buying, being able to earn money and spending, and having unlimited potential. In particular, the “post-00s” generation relies heavily on mobile devices to obtain information and shop, and they are eager for efficient solutions.
(2) Mobile
There are 350 million Internet users in Southeast Asia who use smartphones. The Southeast Asian market is quite special compared to the mainstream markets in Europe and the United States. The European and American markets we are familiar with mostly start from the PC end and then move to the mobile end, while the Southeast Asian market directly skips the PC end use stage and directly starts to contact the Internet from the mobile phone entrance. This is probably the fundamental reason why more than 90% of the Southeast Asian e-commerce market is concentrated on the mobile end.
(3) Long Internet Time
On average, Internet users in Southeast Asia spend about 4 hours a day on mobile devices, especially Thais who spend 5 hours a day. Assuming that they work 8 hours a day, the time that Internet users in Southeast Asia spend browsing information or shopping online is much longer than that of Internet users in the United States (about 2 hours) and Internet users in Germany and Japan (about 1.5 hours). Such long stays on mobile devices mean unlimited business opportunities for cross-border e-commerce sellers.
(4) Brand Trust and Socialization
Brand and product trust is an eternal cross-border proposition. Internet fraud is also common in Southeast Asia. Recommendations from acquaintances will subtly influence local people’s consumption decisions to a large extent. Southeast Asians love Facebook. According to incomplete statistics, about 250 million people are using Facebook. It is not difficult to see that socialization is a prominent feature in this market, which of course also includes the use of social software such as Instagram. Therefore, how to establish brand trust and convey brand value through mainstream social media is a question that e-commerce sellers must think about.
(5) Price Sensitivity
Customers in Southeast Asia are highly sensitive to prices. Discounts and cost-effective products are the main factors driving local consumer enthusiasm. Of course, pre-sales, in-sales, after-sales services, logistics services and other factors will also have varying degrees of influence on consumer decisions.