September 9th, or ‘9.9’, has become a major online shopping and promotion day for retailers and brands across the APAC region. Originally developed as a major promotion by Shopee, 9.9 is often called Southeast Asia’s ‘Super Shopping Day — the region’s version of Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or Singles Day.
Now in its fifth year, the 9.9 online and app shopping event has attracted more APAC brand and retailer participation in 2020 than ever before, and the results keep growing. Hundreds of leading brands now use tactics like individual flash deals, the single product flash sale, coupons, vouchers, and deep discounting to drive their sales during this key 24-hour period. Most also leverage paid, earned, and owned media to drive awareness and traffic to their offers, including online shop activity, social media, advertising, and, of course, partner and affiliate programs.
Since its launch, 9.9 has been a key sales event for Partnerize clients in APAC and especially in Southeast Asia. Most dedicate their strongest investments in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore, but many also extend their efforts to all countries throughout the region. For 2020, we’ve analyzed the activity we saw across the Partnerize platform to present these results from yesterday’s 9.9 Super Shopping Day.
Methodology for This 9.9 Analysis
We compared key metrics for an identical group of online advertisers active on this super shopping day in both 2019 and 2020. Because our client base has grown significantly in the region over that time, we compared data only for advertisers active on our platform in both years this is the only fair way to compare figures across years. We examined total revenue, click and conversion rates, and average order value to provide a high-level picture of the growth in popularity of the 9.9 Super Shopping Day.
9.9 Revenue Up 252%. Conversions More than Double
Year over year growth was outstanding for Partnerize clients. Total revenue from 9.9 deals was 252% higher in 2020 than for the same advertisers in 2019. On average, Partnerize customers saw 127% more conversions compared to last year’s event. This is an impressive increase and can probably be attributed to both:
- Event Ascendance: Growth in awareness and consumer popularity of the sale day itself
- COVID-19 Effects: Increased online activity due to e-commerce growth as a consumer response to the pandemic
These results point to the vibrancy of this event and its growing importance to e-commerce sales in the region.
9.9 Clicks Triple. Conversion Rates More than Double
We saw a large surge in the number of clicks – 207% more clicks this Super Shopping Day versus last year. We also saw a big increase in the average conversion rate, which increased by 133%. This is proof that not only were more people shopping through partnerships this year — they were also buying.
Another clear trend we saw: 9.9 average order value increased by 21% versus 9.9.2019 For advertisers, this is a very positive development because larger orders almost always mean greater profit and higher gross margins. Many brands are aware that customers driven to purchase by partnerships are often high LTV customers. An increase in AOV for both first and repeat purchases often means higher LTV over time. As advertisers look to make partnership and affiliate a significant profit center for their businesses, indicators like these are valuable; they are evidence that brands can use this channel to drive higher-value customers and genuine incrementality.
9.9 Versus the Average 2020 Day
2020 has been a year of explosive growth for e-commerce, as phenomena like quarantine, temporary retail closures, and other COVID-related developments have quickly changed the shape of Retail. McKinsey recently published a study called The Quickening, which showed that US e-commerce penetration grew more in the first quarter of 2020 than in the previous ten years. In APAC, we see both an increase in online shopping and an increase in the number of people connected, which arguably makes the growth in e-commerce even more compelling.
We wanted to understand how 9.9 sales looked compared to an average day for the average Partnerize client. Even though baseline daily e-commerce sales are up significantly year over year, 9.9 Super Shopping Day drove 404% more total sales than the average day. Remember also that 9.9 is only the first of four key APAC shopping days before the new year. 10.10, 11.11 Singles Day, and 12.12 are all coming up, meaning that 2020 is likely to be a banner year for both e-commerce and in the success of these shopping days.
9.9 a Big Boom For Retailers
9.9 promotions now encompass multiple business sectors like travel, entertainment, and even finance and telecom. But this and other Super Shopping Days began in Retail, and it is in Retail that we see the biggest sales growth. Partnerize Retail customers active in Southeast Asia saw an average increase in conversions of 237% versus the previous year. This was significantly higher than the overall average increase of 127% our clients across all active categories saw.
In sum, 9.9 has been a big boost for Partnerize clients and other brands active in the region. It’s clear that this Super Shopping Day has “arrived” in consumer consciousness, and the positive trends so no signs of stopping. These results reflect both the focus and energy that brands put into their programs. As we approach upcoming Super Shopping Days, brands would do well to ensure they capitalize on these key shopping occasions and align programs and promotions to their business objectives and KPIs.
