(Updated: October 20, 2021)
The year 2020 brought a lot of changes in people’s behaviours.
The mandatory lockdowns forced a lot of us to go about our days differently. Some had to learn how to cook their own meals more to enjoy good food without going out. Some started ordering take-out more often than they used to. Digital platforms are having the time of their lives as the majority started consuming digital goods on a regular basis for school, work, and personal engagements.
It’s no question that the pandemic has accelerated the growth of the digital world. But if there’s one thing that a lot of us really embraced during the pandemic, it’s online shopping.
It’s highly evident in the rapid growth of many online shopping platforms like Shopee and Lazada who are beating sales records after sales records. (Plus, the massive increase of Jeff Bezos’ personal net worth that even raised some eyebrows.)
Online shopping really became a pandemic staple.
So to answer the question, “How did COVID-19 Change the Shopping Behavior of Mothers?” Obviously, like many others, to prevent themselves from catching the virus outdoors, they became more inclined to shop online. But, how did the pandemic really change the shopping behaviour of mothers?
Our team here at theAsianparent Insights conducted surveys in six SE Asia countries to answer this question! Let’s discuss.
Mothers will continue to shop online regularly even after the pandemic
The changes that we have encountered during the pandemic brought lasting effects. Online shopping is no doubt here to stay.
Our surveys report that the majority of mothers from each 6 Southeast Asian markets surveyed are still going to be shopping online at the same rate they’re doing now even after the pandemic.
Mums, along with a lot of other people, might have realized that online shopping is more convenient and offers just the same quality of products they can get through shopping traditionally. Hence, even after they no longer have a virus to avoid, they would prefer to continue their online shopping routines.
Singaporean mums are the most certain about their future intentions with online shopping
Among other SE Asia markets, Singapore has the highest percentage of mothers certain about continuing regular online shopping even post-COVID. 84% of mothers in the country say so! While not even a single Singaporean mum is considering stopping their current online shopping habits.
Around April 2020, Nielsen reported data that revealed that 37% of Singaporean consumers have increased their online shopping activities because of the virus outbreak. Want to know the interesting bit? Even that early into the pandemic, 76% of Singaporeans have already indicated that they will not be returning to their pre-COVID shopping behaviour in the future.
Looks like their minds haven’t changed at all until now! In fact, Singaporean mothers shop online an average of 4 times a month. Also the highest in the region.
What could be the reason behind Singaporeans’ love for online shopping?
Generally, Singaporeans are just much e-commerce savvier than the rest of the countries in Southeast Asia. But, according to Nielsen, Singaporeans are savvier when it comes to efficient pantry stocking than other regions as well.
Online shopping is convenient and accessible. Most of the time it’s even more affordable! This makes online shopping the more efficient way to shop for products and could be the reason why Singaporeans are bigger fans of online shopping. Especially Singaporean mothers who are mostly in charge of buying the products their family consumes.
What do you think?
Less Indonesian mums are certain about their future with online shopping, but numbers are still high
Meanwhile, among the six SE Asia markets, Indonesia has the lowest percentage of mothers certain about continuing online shopping regularly post-COVID. Even though only 1% of them are sure about stopping online shopping, 36% are planning to reduce and 20% are not yet sure.
Let’s look at the possible reason why: the declining internet freedom in Indonesia.
Even though Indonesia has one of the highest numbers of internet users in the world, and 95% of mothers there are online shoppers (refer to the image below), internet freedom in their country continues to fall. Why? Because of the political climate in the country.
The Think Tank’s Freedom on the Net report in 2020 has given Indonesia a score of 49. This number falls under the category “partly free”. Back in 2018, their score was 54.
Last year, Statista reported that the internet penetration rate in Indonesia only scores 53.7% which is low when compared to other Asia Pacific countries. The limited internet freedom Indonesian mothers have might be the reason why they are less sure about their future with online shopping than the mothers in their neighbouring countries. Traditional shopping might be the more comfortable avenue for them. At least for now.
Even so, Indonesia still has the biggest e-commerce market in SE Asia. It’s bound to be bigger because they have the highest population in the region (260M+).
The common denominator in each market: online shopping for baby products
Mothers’ number 1 priority will always be their babies. This clearly shows in what SE Asian mothers have mostly been shopping for online. The surveys revealed that in all six Southeast Asian markets, mothers tend to shop for baby products more than other items.
The chart below shows the number of times mothers in the Philippines (top) and Thailand (bottom) shopped for baby products in the past 6 months. Other markets showed similar data.
Mothers’ online purchase for baby products increased by a lot
This is obvious by now because of the last chart we showed you.
But, let’s take a look at how much the demand for baby products online increased for mothers. All in all, each SE Asia market’s online purchase for baby products increased. However, the Philippines and Vietnam have presented us with the most different results from each other.
The Philippines has the highest percentage of increase in online purchases for baby products
But, why do you think Pinoys increased their online shopping for baby products by this much?
Parents want the best for their babies. Pre-pandemic, Filipinos didn’t really trust online shopping as much as traditional shopping due to fear of receiving substandard products.
That, and the numerous scams and mishandling of shipments happening all over the country over online platforms. This is also among the reason why the Philippines used to prefer cash on delivery more than cashless methods, but that’s the topic for another day.
Because of this, the Philippines was considered to be less e-commerce savvy than its neighbouring countries.
But the Philippines was imposed with one of the world’s longest lockdowns due to COVID. Because of the strict lockdowns and fear of contracting the virus, Filipino mothers were obliged to stay at home. Along with this, they increased their digital consumption. Many Filipinos, including parents, was given no choice but to try out online shopping more often and discover its beneficial sides.
According to iPrice Group, total sessions in PH online shopping apps reached 4.9billion during the lockdown period. That’s a lot. Especially for a country that used to be sceptical of buying online.
Vietnamese mothers’ purchase of baby products online did not increase as much as other markets, but there’s a catch
Vietnam, on the other hand, did not have as much increase in online purchases as much as their neighbouring markets.
There are two possible reasons behind this. Vietnam was able to contain the virus outbreak earlier despite limited resources (kudos)! Because of that, they never went into a strict lockdown. Hence, the need to buy baby products or other products in general online never became as intense as other markets as they were still able to go outside to shop these products traditionally.
That or Vietnamese mothers have already been shopping a lot online even before COVID. Thus, a large increase in their online shopping spend isn’t expected. Why do we think so? The e-commerce spend in Vietnam has been continually growing in significant amounts since 2017/2018.
When asked about their future intentions with online shopping, 75% of Vietnamese mothers have stated that they are still going to be online shopping regularly post-COVID 19.
And when asked how often they do online shopping, Vietnamese mums said that on average they online shop 3 times a month. This number is the 2nd highest among the other SE Asia markets. Next to Singapore! Other SE Asia markets only shop an average of 2 times per month.
As you can see, even though the increase in online shopping for baby products isn’t high among Vietnamese mums, their online spending on these categories are still high.
So, what do you think is the real reason? Do leave a comment if you have any thoughts about this. We value your thoughts!
Bonus Info: All SEA market mothers prefer to use Shopee for online shopping
While this information isn’t a part of the change in the online shopping behaviour of mothers, we still think it’s worth noting. So consider this as some bonus information.
The charts below show how many Malaysian (top) and Thai (bottom) mothers prefer Shopee for their online shopping needs.
Mothers in Southeast Asia are most likely to be the top spenders of the family. Traditionally in the region, mothers handle the budget their family earns. That set-up hasn’t changed much until now as many mothers still choose the brands and the products that their family buys.
If you’re a marketer, an advertiser, or a brand who’s interested in the way mothers think, we have more information like this and we’re here to help you get to know mothers more!
To read our full reports, click this link.
