The fashion sector saw a big drop, but F&B grew 38% — amid less-attractive discounts and a comeback in physical retail

In an analysis of data gathered from 100+ brands over a 24 hour period on 11 November 2022 and 11 November 2021 focused on sales across online marketplaces including Shopee, Lazada, Zalora, Blibli, qoo10 and Tokopedia and across South-east Asian (SEA) markets including, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, a general downward trend is reflective of current market sentiments as consumers grapple with continual sharp inflation numbers and economic risks.

While e-commerce continues to be a robust sector, signs are appearing that industry players are starting to see a slowdown in growth. Data from Graas show that e-commerce volumes across the analyzed entities across South-east Asia have fallen this Single’s Day sale by 17% year-on-year.

However, while growth in the analyzed data has slowed down, overall SEA e-commerce was still relatively robust.

Overall 11.11 findings

    • Overall gross merchandise value (GMV) in the studied firms fell by 17% in 2022 as compared to 2021
    • Splits by category
      • Fashion saw a 25% drop in GMV
      • F&B saw a growth of 38%
      • Personal Care, Health & Wellness categories saw an increase of 11%
    • The first two hours of the sale (12am to 2 am) contributed to 40% of the overall GMV. The last four hours of the sale (8pm to 12am) contributed to 20% of the sale. This could indicate that on-day activations are critical to driving consumers to the purchasing stage.

This data is reflective of the on-ground reality, where on the one hand consumers grappled with increased inflation and rising costs of living, while on the other hand, brands in the study were unwilling to sacrifice margin (by offering online discounts) in the quest for GMV, while allowing regular retail sales (brick and mortar stores) to stage a comeback.

According to Prem Bhatia, co-founder & CEO, Graas: “Naturally, in tougher economic conditions, consumers are becoming more prudent in how and what they spend their dollars on. Fashion was understandably down; more essential items like food and personal care continued on an upward trajectory. While brands have always focused on increasing GMV, this 11.11 there has been a visible move towards less discounting. Margin protection has become key.”