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Hitwise Intelligence - Sandra Hanchard - Asia Pacific

Analyst Weblog

Blog Shops popular in Singapore

November 19, 2009

Christmas online shopping in Singapore and Hong Kong has gained strength over the past few years, with visits to the Shopping and Classifieds industry reaching a 3-year high during the week ending 28 November 2008 in Singapore, and week ending 13 December 2008 in Hong Kong.

Earlier this week I provided an update on the leading product categories in the retail sector in Australia. There were some regional similarities in Singapore and Hong Kong, with Apparel and Accessories, Computers and Appliances and Electronics dominant verticals in all three markets.

· Apparel and Accessories was the largest retail category in Singapore, accounting for more than 1 in 5 visits to Shopping and Classifieds during the week ending 7 November 2009. Visits to the sector also grew by 34.7% year on year to week ending 7 November 2009.

· An interesting phenomenon in the Singapore Apparel and Accessories industry is the prevalence of blogging websites that offer retail. Examples of blogs amongst the top 10 Apparel and Accessories websites included, BonitoChico, Agneselle, Hollyhoque, Agnes's Deepest Thoughts and So She Say. This could be an indication that Singapore users increasingly prefer to do retail transactions through a blogging vehicle and if this is the case, presents a real challenge to Auctions and Classifieds players in Singapore. Slow year on year visit rates to Auctions and Classifieds websites supports this hypothesis. I’d be interested to hear from Singapore readers if this is backed up anecdotally.

· The Computers industry attracted the highest share amongst Shopping and Classifieds websites in Hong Kong, accounting for 1 in 10 visits during the week ending 7 November 2009. Apple Store accounted for 40% share of visits in the Computers category; behind Singapore in local penetration rate (45%) but ahead of Australia (15%) and New Zealand (4.93%).

· Video and Games attracted 136% growth in visits year on year in Hong Kong, primarily due to the dominance of SensAsian.com, a Malaysian entertainment retail portal. Fast moving categories also included Music and House and Garden. In Singapore, Apparel and Accessories, Computers and Sports and Fitness attracted the fastest year on year growth (34.7%, 21.8%, 5.25% and respectively).

Posted by Sandra Hanchard at 04:57 PM | (0) | (0)
In Categories Shopping and Classifieds

Apparel websites competing strongly in retail sector

November 17, 2009

Expectations for consumer spending this Christmas in Australia are moderate, despite consumer confidence sitting at 38.3 percent above its level a year ago (Westpac Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index). Given that retailers will be vying for consumer spend not just against immediate competitors, but against retailers in other verticals, I thought I would take a look at the types of products that are attracting consumer interest. Below is a breakdown of visits to Shopping and Classifieds websites by product category.

While Computers attracted the largest share of visits amongst product-related websites, visits dropped by 13.7% comparing week ending 14 November 2009 to the same week last year.

Apparel and Accessories visits attracted the highest year on year growth of 18.2%, and closely trailed Computers in overall volume. Strong performance in the Apparel and Accessories industry has been underscored by significant investment in the online channel by key vendors. Apparel retailers have increasingly recognised the need to maintain a strong web presence to strengthen their brand awareness and increase revenue both online and offline. Examples of fast moving local brands included, Sportsgirl Online, Pumpkin Patch, Kathmandu, Oroton and Witchery.

Other product categories to attract year on year growth included (in order of percentage increase): Music, Video and Games, Grocery and Alcohol, Appliances and Electronics, House and Garden, Automotive, and Sport and Fitness.

Retailers heavily reliant on search traffic

Boosting lead generation from key traffic sources is another important consideration for retailers as they compete for limited consumer spend this year. Shopping and Classifieds websites received one third of their traffic from Search Engines during the week ending 14 November 2009, demonstrating the importance of search engine referrals.

Social Networking and Forums, Email Services. Portal Frontpages and News and Media were all under-indexed traffic sources for Shopping and Classifieds websites, highlighting opportunities for retailers to attract customers from more diverse sources. Retailers should continue to monitor the industry benchmark for traffic leads, as well the sources of 'new' vs. 'returning' visitors to their competitors.

Posted by Sandra Hanchard at 03:19 PM | (1) | (0)
In Categories Apparel and Accessories

What retail categories are Gen Ys searching for online?

October 30, 2009

In my last post I looked at search terms by 18-24 year old Australian users, and indicated how they were more likely to search for bricks and mortar brands than online players; with an overall tendency to search by brands compared to products.

As expected, some of the retail categories that these brand and product search terms fell into conformed to some gender stereotypes. For example, ‘Apparel’ related terms attracted the highest percentage of search traffic by 18-24 year old female users (25%), while ‘Electronics’ terms were heavily represented by 18-24 year old male users (28%).

· 18-24 year old females, compared to males, were more likely to search in these retail categories: Apparel, Grocery, House and Garden, Ticketing, Sports (e.g. ‘Nike’), Rewards, Books, Health and Beauty, Mall (e.g. ‘Chadstone shopping centre’), Comparison Shopping (e.g. ‘Shopbot’), Toys, Video and Discount (e.g. ‘Best and Less’).

· 18-24 year old males, compared to females, were more likely to search for brands and products in Electronics, Department Stores, Music, Classifieds, Auctions, Automotive, Mobile, Games, Computers, Hardware, Household, Stationery and Notebooks.

·Apparel brands searched on by 18-24 year old females included, ‘forever new’, ‘supre’, ‘valley girl’, ‘dotti’ and ‘sportsgirl’. Product terms included, ‘engagement rings’, ‘sunglasses’ and ‘dresses’.

· Electronics brands searched on by 18-24 year old males included, ‘apple’, ‘jb hifi’, ‘hp’ and ‘dell’. Product terms included, ‘iphone’, ‘nokia n97’, ‘laptops’, ‘mac’ and ‘tomtom’. Brand names on notebooks included, ‘dell laptops’, ‘toshiba laptops’, ‘hp laptops’ and ‘sony vaio’.

Greater price-sensitivity by female shoppers

It was also interesting to observe that 18-24 year old females had a stronger tendency than males to search on terms related to Comparison Shopping, Rewards and Discount categories. This means that retailers should ensure they are well-represented on comparison shopping websites and reward schemes for products targeted at females.

Retailers can use search behaviour on retail categories to help prioritise which products they market to different age and gender groups across all of their marketing activities. Keyword lists can also be fine-tuned by delving further into the search tail by each segment.

This post and the previous one are based on Experian Hitwise Custom data. To find out more, email csm@hitwise.com.

Posted by Sandra Hanchard at 11:45 AM | (1) | (0)
In Categories Gen Y | Search | Shopping and Classifieds

How do Gen Ys search online when they do shopping research?

October 27, 2009

Now that we’re into the lead up to Christmas shopping, there has been some commentary on what tactics retailers will apply to make the most of online shopping, including social media. Given this could potentially become a crowded space, retailers have an opportunity to gain a competitive advantage by using search data to deepen their understanding of target customers.

Recently we looked at the search traffic of 18-24 year old users in Australia to get a preview of their shopping preferences (based on head of household demographics data, 4 weeks ending 26/9/09). We also broke down searches by gender to see which brands and products resounded with each group.

Some general behaviour we noted:

·Bricks and mortar searches much more dominant than online brands. 18-24 year old females and males were both more likely to search for bricks and mortar brands, accounting for 73% and 70% of searches respectively.

·18-24 year old females are more brand-conscious than males. 85% of top shopping searches by females were for brand names only, compared to 82% for males.

·18-24 year old males are more product-oriented in their searches than females. Product terms accounted for 16% of searches by males compared to 12% for females.

So what does this mean for retailers?

Given the high volume of searches for bricks and mortar brands, traditional retailers need a strong online presence to ensure they’re capturing pre-qualified consumer interest. On the flip-slide, online brands need to do a better job of increasing their brand awareness amongst Gen Ys.

Retailers should also prioritise branding campaigns (above-the-line and display etc.) for attracting 18-24 year old female customers, while Pay-Per-Click budgets should be ramped up for products targeted at 18-24 year old males.

(These principles may well apply across older age groups, but are outside of this study for the meantime.)