Shopee rounds up exceptional 2019; envisions online shopping to be more personalized, engaging, and social in 2020

Shopee, the leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, sums up an exceptional 2019 and outlines three defining characteristics for online shopping in 2020: Personalized, Engaging, Social. Shopee enjoyed a landmark 2019 as it pioneered industry-leading initiatives that transformed online shopping in the region. In 2020, Shopee will take its efforts to the next level by making online shopping more fun, customized, and interactive.

Martin Yu, Associate Director at Shopee Philippines said, “Shopee had an incredible 2019. We achieved new milestones by staying true to our vision of making online shopping engaging and social. This is proven by our successful in-app games and features which continue to delight millions of users daily. As e-commerce becomes the norm in the coming years, the next challenge is to make shopping online more personal and customized for each user. Shopee believes this to be the future of online shopping and we are committed to making it a reality.”

Shopee led the way for Southeast Asia’s e-commerce market in 2019

Shopee extended its market leadership in 2019, driven by its successful strategy to forge a social and engaging shopping experience. Fun is at the heart of the Shopee experience as its popular in-app games and features entertained shoppers across the region:

• Over 1 billion plays recorded on Shopee’s wide range of in-app games in 2019
• 10,000 hours of content streamed on Shopee Live a day on average

Sellers and brand partners also saw tremendous growth on Shopee in 2019. Sellers across the region experienced a steady increase in orders throughout the year, especially during the busy year-end shopping period. In addition, more brands and retailers joined Shopee to reach more customers, as the product assortment on Shopee Mall doubled in 2019.

Powered by its successful strategy, Shopee was crowned the number one shopping app in Southeast Asia and Taiwan by Monthly Active Users (MAU) in the second and third quarter of 2019. In addition, Shopee set new records during the year-end shopping season, highlighted by 80 million items sold in just 24 hours at its annual finale, Shopee 12.12 Big Christmas Sale.

2019 Highlights at Shopee Philippines

2019 was a fruitful and fulfilling year for Shopee Philippines, as it achieved several major milestones for users. Key highlights include:

• Provide non-stop entertainment for Filipinos: Celebrated the beginning of the Christmas season with its first-ever TV show, Shopee 11.11 Big Christmas TV Special. Millions of Filipinos joined in the fun to catch their favourite celebrities, including Alden Richards, Maine Mendoza, and Heart Evangelista. 

• Announce Filipino Popstar Royalty as new brand ambassador: Sarah Geronimo joined in the fun to celebrate Shopee 6.6 - 7.7 Lowest Price Sale as Shopee brand ambassador. Shopee recorded millions of online views for its commercial with Sarah Geronimo for Shopee 6.6 - 7.7 Lowest Price sale.

• Deepen user engagement with Shopee Live: Rolled out in-app livestreaming feature in April to provide shoppers an innovative and social shopping experience. Consumers can watch Shopee Live to score exclusive deals, connect with their favorite celebrities, and get Shopee vouchers. 

The future of online shopping: Personalized, Engaging, Social 

Shopee foresees online shopping to be even more personalized, engaging, and social in 2020. In line with this vision, Shopee will introduce new platform innovations to bring users a fun and personalized shopping experience in the new year: 

• Personalized shopping with data and artificial intelligence (AI): Shopee will deepen its use of AI and big data to curate a more personalized shopping journey for users. For example in 2019, Shopee leveraged deep learning for its recommendation engine to bring users customized shopping suggestions based on purchase and browsing data. 

• Leveling up user-engagement with new in-app games: Shopee will also innovate its collection of in-app games to bring users more fun and entertainment. In the Philippines, Shopee rolled out its latest horoscope game, the 2020 Fortune Forecast, to mark the beginning of the new year and to allow Filipinos to read their fortune for the year ahead.

• Deeper social interaction on Shopee Feed: Finally, users in all markets can expect an upgraded social experience through Shopee Feed by the first quarter of 2020. Shopee Feed offers various social functions for users to create content and interact with friends, fellow buyers, and sellers on Shopee. 

Yu closed: “I believe that online shopping should bring fun and joy to people. Everyone at Shopee is working hard to make shopping engaging, social, and personalized as e-commerce continues to evolve in our region. We are thrilled at what is to come in 2020 and we look forward to another fruitful year.”