10.10 Sale: An E-commerce Seller’s Guide to Maximizing Profits

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In the e-commerce world, shoppers love a good deal, and businesses offer the exact experience strategically through flash sales like the double day sale. These carefully orchestrated mega-shopping days provide businesses opportunities to meaningfully connect with customers, increase footfall to their online store and drive carts to checkout.

If you’re looking at a competitive market like Southeast Asia, the success of inaugural double day sales and the reception among shoppers turned it into a monthly tradition. The first one to kickstart the last quarter is the 10 10 sale, preceding one of the busiest holiday quarter of the year. 

Google’s e-conomy report states that over the last three years, Southeast Asia saw its internet users grow by nearly 100 million. By 2025, the e-commerce market in Southeast Asia is anticipated to reach USD 211 billion, with a compound annual growth rate of 17% from 2022 to 2025. And in a region home to a diverse consumer base receptive to killer deals and limited-time offers, double digit sales day like the 10 10 sale is a win-win.

While the 10 10 phenomenon will draw thousands of shoppers across the region, it gives e-commerce businesses a level playing field. To turn attention into a sale, e-commerce entrepreneurs must tap into the 10.10 craze to set themselves apart. This strategy to win shoppers lies in crafting a unique experience from marketing and promotion to a personalized online shopping experience. Wondering where to start? Let’s dive in.

What is the 10.10 Sale?

The 10.10 sale is a mega shopping event that takes place on October 10 each year in Southeast Asia. This sale has several online stores offering great deals, discounts, and promotions on various products, from electronics to fashion to home goods, attracting shoppers worldwide.

Originating from China, the 10.10 day sale quickly found great reception among shoppers in neighboring Southeast Asian regions like Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines.

Many e-commerce platforms and online retailers try to tap into the sales frenzy on that day to attract online shoppers and maximize revenue. 

Shoppers enthusiastically look forward to the 10.10 sale, providing an excellent opportunity for e-commerce businesses to boost shoppin, acquire new shoppers, and increase brand loyalty.

Understanding the Significance of the 10.10 Sale 

The origin of the 10.10 sale can be traced back to the first-ever Singles Day Sale in China, started by Alibaba’s e-commerce platform. 

Following the sale’s success, the double digit sales day or the double day sale grew popular. The 10.10 sale has become a major global shopping event and tries to mirror the success of the double day sale events. 

There are a few theories about why the 10.10 sale became so popular. The obvious one is that the date is simply easy to remember. Another theory is that the retailers use the 10.10 sale to pull holiday shopping into October from closer to the November-December period. This provides business owners sufficient bandwidth to cater to the early holiday shoppers. By doing so, e-commerce business owners ease the effect of the unprecedented shopping surge during the holiday season affecting the supply chain.

Where is the 10.10 sale popular? 

The 10.10 sale enjoys immense popularity in the Southeast Asian countries like:

  • Singapore
  • Malaysia
  • Indonesia
  • Thailand
  • Vietnam
  • Philippines
  • Taiwan
  • Hong Kong

E-commerce Platforms that participate in the 10.10 Sale: 

Mega shopping days like the 10.10 sale have become staples in the Southeast Aisan region thanks to e-commerce platforms. Platforms like Shopee, Lazada, and eBay recognized the widespread reception the double day sale enjoyed in China. Soon, these platforms mirrored the model and tested the sale days in different countries. Today, both Shopee and Lazada are synonymous with the double day sale. With 10.10 fast approaching and southeast Asia brimming with a rising middle class shopping demographic, sales go in one direction – up! 

Why is the 10.10 sale popular in Southeast Asia

Like other double day sales, the 10.10 sale attracts a large volume of shoppers and e-commerce business owners observe a high uptick in the shopping activites during this period. But the reason that 10.10 enjoys this popularity goes beyond the apparent discounts and promotions. 

Growing popularity of e-commerce

Shoppers from the Southeast Asian region enjoy the convenience of online shopping. The e-conomy report from 2022 states that digital adoption across E-commerce is nearing full adoption among digital users in urban SEA, with rural areas not far behind. The rates on average, is above 90% among the natives, budget users, and affluent spenders. In the suburban area, the adoption rate is comfortably at 70%. 

A shopping-friendly demographic

The SEA region is home to a population of 655 million and growing. Thanks to a young demographic, increased digital adoption and a rising middle class with disposable income, the region is exciting for e-commerce growth and notices high shopping activities during peak sales periods. In fact, Shopee’s parent company posted a 10% sequential growth in active buyers in the second quarter.  

Understanding the interest around the past 10.10 sales

Shopee and Lazada are the top e-commerce platforms that are known for their remarkable 10.10 sale in SEA. During the sale, these platforms see a shopping spike thanks to a vast customer base, dominance in multiple Southeast Asian markets, strategic marketing, and user-friendly interfaces.  

Let’s take a look at some of the key highlight from the 10.10 sale in 2022.

Shopee 10.10 Sale 2022

To maximize the impact of the 10.10 sale, Shopee offered its sellers a mix of powerful features for the 10.10 sale in 2022. These initiatives focused primarily on evolving trends, dynamic customer behavior, and the financial background of major customer base.

Shopee Guarantee: 

Through this feature, shoppers were guaranteed a 100% refund if their items were not delivered or were not as described. Shopee Guarantee helped offset apprehensions that shoppers could have while shopping online and helped create a safe buying experience.

Shopee PayLater:

A financial flexibility tool, the Shopee Pay Later or SPayLater enabled shoppers to make purchases and pay them back in installments. This move broadened the reach for luxury and premium items on Shopee and supported new shoppers and ones from modest economic backgrounds.

Shopee Live Super Deals:

As Shoppertainment is gaining fast recognition, Shopee launched its in-app live-streaming feature to help sellers promote their products and offer exclusive deals and discounts. This let e-commerce sellers instantly connect with shoppers, clarify their queries, and persuade them to shop at their stores.

Shopee Coins Boost: 

In the last 10.10 sale, Shopee introduced gamification that rewarded buyers when they participated in challenges and activities within the platform. The Shopee coins earned by customers could be redeemed in the feature and ensured that these shoppers would return and indulge in repeat purchases.

Shopee Guarantee Game: 

To promote the newly introduced Shopee Guarantee and educate shoppers better, Shopee gamified the way they educate the shoppers. They incentivized the awareness process through quizzes and rewarding those who answered correctly. 

Key Performance Trends of Shopee 10.10 2022

Shopee 10.10 2022 saw a heightened promotion. The brand maximized the sale by splitting the sale day into multiple sales periods with attractive discounts. The 10.10 sale by Shopee started with the big midnight sale, big morning sale, big lunch time sale. The evening included heavy attractive discounts through the big-pricedrop sale and finally ended with the last 3 hours sale. To promote the usage of Spaylater, Shopee launched a zero-interest campaign on selected products and up to 15% off on products purchased through the SpayLater payment options. This helped the brand woo more shoppers to its platform on the 10.10 sale and significantly increased sales in the Philippines.

Lazada 10.10 Sale 2022

In addition to daily deals and vouchers in the past 10.10 sales, Lazada, like Shopee, included new initiatives to boost its 10.10 sale success. 

Lazada Plus: 

A new exclusive membership initiative that gave shoppers exclusive benefits, such as free shipping, discounts, and early access to the 10.10 sale deals.

LazMall: 

Lazada introduced the feature that showcased products from trusted merchants, and reputed sellers to deliver shoppers a positive and reliable shopping experience.

Lazada Live: 

The power-packed combination of live streaming and e-commerce shopping on the platform allowed Lazada sellers to connect with buyers in real time, showcase their products on the 10.10 sale, and push them to purchase.

Lazada PayLater: 

Like Shopee, Lazada recognized the need to offer financial flexibility to its shoppers to level up shopping activity. This move ensured that buyers who would normally skip the 10.10 sales could participate and repay the purchase value through easy installments.

Lazada Coins Boost: 

To increase repeat purchases, Lazada introduced the Lazada Coins initiatives. Shoppers would participate in gamified challenges and shopping activities and acquire Lazada Coins. These Lazada Coins then could be redeemed over future purchases and shopping opportunities.

Key Performance Trends of Lazada 10.10 2022

Initial social media posts observe that beauty and fashion enjoyed the top category and recorded the highest growth in 2022’s 10.10 sale. The categories saw a whopping 12x growth in Sales and 11x growth in the number of orders in both categories. Another impact was noticeable in Lazada’s live shopping section, LazLive. Shoppertainment was a hit with a 4x growth in LazLive sales and a 3x growth in order volume placed through live shopping compared to the previous year’s sale.

What to expect in 10.10 sale in 2023

With the 10.10 sale getting bigger and better, both platforms will compete against one another to woo shoppers with attractive discounts and vouchers. 

  • Both Shopee and Lazada will seek to promote local sellers and e-commerce businesses. Both platforms will highlight businesses with sustainable practices in e-commerce supply chain and packing to attract conscious online shoppers. 
  • The 10.10 2023 sale will see both Shopee and Lazada battle it out with extensive discounts to attract more shoppers. The brands are heavily promoting the sales and amping up the buzz around 10.10 sale day through engaging campaigns on social media. These campaigns include price drop announcements, giveaways, and influencer promotions.
  • Both platforms will aim to improve financial feasibility for shoppers on the platform through ShopeePayLater and LazPayLater. Shoppers using these payment options during checkout will benefit from additional discounts, interest-free payments, or exciting cashbacks. To diversify payment options, the platforms will provide attractive benefits for using payment wallets and other fast payment options. This move offers convenience and becomes a key driver for increased shopping conversions on the platforms. 
  • To match the success of live shopping or “shoppertainment”, Lazada and Shopee will heavily rely on the LazLive and Shopee live feature to help sellers connect and sell through live streaming. To expand seller reach, Shopee has launched a co-streaming feature that lets two or more sellers co-stream together and sell. These features enable e-commerce business owners to capture a wider audience and connect with potential buyers. 
  • This year, the journey of e-commerce toward sustainability is noteworthy. Both platforms are seeking to increase their green e-commerce initiatives and sustainable practices.

How to Prepare Your E-commerce Store for the 10.10 Sale

On the day of the 10.10 sale, pre-sale promotion and marketing are key initiatives to attract your shopper’s attention. Generate adequate hype and offer compelling reasons for shoppers to visit your online storefront. Here are some tips to prepare for the big 10.10 sale and tailor some positive shopping experiences.

Check your inventory 

Deep dive into your current inventory and past sales insights. Through the exercise, you can recognize your fast-moving, slow-moving stock and deadstock. Next, identify your seasonal and off-season stock. This lets you clear off high holding costs for off-seasonal products. When it comes to perishable and dated products, ensure that you run an inventory check to identify the goods that are close to expiry. The goal will be to mark them with enticing offers or bundling promotions to increase sales.

Finally, based on seasonal trends and anticipated demand, you can identify what products need to be reordered and stocked in different distribution centers.

Capitalize on in-app promoting tools: 

Both Shopee and Lazada offer a rich mix of marketing tools to boost visibility and bring shoppers to their online stores. With Live Selling gaining wide acceptance, ensure you nominate the right products that will benefit from live selling and wider promotion. Capitalize on Shopee and Lazada’s in-app ads, pre-sale teasers and promotional activities, vouchers, cashback, and discount tools to offer more value and standout during the 10.10 sales.

Strategize e-commerce pricing:

The 10.10 sale will have you battle not only sellers on a specific platform but also other platforms that host the 10.10 sale. Before the sale, understand how you can effectively price products on your store and tools offered by the platform to ensure that the marked-down price, discount, and impact are clearly emphasized. With competitor and dynamic pricing tools, you can determine the best price to list your products during the 10.10 sale.

Update your website

Your online store on the e-commerce platform should be an extension of the 10.10 sale. Both Shopee and Lazada will inform sellers about ways to update the online stores for the 10.10 sale. In addition to modifying your store’s outlook, ensure that your product listing and pricing change pop out. Keep your product description structured and favorable for quick skimming. Upload high-resolution images of your products on sale in different views and perspectives to help shoppers make informed decisions.

Promote your products and benefits:

Shoppers during the 10.10 sale visit e-commerce platforms to identify what’s in store for them. Take the opportunity to nominate the right products for your pre-teasers. Also, partner with lifestyle bloggers, influencers, and reporters to promote attractive 10.10 offers. If your discount isn’t attracting much attention, ensure you call out features like free shipping, cross-selling options, or payment method-specific benefits.

Create exclusive early bird offers:

Do not wait for the 10.10 sale to attract your shoppers. Instead, try converting them early on. Participate in cross-platform promotional activities by announcing your power-packed lineup on social media platforms. Tease online and window shoppers with a glimpse of expected discounts. Offer smaller discounts if they add products to the cart early on. Keep a safety buffer for the expected high-demand products. If you notice your competitors marking these products heavily, offer ways for your shoppers to purchase them beforehand at a moderate discount without facing an out-of-stock experience. 

Capture Cross-border Shopping

Since the 10.10 sale isn’t unique to a single country in Southeast Asia, e-commerce business owners can utilize the opportunity to capture customers across the border. Create exclusive deals for shoppers who visit your store from different countries through geo-targeting. Incentivize these shoppers with attractive deals like discounted shipping, higher benefits for increased order values, and attractive cashback for international payments.

Level up Fulfillment this 10.10 Sale

The right 10.10 sale strategy will turn your online store into a shopping frenzy environment. Attractive offers and a solid line-up of products can influence shoppers and move carts to checkouts. 

Partnering with a best-in-class third-party logistics provider like Locad gives you a strategic advantage and can positively impact your 10.10 sales success. Here’s how

Flexible Fulfillment: 

Avoid settling for inexpensive warehouses far away from customers and committing to last-mile carriers who could hurt your store’s reputation. Locad offers a flexible infrastructure to store your inventory in strategically located warehouses, automate order processing, pack orders per your branding, and get the best last-mile carrier to deliver your orders. 

Inventory Management:

Stay in touch with your inventory levels across all your sales channels. With advanced reporting features, tap into past metrics to identify your best sellers, slow movers, off-seasonal items and deadstock. Make data-driven decisions to decide on products that go on sale, offer competitive pricing, and maximize profits during the 10.10 sale.

Efficient Fulfillment: 

High inbound orders require fast dispatch for faster delivery. This increasing expectations for shorter delivery makes it essential to choose warehouses that are closer to your customers. Locad’s warehouse network is strategically located in several key locations that shorten last-mile delivery and increase customer delight. Stay on pace with rising customer demand for same day and next day fulfillment with Locad.

Tracking and Returns: 

Order tracking is an essential step in the post-shopping experience. With Locad’s control tower, monitor your orders at every step of the fulfillment journey. Keep your customers in the loop by relaying order tracking status to identify when their 10.10 orders will reach them. 

Multi-channel Selling: When you have multiple online stores across different e-commerce platforms, it can be a regular business day on one while it’s a high stake 10.10 sale on the other. Managing both channels may involve back-and-forth toggling to check if orders are synced and routed to the correct warehouse/fulfillment center. With Locad, integrate with popular e-commerce platforms like Shopee, Lazada, Shopify, Woocommerce, and more. Streamline your entire order processing through a single dashboard and stay on top of orders on busy sales or regular days like a pro.

Final Thoughts

A double-day sale like the 10.10 sale day may appear as a recurring shopping event, but it is a crucial driver of increased sales buzz translating to high shopping activities. It presents an opportunity for e-commerce sellers across Southeast Asia to attract new customers, turn one-time shoppers into repeat customers, and maximize sales.

As you approach an important sales day of the holiday quarter, you must strategically look at creating a solid product lineup, tailor a personalized shopping experience, and offer a fantastic order fulfillment journey. With the proper awareness and enablers, you can ensure that the 10.10 sale goes from just another double-day sale to the biggest sale day for your online e-commerce store. 

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