The 11.11 aƏtermath
brands and retailers have recognized this extreme buying power and hopped on the deals-and-discounts bandwagon in an effort to reap more sales. Alibaba has had a tradition of booking A-list stars, such as Mariah Carey, Nicole Kidman and Pharrell Williams, etc., to perform at its opening gala, and this year it was Taylor Swift who headlined the countdown gala concert at the Shanghai Stadium. Even Kim Kardashian promoted her cosmetics line collaborating with Chinese influencer Viya. Live selling was also a big hit.
Alibaba reported selling $1 billion worth of goods sold in one minute and eight seconds and selling $12 billion in the first hour. The Chinese e-commerce giant said its platforms sold goods worth 268 billion yuan, or $38.4 billion exceeding last year’s record $30.7 billion.
Alibaba maintains a number of dedicated web sites—AliExpress sells goods from Chinese brands to international residents; Tmall sells goods from global brands to China; and Taobao sells Chinese brands’ goods to people in China. As for the Philippines and the rest of Southeast Asian markets, we have Lazada.
This year, according to initial reports, the top brands in Southeast Asia for the 11.11 Lazada sale in the mobile category are Xiaomi followed by Samsung and Apple. Xiaomi also emerged as No. 1 brand in the Philippines, continuing its winning streak with the Redmi Note 8 Pro, Redmi Note 8 and Mi Smart Scale as its best-selling products.
In the Home Appliances category, Dyson topped the list in SEA followed by Samsung and Philips, while Adidas is the top-selling brand in the Fashion category, with American Tourister and Fitflop completing the top 3.
Diapers continue to be the best sellers in the Mother and Baby category with MamyPoko, Huggies and Pampers; and for health and beauty, there’s L’oreal Paris in the top spot, with Maybelline in second and Olay in third place.
As of this writing, we still don’t have information on the top-selling brands specifically in the Philippines but we did receive news about the realme 5 being the best-selling smartphone in LazMall. Realme also claimed second spot in terms of brands with highest sales achieving a staggering 966-percent sales growth at the Lazada 11.11, versus the 9.9 mega campaign of the same e-commerce platform. Overall, there were eight times more units sold and 7.36 times more views on the realme Philippines Official Flagship store.
MEETING MR. JEFF AND MRSPEEDY
WITH the guaranteed success of these online sales like 11.11, it’s no surprise that many Pinoys are also putting up their own online businesses. For those who are just starting out, Carousell remains as one of the favorite platforms. It’s easier to set up, and you don’t have to post a lot of items on sale, plus you can even sell your pre-loved items. The only challenge is how to deliver your products to your potential buyer to complete the sale.
This is where MrSpeedy comes in. The upstart delivery app launched last week and it’s aggressively trying to get a bigger share of the market by lowering its rates to become the most affordable delivery partner for Metro Manila online sellers.
MrSpeedy Country Manager Jason Gaguan guaranteed that they are 20 percent to 40 percent cheaper than other existing delivery services. He says the app was created to support the small online sellers and provide them a reliable and affordable service to help them be competitive in the current trend of instant delivery.
“The trend right now in online selling is instant delivery, but it is hard for small online businesses to afford this service. By slashing down our prices, our goal is to arm our local businesses to be more competitive, especially against the dominating giants out there,” Gaguan told us during the launch.
MrSpeedy focuses on three things that they found are most important for small online businesses: Delivery Price, Customer Support and seamless Cash on Delivery.
With MrSpeedy’s pricing at P6/km, it is now the most affordable same-day delivery service as it is 40 percent cheaper than its competitors in Metro Manila.
Alongside its affordable pricing, MrSpeedy has invested heavily in its customer support both in technology and headcount to ensure that their clients are heard and assisted in every step of their delivery— even going as far as creating personal chat groups with their clients.
With the MrSpeedy Mobile App, users just have to input the pickup and delivery drop-off pin locations and input contact details for the said addresses, and they will be able to see the total delivery price—with no hidden charges. The simplicity of booking a delivery is what makes MrSpeedy’s service friendly to clients. To add to their online seller-centric approach is a Cash on Delivery service that boasts of a 12-24 hour remittance window.
Jeff Lavanderia, on the other hand, is a super services app that may not be related to online selling, but may just be the one you need to do your laundry and other chores so that you can have more time to shop. Following the launch of its laundry franchise sales six months ago, Spanish start-up Jeff continues to gain momentum franchising its on-demand laundry services across Asia using an app which customers can download to avail themselves of laundry and dry cleaning services without leaving their homes.
Jeff’s convenient, high-quality services are a perfect fit for busy people who are short on time. Using either the app or the web site, customers can choose the exact location, time, and day of pick up; a driver visits the customer’s house, picks up the items and delivers them, cleaned and folded or ironed, in just 48 hours.
Jeff is also transitioning into a multiservice platform, or “super app,” offering users everything they need on a daily basis with just one click such as hairdressing and beauty, with Beauty Jeff, and a fitness service called Fit Jeff, both of which will be launched this month.
■ How much did you spend last 11.11 and what was the best deal you found? Send your comments to whereiseduy@gmail.com, or send us a message on Facebook (@whereiseduy).