Zalora Singles’ Day Sales in Malaysia

Online Traffic Performance

Malaysia’s biggest e-commerce platform for fashion, Zalora, recorded the highest traffic in November this year, specifically over Singles’ Day – drawing in 104,583 visitors[1]. Zalora kick-started its campaign a week earlier on 2nd November, with the tagline “Make A Wish this #1111ZaloraMY”[2].

Lacklustre Sentiment

In comparison with the previous year, 2018 traffic to Zalora Malaysia had significantly paled, with a 38% decrease or 64,509 fewer visitors in the week leading up to 11th November.

The reason for the decline was due to the shift in consumer spending – as more were stocking up on daily essentials and preferring to splurge on gadgets.

Our web data analysis showed that this year saw 11x more searches for general merchandising goods compared to clothing items, with 18x more visitors flocking to Lazada and 8x more visitors to Shopee[1].

Focus on Fashion

It is still prevalent to offer insights on Zalora Single’s Day trade, as the regional marketplace remains as Malaysia’s no. 1 online destination in 2018 for fashion apparel[3].

Notes:
[1] Omnilytics analysis of Similarweb data, Jan-Nov 2018.
[2] Singles’ Day 2018 Online, Zalora Malaysia.
[3] Mapping Malaysia’s Leading E-commerce Players, iPrice.

Womenswear

4,995 SKUs of 100,750 total womenswear SKUs went out-of-stock on 11.11, constituting to a 5.0% sell-out rate.

Top 5 Categories with the Highest Sell-Out

• Tops
• Dresses
• Shoes
• Bags
• Activewear

Verdict

Total SKU count during the week of 11.11 increased minimally against prior week by less than 1% but drove 6x higher sell-out. Sell-out for discounted products skyrocketed by 7x with 4,240 SKUs, while full-price sell-out increased to 755 SKUs, a 3x jump from the previous week. This demonstrated the opportunity to drive full price products – if the relevant assortment is offered.

Mango was the leading brand for womenswear, clearing out 10.5% of its total womenswear assortment, followed by Dorothy Perkins at 8.1% and Zalora private label at 7.5%. There were also other notable brands that achieved good results on key metrics, as shown in the subsequent pages.

Beauty did not perform up to par, despite being the 5th largest category in SKU volume, with less than 1% sell-out.

Category Analysis: Tops

Overall, there were 6x more sell-outs for tops in the week of 11.11 compared to the prior week, with the price range of RM 75 – RM 100 delivering the most sell-out amongst 78 brands.

Winners

Dorothy Perkins had the highest sell-out volume at a higher price band (refer to Chart 5). However, Mango and Topshop had higher sell-out rates at 8.6% and 7.6% respectively (refer to Chart 7).

Losers

Tops from Pomelo and ShopsFashion observed the largest gap between sell-out vs. total assortment, with sell-out rates at under 2%.

Chart 5: Top 3 Brands by Sell-Out SKUs

Dorothy Perkins contributed to a large portion of sell-out products at a higher price range but also at higher discounts.

Bestsellers and Slow-Movers by Brand: Tops

Bestsellers (Top 3 images)

Scored based on high replenishment and sell-out frequencies approaching 11.11.

Slow-movers (Bottom 3 images)

Scored based on lack of movement yet highly discounted SKUs approaching 11.11.

Category Analysis: Dresses

There were 5x more sell-outs for dresses in the week of 11.11 compared to the prior week, with a price range of RM 125 – RM 150 delivering the most sell-out amongst 48 brands.

Winners

Zalora may have driven the highest sell-out (refer Chart 8), but the real winner was Mango as the brand not only drove higher sell-out rate but at a selling price 1.7x higher, which positioned itself at a sales advantage (refer Chart 10).

Losers

Dresses from Penshoppe and Pomelo observed the largest gap between sell-out and total SKUs (less than 3% sell-out rate).

Chart 8: Top 3 Brands by Sell-Out SKUs

Zalora contributed the highest sell-out at the lowest price range.

Bestsellers and Slow-Movers by Brand: Dresses

Bestsellers (Top 3 images)

Scored based on high replenishment and sell-out frequencies approaching 11.11.

Slow-movers (Bottom 3 images)

Scored based on lack of movement yet highly discounted SKUs approaching 11.11.

Category Analysis: Shoes

There were 6x more sell-outs for shoes in the week of 11.11 compared to the prior week, with a price range of RM 50 – RM 75 delivering the most sell-out amongst 62 brands.

Winners

Zalora may have driven the highest sell-out (refer to Chart 11), but the real winner was Velvet as the brand drove 2% higher sell-out rate at a similar sell-out price (refer to Chart 13).

Losers

Shoes from Vincci and Spiffy observed the largest gap between sell-out over total assortment (less than 1% sell-out rates).

Chart 11: Top 3 Brands by Sell-Out SKUs

Zalora contributed the highest sell-out at a higher discount range.

Bestsellers and Slow-Movers by Brand: Shoes

Bestsellers (Top 3 images)

Scored based on high replenishment and sell-out frequencies approaching 11.11.

Slow-movers (Bottom 3 images)

Scored based on lack of movement yet highly discounted SKUs approaching 11.11.

Category Analysis: Bags

There were 4x more sell-outs for bags in the week of 11.11 compared to the prior week, with the price range of RM 175 – RM 200 delivering the most sell-out amongst 56 brands.

Winners

Guess was ahead in terms of sell-out SKUs (refer to Chart 14), but Kipling had the highest sell-out share of its total bag assortment (refer to Chart 16) and sold at 4x the price range of Mango.

Losers

Bags from Nose and Sembonia observed the largest gap between sell-out and total assortments (1-2% sell-out rates).

Chart 14: Top 3 Brands by Sell-Out SKUs

Guess contributed the highest sell-out at the highest discount range.

Bestsellers and Slow-Movers by Brand: Bags

Bestsellers (Top 3 images)

Scored based on high replenishment and sell-out frequencies approaching 11.11.

Slow-movers (Bottom 3 images)

Scored based on lack of movement yet highly discounted SKUs approaching 11.11.

Category Analysis: Activewear

There were 8x more sell-outs for activewear in the week of 11.11 compared to the prior week, mostly attributable to activewear tops, with the price range of RM 125 – RM 150 delivering the most sell-out amongst 32 brands.

Winners

Under Armour had the highest sell-out but was driven by deep discounts (refer to Chart 17). On the other extreme, most of Nike’s sell-outs were full price despite having delivered lower sell-out rate (refer to Chart 19).

Losers

Activewear from YSoCool and Odlo observed the largest gap between sell-out vs. total assortment, with sell-out rates at below 2%.

Chart 17: Top 3 Brands by Sell-Out SKUs

Under Armour contributed to the largest portion of sell-out products at the highest discount range.

Bestsellers and Slow-Movers by Brand: Activewear

Bestsellers (Top 3 images)

Scored based on high replenishment and sell-out frequencies approaching 11.11.

Slow-movers (Bottom 3 images)

Scored based on lack of movement yet highly discounted SKUs approaching 11.11.

Conclusion

Main Findings

Lacklustre Launch: The hype on Singles’ Day was first seen on 2nd November in Zalora, anchored by its “Make A Wish” campaign. However, the actual traffic only began to lift nearing the Singles’ Day weekend on 9th November (Thursday), which was also the day the discounts were launched.

Full Price Sells: Sell-out for womenswear at a full price increased in the week of Singles’ Day sales, as much as 3x against the prior week despite a small contribution. Activewear, which bagged the 5th top performing category, had the most full-priced sell-outs.

These findings demonstrated that while discounts were appealing, consumers continued to shop based on preferences other than just price alone.

Replenishment is Key: Most brands began stocking for the sale from a week before. Dresses received the highest replenishment five days before 11.11 and went on to achieve the highest sell-out rate amongst the top 5 categories at 6.46%, with a sell-out volume of 983 SKUs, just 4 SKUs less than tops.

The Winning Brand: Mango was the leading brand for womenswear, dominating sell-out SKUs and drove above average sell-out rates across Tops, Dresses and Bags.

Next Steps for Brands

Launch Strategy: Brands should not hastily jump on the bandwagon if they do not have a compelling product or campaign to entice the consumers.

Without a strategy and planning in advance, a longer activation window prior to Singles’ Day weekend would lead to ineffectiveness and cost inefficiency.

Build the Right Assortment: While discounts can be appealing, our findings had shown that consumers were willing to pay more for the relevant styles and colours (most evident in the case of Tops, Dresses and Shoes). Therefore, brands should not regard Singles’ Day as an avenue to just clear slow-movers.

Aiming to build the right assortment should be the focus and it starts with understanding the brand’s own consumer profile, as well as its competitors. Product and merchandising strategies  may include:

• leveraging on its existing bestsellers with timely replenishments;
• perform competitive shopping to identify others’ bestsellers/volume drivers/pricing ladder for opportunities;
• develop an exclusive range catered for the event to drive PR awareness;
• combine the strategies above for maximum impact.