2022: Adapting to a post-covid world
With many business levels gradually returning to a pre-pandemic norm, we cannot discount how the pandemic has changed our way of life. Covid-19 was a catalyst that brought about a massive shift in consumer behaviour, especially toward e-commerce. The quick adoption of technology would have taken years to have gotten to where it is now without the pandemic. Businesses had to adapt fast or face difficulties staying afloat. If anything, the pandemic taught us not to take things for granted and to always be forward-thinking.
Here’s our Carousell year-end round-up of trends, behaviours, and insights we’ve gathered from our marketplace over the year 2022.
Demand on Carousell
Carousell saw a 5% increase in monthly active users compared to 2021 even as covid restrictions ease in Singapore and many are returning to retail shopping. Demand for online shopping on Carousell’s marketplace remains strong as awareness continues to grow for the secondhand market exacerbated by the pandemic.
Top searched keywords in key categories
Electronics – iPad, iPhone, Samsung
Furniture – Sofa, Bed, Table
Luxury – Rolex, Chanel, Hermes
Fashion – Watch, Dress, Bags
Home Appliances – TV, Fridge, Washing machine
Home Services – Movers, Kitchen cabinet, Delivery
Top 3 locations with the most buyer transactions in Singapore
Tampines MRT Station (EW2/DT32)
Sengkang MRT/LRT Interchange (NE16/STC)
Serangoon MRT Interchange (NE12/CC13)
Consumer behaviour on Carousell
Top categories shoppers intend to purchase during sale season:
Mobile phones and gadgets – 46%
Fashion – 40%
Computers and tech – 37%
Beauty products – 34%
Home appliances – 34%
Sale season Average Order Value (AOV):
- 52% intend to spend between $100-$500 during sale season. 10% intend to spend more than $1,000
How early do consumers start browsing before a sale period:
- Over 50% start browsing at least 2-4 weeks in advance
Shopping motivations on Carousell:
- 91% motivated by good deals
- 2 in 3 plan to increase spending on Carousell during the holiday season for gifts, decorating their home, and refreshing their wardrobes.
- 52% are open to gifting secondhand goods
- 87% influenced by advertising and promotional offers
Source: Carousell Media Group
Learnings and how to leverage on sale season trends
While shoppers are motivated by good deals, they’re also willing to spend a sizeable amount during sale season. This means sellers need to provide good value while pushing for their high-value items. Otherwise, individual products can be bundled together to make up a high-value package priced at a discount so consumers feel like they’re getting a value-for-money deal.
One example is discounted “mystery boxes” with guaranteed items and surprise items, adding the thrill of suspense to the feel-good of discovering a good deal. With the majority browsing 2-4 weeks in advance, consider marketing deals and promotions at least 4 weeks in advance.
Products to consider marketing during this period: Fashion, home decor, giftable items, and packaging or wrapping services.
CarouBiz Feature Usage Trends
Top most used CarouBiz features
- Auto Reply – 99%
- Custom Collection – 38%
- Cover Photo – 70%
- Video Listings – 29%
In general, businesses with a higher number of listings utilise Custom Collections more as it helps sellers organise their listings and buyers to browse based on category. In an industry where consumers’ demands are increasing, an auto-reply feature is almost impossible not to have. Consumers are quick to jump to competitors should their basic needs not be met – which is often just additional information they were unable to acquire from your listing description.
Thus, while being a relatively new feature on Carousell, Quick and Auto-reply have seen a quick take-up rate as it provides sellers the ease of sending fixed messages to answer commonly asked questions without having to manually reply to individual inquiries. This also helps in giving context to buyers quickly.
Feature Spotlight: Video listings
Industries like services had a higher utilisation rate for video listings due to the nature of its business. Furthermore, data over 2022 shows that businesses are 62% more likely to get enquiries with a video listing and the average number of views of a video listing is almost 2.3x of a normal listing.
2022 Activity Recap
Here’s a recap of the activities we’ve done throughout the year.
Click the individual images to learn more!