Meta have released their latest Holiday and Mega Sale Days insights report, and Harry Lowes, Director of GBG Scaled, Meta ANZ is here to explain the latest consumer trends and tips for Australian online businesses.
From Black Friday to Cyber Monday to Christmas, everybody loves an online Mega Sale Day (MSD) and holiday. Even as consumers return to in-store shopping in Australia, the online shopping habits that formed during the pandemic have become entrenched, as consumers rely equally on the internet for shopping.
To provide a window into the latest trends and preferences for MSD and holiday periods, we surveyed over 18,000 people across 12 APAC markets, including Australia, at the end of the year.
Our Holiday and Mega Sale Days insights report each year reveals the new trends and preferences for customers which allow businesses to better understand customers, to help create more effective social media campaigns online.
Key trends in Holiday and Mega Sale Days
From this year’s survey, we’ve identified five key trends and four winning strategies to help small businesses maximise the many MSD and holiday moments.
Trend 1: Mega Sale Days drive mega discovery
64 per cent of Australian year-end shoppers surveyed said they made an unexpected purchase during recent MSD events.
Trend 2: Live shopping and AR influences drive purchasing decisions
A whopping 81 per cent of Australian year-end shoppers surveyed said that live shopping events online and augmented reality tools are influential on their purchasing decisions.
Trend 3: Trustworthy, authentic and informative content wins
Trustworthy content (33 per cent), authentic content (30 per cent) and informative content (28 per cent) lead as the types of activity Australian year-end shoppers surveyed said they would like to see on a businesses’ Facebook and Instagram during the holiday season.
This is closely followed by entertaining content (25 per cent) and personally relevant content (23 per cent).
Trend 4: Personal connections are important in discovering new brands
Personal connections and recommendations (40 per cent), sponsored content (36 per cent) and ads with product tags (29 per cent) play a significant role in helping Australian consumers to discover new brands and products when holiday shopping.
Additionally, 45 per cent of those surveyed said that they would be open to shopping from new brands they discover on social media.
Trend 5: Cross-border shoppers are emerging as a subset with strong focus on brand purpose
55 per cent of APAC shoppers surveyed made a cross-border purchase, with 33 per cent of APAC cross-border shoppers starting their shopping earlier (by end November) than regular shoppers.
Brand values are critical to APAC cross-border shoppers with 46 per cent looking at socially responsible brands, ethical/fair trade business practices (42 per cent) and sustainability (41 per cent).
Winning strategies to attract online shoppers
So what does this all mean for businesses? We’ve identified four winning strategies around which businesses of all sizes should organise their efforts.
It goes without saying that businesses should plan ahead to build for discovery. Demand for any business relies on creating a meaningful connection with people.
So, here are four winning strategies:
- Be social: In short, optimise for mobile discovery, and leverage personalised ads to drive interest ahead of MSD.
- Be conversational: How do your customers talk to you? If you’re able to connect with your customers on Instagram, Messenger or WhatsApp and answer questions, you’ll forge deeper connections and find new and unexpected audiences.
- Be immersive: This means bringing your product or service to life through a live event, an AR filter, or some other experience that makes it real and tangible for your customers.
- Be purpose-driven: There are so many ways to tell your brand story today and shoppers have shown that they focus on brand values.
Learn more about the attitudes and behaviours of MSD shoppers and access the full Australian-specific report here.
Want more? Get our newsletter delivered straight to your inbox! Follow Kochie’s Business Builders on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Now read this:
2022 Global State of Small Business Report: How do Australian businesses stack up?
Trending
Weekly business news and insights, delivered to your inbox.