Shopping has always been a national pastime in Malaysia, and the online shopping landscape has evolved massively in the last two years. As a pioneer in the e-commerce industry, Lazada has enjoyed and continues to enjoy significant growth thanks to a slew of initiatives that empowers its brand partners and sellers with the tools, data and insights to win new consumers and increase sales.
Low prices, affordable shipping, ease of search and convenience are key reasons why Southeast Asians shop online. Recognising these trends, Lazada gives its sellers a wide range of business management and distribution tools to make it easy for sellers, whether big or small, to succeed far beyond what they could otherwise do alone.
Setting up an online store is the first step. But if you want to get people to buy your stuff, you need to understand how consumers make purchasing decisions. So what influences customers to shop on Lazada and buy from you? How do you retain and attract new shoppers?
Reviews matter
Product reviews are an essential part of an online store’s branding and marketing. People research products, read reviews and decide what to buy based on them. Today’s savvy shoppers almost never purchase a product without reading reviews and paying attention to other people’s opinions. The more positive reviews you have about your products, the easier and quicker it will be to convince a shopper to buy your product, as well as build your online presence.
Build your range
Customers want convenience and choice when they’re going online. Sellers with an appealing assortment of products tend to be more successful, with greater repeat loyalty shopping on Lazada. Malaysians also enjoy buying authentic or unique products. If having a variety of products is not possible, focus on originality – having something no one else does!
Have an optimized store page
Your store page should attract potential customers with great quality images, product highlights, videos and descriptions. Make your website easy to read and easy to navigate with well-defined categories and site maps. A great online user experience can help you to present your shop in the best light.
Competitive pricing
Implementing a competitive pricing strategy for your business can help the business grow. Enrich your knowledge about your industry, compare your online and in-store prices with your competitors and consider offering attractive discounts. The results of a competitive pricing strategy are usually evident after a short amount of time.
Write listings that sell
This may be obvious but the titles of your listings are crucial to selling your item. Make sure your titles and listings are searchable and make sense. Think like your customer and imagine the keywords they might typically use to search for your product. Titles should clearly and quickly convey what you are selling and allow potential buyers to single out your product from the competition. Have detailed product attributes to ensure your product turns up in the right categories.
Easy payments
Lazada offers a variety of different payment options, which has been key to drawing customers to the platform. Your checkout page is where window shoppers become paying customers. Making it as easy as possible for your customers to pay by having a seamless design, asking for only essential information or making it easy to go back and fix mistakes, is essential for increasing conversions and sales.
Stock availability
It goes without saying, but maintaining sufficient stock levels will ensure that there are no missed sales opportunities for your shop. Most customers want to have their purchases quickly; after all, e-commerce is all about convenience. Having your customer wait for weeks because a particular item isn’t in stock will be detrimental to your business.
Customer experience
A customer’s previous positive experience matters. It is why most of us continue to buy from brands or providers we’ve reliably used before. Most people don’t want to risk a bad purchase or to spend time looking for alternative. Build your store with intention and value and make your customer’s first buying experience a positive one. It’s so much easier to keep them coming back after that.
As Lazada continues to shape the thriving e-commerce economy in Malaysia, these tips are meant to equip you as sellers to attract customers to your shop as well as continue to build your presence in the online space. Whether you are selling sport equipment, toys, household goods, apparel, food and beverage, or a unique, handmade product, Lazada’s customer-centric initiatives and continual innovation helps to influence customers to shop on the platform.
Interested to be your own boss? Sign up as a seller today.
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and subscribe to our YouTube channel for the latest ecommerce trends and seller hacks.