Click and buy: Southeast Asian consumers getting hooked on online shopping

Travel services are the hottest buys.

The growth of connected device ownership across Southeast Asia is laying the foundation for a booming online retail sector, with the number of consumers making online purchases increasing significantly in the past two years, according to an e‐commerce report by global information and insights company, Nielsen.

According to a release from Nielsen, the Nielsen Global Survey of E‐Commerce polled more than 30,000 internet respondents1 in 60 countries to examine the online shopping and purchasing intentions of consumers worldwide.

The study provides clarity about global consumers’ buying intentions for both consumable and non‐consumable categories in the growing e‐commerce landscape.

Here’s more from Nielsen:

The survey findings revealed that travel services are the most commonly purchased items online in Southeast Asia, along with tickets for events such as movies, live performances, exhibitions and sports games.

Singaporeans have the highest online purchasing intention globally for airline tickets and hotel and tour reservations, and second highest globally for event tickets; around seven in 10 Singaporeans plan to go online to purchase flights (70%) and make hotel and tour reservations (69%) within the next six months.

Malaysians’ online purchase intent is also high, with Malaysia ranking second globally for tours and hotel reservations and third globally for intention to purchase airline tickets and event tickets online.

Around half of consumers in Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam intend to make travel and event purchases online, along with approximately four in 10 consumers in Thailand.