Online shopping destinations Lazada and Shopee were hot topics on social media on Monday, Singles’ Day or what consumers consider the biggest online shopping day.
The date November 11, otherwise known as 11.11 or Double Eleven, is similar to Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the United States.
What made the difference this year is that this Asian event gained higher profits than that of the American counterparts.
E-commerce giant Alibaba achieved 25% or $23 billion during the first nine hours of the shopping festival, according to Reuters.
This was only two-thirds from the sales of its US rival Amazon during the recent quarter.
Similar to last year, Filipinos shared witty memes and promotions about the two popular online shops, Lazada and Shopee.
My wallet after Lazada 11.11 Bigsale:#ShopbackXLazada1111 pic.twitter.com/7N33YKKyeU
— Star la ng pera (@YourKarylle) November 10, 2019
Me after I checked out all my 11:11 Lazada and Shopee items… pic.twitter.com/2blImtXJBP
— 𝙳-𝚁𝚎𝚡 (@DaddyRexBCD) November 11, 2019
Lazada, Shopee and Zalora were also the e-commerce brands with the most social media engagements from November 6 to 12 of last year, data from intelligence firm Meltwater showed.
The data was based on public conversations across social media platforms in the Philippines. The firm also used a tool called share of voice or the amount of media coverage a brand or product has compared to its competitors.
Lazada, a Singapore-based company owned by Alibaba, previously had a share of voice of 7,300.
This was followed by Shopee, also a Singapore-based company, with 4,200. Zalora has the least share of voice with 407.
In the Philippines, online shopping has gained ground over the past years.
In 2015, a study found that 9 out 10 Filipinos preferred online shopping than going to physical stores to make purchases.
It started as a gimmick
Singles Day started out as an anti-Valentine’s Day celebration for students of Nanjing University in China in 1993.
It was Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, who thought of adopting it as a gimmick for a global shopping affair in 2009.
Aside from the three brands mentioned, there are also local brands that normally participate during Singles Day such lifestyle store Beauty MNL and tech marketplace Kimstore.
