SEA e-commerce spend grows exponentialy despite global decline

In-app purchases rose between March and July 2021 despite a global decline of 2.05%.

Global attribution and marketing analytics company AppsFlyer released its 2021 State of eCommerce App Marketing Report on 12 October.

The report found consumers in Southeast Asia (SEA) have significantly increased in-app purchases in 2021 compared to 2020. On average, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam have seen a 240% increase in spending. The Philippines experienced a massive 371% increase, the highest growth in purchases in the region.

With consumer spending growth, fraud also grew, amounting to $58m between Q4 2020 to Q1 2021. However, Malaysia and Indonesia both saw an almost 80% reduction in year-over-year fraud rates, reiterating the importance of vigilance and anti-fraud solutions. 

AppsFlyer senior director of marketing Sam Chiu said, "Up until March last year, Southeast Asia was still a significantly offline market, and the majority of people did not have online banking or contactless payment options. Now, just 1.5 years later, we are on the cusp of a paradigm shift as Southeast Asia is poised to experience a digital shopping wave; what businesses do now can determine their market share over the next few years. This is why marketers must advocate for higher budgets to invest in ad campaigns to acquire new users and remarket to existing ones. Companies should focus on increasing brand awareness and building customer loyalty now before they miss the boat."

The State of eCommerce App Marketing Report tracked data from 1.7 billion eCommerce app installs across APAC, from 920 apps and 9 billion remarketing conversions between January 2020 to July 2021.