Cash rich SE Asian ‘centennials’ flock online, as their monthly shopping bill nears US$40b
- Half of region’s 277 million born since 1995 spending US$30 a month
- 56pc still using cash on delivery as their chief form of payment
Half of Southeast Asia’s 277 million “centennials” spend US$30 a month on online shopping, and now account for nearly a fifth of the annual online spending of Japanese consumers, according to a new retail survey.
“Here Comes the Centennial: Southeast Asia's New Generation of Shoppers” has been published by major advertising agency Dentsu Aegis Network and digital marketing consultant, Econsultancy.
“US$30 a month amounts to a significant spend,” said Arvind Sethumadhavan, Dentsu Aegis Network’s chief strategy and innovation officer in Asia-Pacific. The study defined centennials as those born since 1995.
Sethumadhavan also noted that with 9 per cent of that snapshot spending over US$100 a month online, their total expenses were estimated to hit US$39 billion.
Data from market research company Euromonitor showed that online purchases of Japanese consumers amounted to US$226.78 billion last year.
The expectation of centennials is that their experience online should be easy, and it should also act as the first place for finding products
The Dentsu Aegis Network poll, conducted in August, involved 3,055 consumers aged 16-23 from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.