How will the next generation of commerce look like?
Siwat Vilassakdanont, Country Manager, Philippines, for AnyMind Group, recently captivated audiences at the Retail & E-commerce Summit Asia (RESA) held in July 12, 2023.
The fourth edition of RESA brought together influential, innovative, and trailblazing professionals from the retail and e-commerce industry in the Philippines. This year’s theme is “Fiesta,” integrating the vibrant spirit of traditional Filipino festivities into the summit.
Here, we’ll highlight Vilassakdanont’s talk on the importance of digital transformation and how brands and online merchants can use technology to create a more seamless and personalized shopping experience for their customers.
Unpacking the next generation of commerce for Southeast Asia
Vilassakdanont’s talk dissects the next generation of commerce in Southeast Asia, introducing AnyMind Group and how we’re making it exciting for everyone to do business. As the e-commerce space continues to evolve, Vilassakdanont provided invaluable insights into the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
The big shift to e-commerce
Vilassakdanont emphasized the importance of embracing innovation and adapting to the changing environment of e-commerce. He particularly addressed the significant changes the industry had gone through in the years since the COVID-19 pandemic started. The surge in digital consumers and the resulting shift of businesses to online platforms have revolutionized the way brands operate in Southeast Asia.
Vilassakdanont stressed the need for brands to adapt to the evolving landscape by expanding their sales channels to include online platforms:
- Brand.com sites
- Horizontal marketplaces
- Vertical marketplaces
Today, brands and online merchants are spoilt for choice with the number of digital commerce channels expanding. These channels can also be selected based on where target consumers are, but one thing is for sure, a brand or merchant cannot rely on just one channel.
The challenges of doing business online
The real challenge comes when you realize your competitors are pursuing similar strategies. They too are expanding their sales channels and targeting the same customer base. This means you’ll be engaged in direct competition with them for the attention and loyalty of customers.
- Performance-based influencer marketing: Performance-based influencer marketing is when an influencer earns a commission for each sale they generate. It is a popular option for businesses of all sizes, as it is a cost-optimal way to reach ideal audiences.
- TikTok Campaign + Paid Media: TikTok is a great platform, not only for entertainment but also for businesses to reach an engaged audience with influencer marketing campaigns. Influencer marketing platforms such as AnyTag enable marketers to create and manage TikTok campaigns, alongside other social media platforms, together with areas such as influencer discovery, campaign management, and analytics. AnyTag also benefits from a direct API connection with TikTok Creator Marketplace, providing real-time data and insights on TikTok creators and campaigns.
- The rise of live-selling in the Philippines: TikTok Live is a feature that allows influencers to host live streams on the platform. In addition, e-commerce marketplaces such as Shopee, and other social media platforms also have live-streaming features native in their application. This is a great way for influencers to connect with their audience and sell products directly.
The growth of Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) channels
One of the key highlights of Vilassakdanont’s talk was how shifting to direct-to-consumer (D2C) channels presents various opportunities, including influencer marketing and live commerce. He then shared various case studies of D2C brands that effectively leveraged influencers, live streaming, and pre-sales to achieve remarkable sales outcomes.
Influencers, the new purchase drivers
With the rise of digital commerce, Vilassakdanont stressed how consumers are now turning to influencers for product recommendations. In fact, 46% of Asia Pacific will purchase a product recommended by an influencer and 89% trust influencer recommendations more than regular ads. This opened doors to new paths for driving conversion through influencers:
- Performance-based influencer marketing: Performance-based influencer marketing is when an influencer earns a commission for each sale they generate. It is a popular option for businesses of all sizes, as it is a cost-optimal way to reach ideal audiences.
- TikTok Campaign + Paid Media: TikTok is a great platform, not only for entertainment but also for businesses to reach an engaged audience with influencer marketing campaigns. Influencer marketing platforms such as AnyTag enable marketers to create and manage TikTok campaigns, alongside other social media platforms, together with areas such as influencer discovery, campaign management and analytics. AnyTag also benefits from a direct API connection with TikTok Creator Marketplace, providing real-time data and insights on TikTok creators and campaigns.
- The rise of live-selling in the Philippines: TikTok Live is a feature that allows influencers to host live streams on the platform. In addition, e-commerce marketplaces such as Shopee, and other social media platforms also have livestreaming features native in their application. This is a great way for influencers to connect with their audience and sell products directly.
The eSOL revolution
In today’s world, shopping has become a form of entertainment. Apart from being entertainers, influencers are now turning into savvy entrepreneurs with more selling opportunities coming their way.
Vilassakdanont introduced the concept of eSOL or e-selling Opinion Leader. It refers to any person or account with an online following that completely understands a brand and its products and has the ability to help a brand drive product sales to a wider online audience. These eSOLs are capable of working on a revenue share, commission or retailer model based on their individual work-streams while partnering with brands.
The dawn of Next-Generation Commerce
Vilassakdanont also highlighted how we’re entering the next generation of commerce in Southeast Asia and the world. He painted a vivid picture, “The future of commerce will be highly fragmented, borderless, open and data-rich, but it will also be exciting and borderless.” He stressed the significance of managing multiple sales channels, streamlining the supply chain, and leveraging data to make informed decisions. In other words, business will be done out of a single platform. Here, the audience gained valuable insights into optimizing their operations and reaching a wider customer base in this dynamic and data-rich landscape.
Inspiring the future of retail and e-commerce
Vilassakdanont’s talk at RESA motivated the audience to take on the challenges of retail and e-commerce today. His insights provided a roadmap for navigating the next generation of commerce, empowering businesses to embrace change, leverage technology, and thrive in the rapidly evolving retail and e-commerce industry.
