We’re down to the final quarter, the busiest time of the year. With sales periods such as Black Friday, 11.11, 12.12, and Christmas just around the corner, Malaysians are already plotting out their purchasing strategies to capture the best deals.
For businesses big or small and everything in between, this is a great opportunity to pull in new customers and keep your loyal customers coming back to your store.
So, whether you’re a retailer, fast food outlet, gas station operator or any brick-and-mortar business, here are insights from 2018 that you can leverage when planning your sales and marketing campaigns for the year-end.
1. Malaysians are out and about
It’s not just in your head – Malaysians are on the road a lot more in the final months of the year than any other time. Just between November and December, Malaysians made almost 21 million Waze navigations to retail places alone!
In fact, there was a 29% spike in drives in the months of November and December versus August and September. With most getting themselves to shopping centres (43%), gas stations (28%) and fast-food restaurants (18%), imagine the campaigns and purchasing experiences you could plan simply around your customer’s journey from their drive right up to your store – including targeting those who have been purchasing from you.
2. Shoppers are willing to go the distance
Malaysians are avid shoppers and will go to great lengths to take up a good deal as they see it. According to a global survey conducted by pooled data from Ipsos/Google Holiday Study and Waze internal data, 77% of consumers said they’d be willing to drive large distances for a compelling offer or sale. 35% said they’d even drive as far as 40km (roughly the distance from Nilai to KL!) for that offer that’s technically out of their way. How can you as a business set up the right conditions for your potential customers to make that journey?
3. Malaysians still love their brick and mortar
You would think that the combination of traffic, indecisive crowds, and restless children would deter shoppers from hitting the malls. Pair that with the convenience of online purchasing, and you start wondering why anyone ever leaves their homes to go out shopping. But while online shopping may be growing, the numbers show that consumers still like to visit their favorite malls for a variety of reasons from enjoying the tactile experience to seeking inspiration and feeling more festive. The data speaks for itself – only 2.7% of total sales in Malaysia have come in through e-commerce, giving you a real opportunity to capture your in-store audiences.
4. Malaysians like it quick
Malaysians love their food and will go to great lengths for their favorite culinary experiences. Here’s a pointer from December 2018: 8.9 million Waze navigations were made to food-related locations. To zoom in further, there was a 29% increase in these navigations to fast food outlets from November to December. Knowing this can help you steer customers to your eatery as you craft out a strategy to bring attention to your brand, being discoverable along their travel route, and priming their bias towards your store.
5. If they’re on the road, they’re also fueling up
The month of December rolls in and school is out, so there’s no better time to plan a family vacation. Between November and December of last year, 2.8 million navigations on Waze were made to gas stations in Malaysia. As the family kicks back and hums along to tunes in the car, you have the perfect opportunity to give potential and returning customers reasons to choose you. Think about being able to reward your loyal customers this holiday season, bringing them back to your outlet over and over again with irresistible offers.
