New generations of Malaysians are shopping with purpose online — Shopee’s marketplace data shows online consumers are three times more likely to buy products that promote smarter consumption in 2023 than in 2020. Malaysians are increasingly searching for keywords such as ‘pre-loved’, ‘pre-owned’, ‘warehouse clearance’, ‘demo unit’ and ‘thrift’ over ‘new’.

Over the last three years, Shopee marketplace saw consumers putting value-based shopping into practice with a total 1.4 million items sold that were demo units, warehouse clearance items with minor defects, bundled goods, and also pre-owned products. 50% of these were FMCG categories Baby and Toys, Groceries and Pets, and Health and Beauty, 27% pre-owned fashion, 17% lifestyle items (Home and Living, Outdoor Sports, Hobbies, Games and Books) and the remainder used Electronics.

Kenneth Soh, Head of Marketing at Shopee Malaysia, said, “Value-based shopping is clearly the future. Generation Z shoppers on our marketplace are telling us with their keyword searches that for every 6 times they look for something new, 4 other times, they are looking for something pre-loved, recycled, reused or display units. They are exercising their purchasing power in a very deliberate way, and it’s humbling to be able to meet the needs of this group of consumers by connecting them to sellers who are aligned with their values.”

“Shopee makes it easy for Malaysian sellers with stocks to clear to list their pre-loved goods and describe and show users the conditions they are authentically in so that people can make smarter shopping decisions. In February 2023, we saw an estimated 15% increase in pre-loved SKU listings compared to the same month last year. We believe that we make it easier for our consumers to shop with more value online,” Soh concluded.

The most popular warehouse clearance supplies were hand sanitisers as Malaysians increased their need for personal hygiene protection. As households economised on spending, overstock but affordable skincare, cosmetics, and personal care products were hot in demand. Unsurprisingly, shoppers also chose ‘pre-owned’ over ‘new’ with baby and children accessories, baby and children toys, and pet accessories that get outgrown with age.

Influencers’ content on Shopee Live has also been shifting to cater to value-based and purposeful shopping decisions. Throughout the last three years, livestream sellers recorded four times more pre-loved orders sold and twice as much live streaming content for pre-owned products compared to new products. This could be attributed to the authenticity generated by influencers demonstrating pre-loved units in their genuine condition along with positive messages shaping sustainable mindsets.

Shoppers keen to support recommerce can type the following keywords on Shopee’s search bar: “pre-loved”, “bundled”, “warehouse clearance”, “thrift”, “second hand”, “used”, “demo unit” and “pre-owned”. In addition, users can find titles for preloved Live Streams available to view in the Shopee mobile app. Shopee users should also note that from 24 March, Shopee has introduced ‘Change of Mind’, a free return and refund feature for the entire Fashion segment (Local Sellers only) on the marketplace, to enable a ‘want not, waste not’ mindset this Ramadan and Raya.