What are the spends consumers in SG and MY are focused on during CNY 2023

Southeast Asian will soon be kickstarting preparations for 2023’s Chinese New Year, and despite the news around inflation, 54% of respondents expect that their overall spending for Chinese New Yearto be higher than the last.

According to a Milieu Insight study with over 5,000 respondents from Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines, it was found that physical stores are still going to be a big part of those spending on fashion this festive season.  Around 53% of those who intend to spend on fashion are most likely to be shopping in physical stores, despite the ease and convenience of online. Meanwhile, 18% intend to do so via brands’ or fashion retailers’ websites/ apps and 28% on marketplace ecommerce platforms.

Interestingly, across the region, Singapore shoppers are most likely to shop in-person (66%) versus other Southeast Asian countries

Singaporean consumers, compared to other Southeast Asians, are more likely to spend Chinese New Year overseas. While in most Southeast Asian countries, majority of people are looking forward to celebrate Chinese New Year in the home countries, in Singapore, 11% intend to spend the extended holiday overseas.

The top activity that Southeast Asians intend to spend on is domestic travel/staycations (43%), which interestingly is most common in Thailand (66%). Other activities that top the list are movie tickets (42%) and streaming services (32%)

Insight on Malaysian consumers

Most Malaysians celebrating Chinese New Year intend to so within Malaysia (98%) rather than overseas and 84% intend to spend on fashion for CNY. More than half of these respondents (56%) are intending to shop online; with preferred channels being marketplace ecommerce platforms such as Shopee and Lazada (24%) or brands’ or fashion retailers’ websites/ apps such as Zalora or SHEIN (18%).

Around 71% intend to spend on personal care/beauty, mostly on haircuts/styling (70%), followed by facial treatments (49%), and nail services or body treatments (20%) When it comes to fun, around 75% intend to spend on entertainment/leisure activities, the most common being movie tickets (55%). Around 42% will also be spending on domestic travel or staycations.

Other regional differences

Compared to Singapore or Malaysia consumers, Vietnamese consumers tend to spend on food hampers (46% versus 27% regional average), alcoholic beverages (53% versus 36% regional average), and food catering services (37% versus 25% regional average). Most common food products/services that Thai consumers intend to spend on are fresh fruits and vegetables (73% versus 63% regional average) and ready-to-eat meals (54% versus 37% regional average).

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