Author’s Blurb: For whatever reason, our ex-PM Najib Razak decided to post up a poll to gauge the popularity of Lazada vs Shopee a few days ago. I was curious of his intentions, but perhaps not surprised with the outcome.
Disclaimer: We don’t know if it was actually Najib who posted this or if it was his social media team, but we used his name in the title and piece because it was still posted under his personal page. This article also isn’t sponsored by Shopee. We just saw the poll results and thought it was interesting to analyse why Shopee won by a landslide.
On March 22 at 9PM, perhaps out of boredom at home thanks to the MCO, Najib made a poll asking Malaysians where they usually do their online shopping and pitched Lazada and Shopee against each other.
Over 117,000 voters made their choice, and Shopee won by a landslide.
Here’s why that came as little to no surprise to me.
1. Smaller value items are cheaper on Shopee.
Lazada seems to put a lot of emphasis on gadgets, kitchen appliances, tech accessories, etc. that would appeal to buyers looking for something of larger value.
Shopee, on the other hand, is my go-to for the little things. Cheap phone covers? Check. Emergency gift for a low-maintenance friend? Check.
It’s not every day that people are making important decisions to buy something like a flat-screen TV or a new smartphone—so maybe that’s why people are inclined to use Shopee more often for smaller value items.
And if they’re using Shopee more often, it’s no wonder that they’ll be voting for it when made to choose between it and Lazada.
2. People might be cross with Lazada’s wallet.
Let’s say you need a refund.
Both Shopee and Lazada’s wallet feature allows for your money to be reimbursed back into the account, but the former has a catch.
Lazada only lets you withdraw money from your wallet if you’re intent on terminating your Lazada Wallet feature forever.
If not, that money is stored and can only be used on your next purchase.
Meanwhile, Shopee lets you request a withdrawal, and the money would be in your account within 3 business days.
3. You earn Shopee coins pretty easily.
Lazada rewards you with coins each time you daily check-in or partake in any of their LazGames.
Shopee makes this process much faster, giving you coins when you leave a review on a product when you complete an order, daily check-ins and other mini-marketing activities.
In fact, buyers are actually entitled to earn 1 coin for every RM1 in a purchase when you place any orders from ‘Shopee Preferred’ and ‘Shopee Mall’ sellers.
You can earn up to 100 coins per order, with your total limit being 150 coins earned a day.
4. Their advertising is so annoying you can’t help but love it.
Ask anyone who knows me how many times I sing “Go Shopee, pee, pee…” on a daily basis.
Who can forget this viral ad?
This was executed with a laser accuracy of sticking with you for a long, long time.
Listen to it long enough, and it slowly bleeds into your daily life, becoming the first thought that pops into your head if you want to shop online.
Come to think of it, I don’t remember the last time I saw a Lazada ad.
They don’t seem to go for viral marketing the way Shopee tries to appeal to the current generation, through memes and pop culture icons and references.
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When Najib asked us “Kalau online, biasa beli kat mana?” he didn’t specify exactly buying what.
That may have already skewed some responses as most are used to buying smaller, everyday items from Shopee.
However, as for what’s he using this intel for, we still don’t know.
Was he planning on doing paid ads with the winner of this poll? Was he looking for a platform to sell his own snack line inspired by Super Ring?
Or maybe it really just was an innocent question asked out of boredom.
Whatever it was, the suspense is real.
Bottom Line: If I had seen this poll earlier on, I would’ve opted for Shopee without a shadow of a doubt too. If they continue ticking all the boxes for me, there’s no way I’d even think of opening up another marketplace’s app.
- You can read more about other Najib Razak related pieces we’ve written about here.