Shopee sold 12 million items within the first 24 minutes of 12.12. Here’s what Malaysians bought

The monthly double digit sale is a great day to buy the items you want for a great deal. And after the wrap of the last double digit sale—12.12—Shopee revealed that they have sold a 12 million items within the first 24 minutes of the sale.

“Being able to record another groundbreaking 12.12 Birthday Sale and coming a long way the past five years is extremely humbling for all of us at Shopee. This year especially as 2020 has presented us with a whirlwind of experiences. Given the unprecedented circumstances, we wanted to ensure that our fifth birthday would be a special day not just for Shopee but more so, for the people we serve,” said Ian Ho, Shopee’s Regional Managing Director.

At its peak, one million items were bought in a single minute from a selection of over two billion products. There were also over 875,000 items sold in Selangor during the first hour of the 12.12 sale. One Malaysian even single-handedly made 180 orders in the morning of 12 December 2020.

The increase of traffic in the Shopee app and site also met with the increased use of their ShopeePay feature. According to the shopping platform, it recorded a surge of 18 times in the usage of its mobile wallet.

Here’s what shoppers on the platform bought the most during the 12.12 sale:

• Home & Living: 1.2 million home improvement and decor items were sold
• School items: Over 670,000 stationery items were sold on Shopee, while more than 200,000 school uniforms, bags, shoes, pencil cases and more were sold
• Malt drinks: 120 packs of Milo were sold per minute in the morning of 12 December
• Health and beauty: Over 628,000 skincare items, including facial masks and lipsticks, were sold
• Electronics and entertainment: Eight out of the top ten performing Malaysian SMEs were electronics retailers, who clocked in an average sales of over RM800,000 each. Shopee Mall brands also saw a surge of sales—with Realme recording RM2 million in sales on their 6 series within the first hour of the 12.12 sale
• Lifestyle: Adidas, who joined the platform only in September 2020, witnessed about 300,000 visits to its official Shopee store. That translated to sales of mostly sneakers, t-shirts and football jerseys.

While you’re preparing your shopping list for next year’s double digit sales, keep an eye on fake online stores and various e-commerce scams that can appear on platforms like Shopee and Lazada. Amin and Alex discuss telltale signs/tips and tricks to avoid getting scammed.

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