How to plan the Ramadan e-commerce peak season in 2022 in advance?
Ramadan is an important time for Muslims, a time of calm, reflection and sacrifice. During this time, people buy good things for their families, new clothes for their children and elders, and prepare gifts for relatives and friends, just like the Chinese New Year.
During Ramadan, people in the Middle East fast before sunrise and break their fast after sunset. Therefore, the conversion rate is at its peak when people eat fast at 4am, and most activities are concentrated in the evening, where there are a lot of consumption behaviors.
According to Liliane Assaf, Meta's Head of Product marketing for the Middle East and North Africa, 69% of consumers are willing to buy new products from abroad during Ramadan, so cross-border shopping is more frequent during this period than ever before, with 38% of shoppers planning their purchases 20 days before Ramadan.
The key themes of Ramadan include "Gratitude, family, reflection, communication", and the best content output should be around these themes. How to discern consumer trends during this period? What are consumers watching online?
At the start of Ramadan in 2021, searches around mental health increased, but unlike in 2020, the content was all positive.
It can be seen that search interest for "psychological comfort" increased 190 percent year on year in the UAE. The increase in searches for comedy and feel-good content shows that optimism is on the rise and people are looking for a mood lift. Searches for "soap operas" increased 167 percent in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
On different platforms, many content creators satisfy users' demand for mood-boosting content by performing skits, pranks and challenging fans and other creators on their channels. With more than 33 million subscribers to child star Shfa from the United Arab Emirates, Hot/Cold challenge is one of the most popular challenges, garnering an impressive 66 million views.
Companies don't miss exposure opportunities either, with The National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) 's most popular video encouraging consumers to only borrow money from the bank, humorously demonstrating the pitfalls of borrowing from friends or colleagues, having been viewed more than 4 million times.
Emirates is warming hearts through its collaboration with disabled artists in Dubai, showcasing meal boxes designed by some of the artists specifically for Ramadan.
All of which suggests that the increase in searches for comedy and positive content is a sign that people want something positive to distract them. This is a great marketing opportunity to get better traffic and exposure at the peak of user kurtosis.
Google data analysis in 2021 revealed an interesting new kind of shopping behavior. Consumers' worries about financial futures have shifted their buying focus to necessities, such as groceries and self-care products.
While they continue to spend during Ramadan, many cut back on impulse purchases and reevaluate their spending habits. As Ramadan is a key time for bargain-hunting, it is important to ensure products are front and center in advertising.
Fifty-seven percent of consumers in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt are more price-conscious in the six months leading up to Ramadan than in the previous year. But that doesn't change the generosity around Eid. People want value for money, but it's also important to reward themselves and their loved ones with special Eid gifts.
When buying gifts for family members, rather than looking at some advertisements, consumers are actually more willing to refer to some KOL's advice, as gift shopping and cross-border orders increase ahead of Eid. Saudi creator Njoud, for example, has teamed up with Swedish beauty technology brand Foreo to raise awareness of the importance of kindness in this #kindnesswithForeo video.
YouTube Shorts creators can only shoot attractive videos on mobile phones, but they are also popular. Uae creators Khalid and Salama Al Ameri interact with fans through short videos featuring comedy, food and entertainment.
As a result, consumers expect the same from the videos they watch, especially if a product's usage scenario demonstrates unique features.
