The Trends Asia Leads ... and the ones set to grow Foresight Factory, August 2016
The Trends Asia Leads ... and the ones set to grow
Foresight Factory,
August 2016
2
Conversational
Commerce
Trends Asia leads... Trends set to grow...
Appearance Matters
Life on Demand
Content a la Carte
De-Pop!
Immerse Me
Cashless Society
Enterprise Nation
The Everyday
Athlete
Story Seekers
Here we have selected five trends where we see market-leading innovation in Asia, as well as
established consumer behaviour. We have then selected five where, despite limitations, we
see the early signs that these trends are set to grow in Asia in the short to medium term.
This sample report covers two in each section.
Trends Asia leads
4
Messaging apps are overtaking social networks in terms of users - and brands are starting to follow, engaging consumers via instant message to allow for friendlier, more personalised communication and helps eliminate friction on the path to purchase.
We first spotted this trend in China, where messaging services such as WeChat have been ahead of the curve, with official branded accounts on WeChat launched in 2013. These networks understand that consumers are more likely to engage with brands in less public social media surroundings. Asian e-commerce also has a history of implementing more chat functions: Alibaba launched Aliwangwang in 2004, an instant chat service which allowed for interactions between buyer and seller.
Source: nVision Research | Base: 1000-5000 online respondents per country aged 16-64 (Indonesia & S. Africa 16-54), 2016 February
Conversational Commerce
Used a chat/messenger service to speak
to a customer service assistant | 2016
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
So
uth
Ko
rea
Au
str
alia
US
A
Ca
na
da
Ja
pa
n
Ita
ly
Spain
Irela
nd
Sw
ed
en
Cze
ch
Re
p
Pola
nd
Fra
nce
GB
De
nm
ark
Ge
rma
ny
Ne
the
rla
nd
s
Fin
lan
d
Ch
ina
Ma
laysia
Ind
ia
Ind
on
esia
Th
aila
nd
So
uth
Afr
ica
Bra
zil
Me
xic
o
Tu
rke
y
Ru
ssia
China leads, with two thirds of consumers having used a
chat customer service, which is currently predominantly
manned by human customer service workers. Malaysia,
India, Indonesia and Thailand follow and all are significantly
ahead of Western markets.
5
Conversational Commerce: innovation
The Walking Dead TV show’s official LINE account hosts
discussion sessions after episodes are shown on TV.
Laiye is an on-demand concierge service, which is built into the WeChat app and claims to be able to take care of anything you need.
In January 2016, Burberry and WeChat launched their “A Lunar New Year Gift” campaign to celebrate
Chinese New Year. Users could tap, swipe and shake the app to unwrap and personalise some of the brand’s
iconic items.
6
Now
Conversational Commerce: what will happen next?
in 5 years
It has become an all-encompassing platform for
conversation, advice, ordering products, making
payments, service after-care... Consumers now use
messages in instances where it seems unnecessary
or potentially even more time-consuming, for
example to carry out online banking.
Line launched Line@ in 2015 as a way for brands
and businesses to engage with their customers
through promoting content and direct
communication without the need for an expensive
official Line account.
In 2016 the messaging app started to allow AI-
powered bots to manage official Line accounts on
behalf of the brand.
Conversational Commerce has been a feature of
China’s largest social network - WeChat -
since 2013.
Currently, Conversational Commerce is mostly
manned by human customer service, with bots
answering simple requests, but chattier
conversations still answered by humans.
However, we see early signals of AI-powered
conversations.
7
Shrinking delivery times, tap-of-a-button services and instant gratification: on-demand services are constructing a world in which patience is no longer a virtue. Cheaper labour in developing Asian countries has meant a marketplace for on-demand service has existed for longer than in the West, but technology is still revolutionising and democratising these offerings.
Source: nVision Research | Base: 1000-2000 online respondents per country aged 16+ (China 16-64), 2015 September Global Trendspotter Network, 2016
Life on Demand
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Ch
ina
Spain
Ja
pa
n
US
A
Fra
nce
Sw
ed
en
GB
I have not done this AND am NOT interested in doing it
I have not done this, BUT am interested in doing it in the future
I have done this
Used a delivery service to get an item delivered to a
specific location in less than 2 hours
An on demand service in Hanoi that I had success
with was VietMade Pro. At new year’s we had planned a large gathering with many guests but the friend of mine
that was due to host cancelled last minute. We moved the venue to our
house and we were able to book a cleaner to come within the hour to clean the house ready for our
guests, extremely convenience service offered
in English, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese.
Daniel VIETNAM
8
There are currently 10 On-Demand start-ups worldwide which are classified as unicorns - valued at over $1 billion. Of these, 5 are Asian companies, signalling the strength of on-demand innovation in the region.
Source: CBInsights
On Demand unicorns: significant in Asia
Company Valuation Country
Uber $68 USA
Didi Chuxing $36 China
Lyft $5.5 USA
Olacabs $5 India
Ele-me $4.5 China
Instacart $2 USA
GrabTaxi $1.8 Singapore
BlaBlaCar $1.6 France
Go-Jek $1.3 Indonesia
Deliveroo $1 UK
9
2015
Source: nVision Research | Base: 1000-5000 online respondents per country aged 16-64 (Indonesia & S. Africa 16-54), 2016 February
Life on Demand: what will happen next?
Now
in 5 years
Indonesian on-demand service Go-Jek expanded its offering from transport,
food and grocery deliveries to include on-demand beauty and cleaning.
Bottles XO offers a 60 minute wine bottle delivery service to any location in
Singapore, Hong Kong and selected Chinese cities.
Previously, delivery services were powered by cheap labour in Asia.
Social networks are exploring on demand, with plans to dominate delivery by
becoming the one-stop interface for consumers looking to order anything.
We anticipate the arrival of invisible commerce,
where smart household devices will
automatically re-order products when they are
running low.
Line, a messaging app specialising in one-line, brief messages, launched a delivery
service in their biggest market, Thailand, in May 2016. The app’s couriers are to deliver
everything from food and parcels to groceries and other goods.
Interest in a service that automatically bought and
delivered basic household supplies when they ran out
45% 52% 49%
South Korea India Malaysia
Trends set to grow
11
While mobile wallets and payment systems multiply, for many occasions cash is still king, even in developed Asian countries. Markets such as Japan and Hong Kong have had contactless payment systems in place for transport and convenience stores for many years, yet remain predominantly cash-based societies. While trial of new technology in Asia’s tech-savvy markets is likely to be strong, flexibility in payment options is critical.
Cashless Society
Interest in using an app or swiping your mobile phone to pay for something
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
So
uth
Ko
rea
U
SA
C
an
ad
a
Au
str
alia
Ja
pa
n
Pola
nd
Ita
ly
Spain
Ir
ela
nd
S
we
de
n
Fin
lan
d
Cze
ch
Re
p
De
nm
ark
G
B
Fra
nce
N
eth
erla
nd
s
Ge
rma
ny
Ch
ina
Ind
on
esia
T
urk
ey
Th
aila
nd
Ind
ia
Bra
zil
Mexic
o
Ru
ssia
M
ala
ysia
S
ou
th A
fric
a
I have done this I have not done this, but am interested in doing it in the future
PayPal launched New Money, a
faster, one-touch payment system, in
APAC, enlisting the help of millennial
entrepreneurs in India, China,
Singapore and Hong Kong.
12
Limitations to Cashless Society
Source: Global Trendspotter Network, 2016
Gift giving
The culture of giving money as a gift for special
occasions has previously been a barrier to
Cashless Society. However, social networks
have led innovation here, developing cashless
mechanisms for monetary gift-giving.
We have L Pay, Kakao Pay, Syrup Pay,
Pay Call, Pay Now, Samsung Pay and
SSG Pay… Kakao Pay is linked to my
Kakao Talk account so through it I can
send gifts to friends and family like coffee,
pizza, cosmetics, everything. So I can send
my friend a Starbucks Frappucino and
they will get a message with the gift and
barcode and can go straight to
Starbucks and get it
Leehana
SOUTH KOREA
Over 8 billion red envelopes
were sent over WeChat during
Chinese New Year
Cash is King
In order to reach as wide an audience as possible,
Spotify has launched in Indonesia in 2016 with cash
payment options. Uber also announced they would
be accepting cash payments in Singapore, the most
developed economy where this is offered.
Many On-Demand or subscription services in
Asia also offer the option to pay in cash, in
order to cater for consumers who might not own
a credit card.
SoCash is an Indonesia-based
start up that lets you access cash
without an ATM by placing an order
with your bank and picking up the
cash from a local merchant.
13
We measure a palpable interest in fitness amongst consumers. Growing minorities seek to professionalise their approach and aspire to infuse their lifestyles with athleticism. This trend has arrived in Asia, though it has been slow to take off, with particularly low interest in Japan.
Chinese and Japanese respondents are the least likely to agree that sports and exercise are very important to their sense of identity, although many more Chinese respondents report that it is quite important.
Source: nVision Research | Base: 1000-2000 online respondents per country aged 16+ (China 16-64), 2015 September Global Trendspotter Network, 2016
The Everyday Athlete
Importance of sports/exercise to sense of identity
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Chin
a
Spain
US
A
Fra
nce
GB
Ja
pa
n
Sw
ed
en
Not applicable - this doesn't apply to me
Not at all important
Not very important
Quite important
Very important
We are lazy people, I mean lets
not talk about exercising,
because the only time we walk is
to the car park! We need to
educate and re-instill the sense
of eating well and exercising.
Yvonne MALAYSIA
KFit is a mobile app which offers users one-pass access to gym, fitness
classes, beauty and wellness activities. It started in Kuala Lumpur
and now operates in 13 markets.
14
Facilitated by tracking apps and wearables, we see a growing interest in measuring physical activity. Interest is markedly high in Asian markets, perhaps also driven by the fact that we track high levels of excitement and interest in new technology in the region.
Source: Global Trendspotter Network, 2016 nVision Research | Base: 1000-5000 online respondents per country aged 16-64 (Indonesia & S. Africa 16-54), 2015 February
The Everyday Athlete
“Which, if any, of the following do you monitor yourself
via your smartphone/using another device?” | My
performance / distance covered when exercising
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
So
uth
Ko
rea
Au
str
alia
U
SA
C
an
ad
a
Spain
It
aly
F
inla
nd
Sw
ed
en
Ire
lan
d
De
nm
ark
P
ola
nd
Fra
nce
G
B
Ge
rma
ny
Ne
the
rla
nd
s
Cze
ch
Re
p
Hu
ng
ary
Ch
ina
Ind
ia
Ind
on
esia
M
exic
o
Bra
zil
So
uth
Afr
ica
Tu
rke
y
Ru
ssia
2013 2015
The National Steps Challenge by the governmental Health Promotion
Board gave out thousands of free steps trackers to citizens in order to encourage them to walk more for health reasons, and
incentivised such efforts with material rewards. Ever since the launch of the
programme, I have seen more people wearing the steps trackers during their
daily routine.
Daniel SINGAPORE
For more information please contact Michael Agnew