Tet is Vietnam’s most celebrated holiday and there is a big opportunity for brands to be part of consumers' lives as they plan family reunions and spend time with loved ones to celebrate a prosperous future. Savvy consumers spend weeks preparing for the festival and with many households cashing in on their 13th month pay check, many consumers eagerly stock up on essential items in categories such as home appliances, consumer electronics, food and beverages as well as fashion, both for themselves and gifting. This creates a unique one time uplift in disposable income and consumer spend.
For brands aiming to deliver successful Tet campaigns on leading marketplaces, it's imperative to adopt a proactive, strategic, and all-encompassing approach to commercial and media planning. This ensures a seamless purchasing journey for consumers. Here are some recommendations to maximize the Tet sales potential based on our experience.
Pre-Campaign Strategy: Setting the Stage
Review past performance and lean into seasonal trends
Any successful ecommerce campaign including Tet requires a thorough assessment of previous campaigns, proactive measures and advanced planning. It is crucial to analyze the performance of previous Tet campaigns and mega campaigns, understand drivers of performance in the past and benchmark the most impactful strategies for one’s category against other brands. Investing and leveraging market intelligence solutions can help brands in understanding their performance and the performance of their competitors in identifying opportunities to further optimize their digital shelf in future campaigns.
Brands should also review seasonal evolutions in subcategory patterns in previous Tet campaigns and look at the evolution of search term volumes to better assess customers’ unique needs at this time of year. For instance, food and beverage brands see a remarkable uplift in demand for giftable items and seasonal packaging encourages bulk orders. Likewise, garment care appliances enjoy a spike in conversion as people aim to look their best in festive outfits.
Eliminate potential sales risks
Many players often struggle with inventory shortages given the spike in demand and competition between channels in anticipation of supply chain slowdowns for the long holiday. Brands should use their analysis of previous Tet campaigns and mega performance of the 4th quarter, to identify key SKUs and plan stock depth on hero products for each platform well ahead of time. Reducing the risk of product shortages is key to win sales against the competition through product availability. In addition to stock planning, logistical groundwork for customized seasonal packaging, exclusive new combos or hard bundling should commence early to streamline operations. Enlisting the support of a well integrated, warehouse management solution that is built to scale and sync in record time independently of the number of transactions is critical during peak sale seasons as it allows brands and businesses to minimize stock risks during high volume flash sales and campaign deals across multiple platforms.
Leverage early discount communication and advanced media tools
The festive season can also get extremely competitive when it comes to available promotions and discounts offered. Brands need to communicate exclusive discounts early in the game, with an emphasis on display campaigns and off-platform solutions like Facebook CPAS. Some display campaigns must be booked 3-4 weeks in advance. Media campaigns should always be live with ranking optimization to win share of search and scheduling tools allowing brands to push budgets when consumers are shopping. Best in class martech makes a big difference to improve returns on ad spend and drive incremental sales at a time when traffic is high and cost per click surges due to intense competition.
Lean into content creation to strengthen consumer engagement and overall brand affinity
Livestreams have continued to surge in popularity over the past year, especially during mega campaigns and festive periods. Brands that wish to leverage the power of livestreams should start content planning and booking key influencers in advance, reducing missed opportunities and significantly amplifying reach and engagement during the busy festive period. Additionally, scheduling live streams during golden hours, paired with flash sales schemes and exclusive discounts available only during these live sessions will help maximize livestream sales.
As most deliveries pause during the holiday period, many brands will reduce conversion campaigns, yet, there is an opportunity to maintain engagement and build brand love with relevant content. Tet is a time of connection when brands should weave their narrative into the festival traditions and add their distinct yet complementary voice to the general storytelling. Livestreams focused on entertainment and branding can accomplish that goal in addition to the boosting of brand videos that tap into the holiday spirit and Tet cultural traditions such as music, holiday dress, and family moments. Such content has a halo effect that benefits brands across sales channels.
In conclusion, the Tet period in Vietnam's leading marketplaces offers a plethora of opportunities for brands. Yet, navigating this landscape demands comprehensive preparedness, a challenge that often weighs heavily on brands. Partnering with an integrated solutions provider boasting specialized proficiency across digital and content marketing, merchandising, store management, optimization, and fulfillment becomes pivotal. This collaboration alleviates the burden on brands and enables greater focus on strategic enhancements, not just for Tet but for sustained e-commerce success beyond the festive season.
Insights contributed by Emmanuelle Gounot, CEO Flywheel Vietnam
