Daraz 11.11: The Biggest Sale Event of the Year
Since its inception in 2015, Daraz has swiftly emerged as the leading e-commerce platform in South Asia, with operations in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Myanmar. The 11.11 sale, inspired by the global Singles’ Day phenomenon, has become the most significant shopping event of the year for Daraz. This massive sale event features unprecedented discounts, exclusive deals, and a wide range of product offerings across all categories.
Results and impact
- Served over 63 million consumers and achieved a 700% increase in rural shoppers during the 11.11 Sales event. Addressed challenges in brand uplift, visual aesthetics, international relations, and manpower cost reduction.
- Achieved 42% growth in social media followers and a 33% increase in engagement over 8 months across Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, while driving a 79% increase in content reach.
- Launched 3 in-app features to build hype before 11.11 —AskDaraz chatbot, Any 3 Bundle Deals, and Daraz Persona—enhancing user experience and conversions, leading to a 21% increase in platform users.
Starting with streamlining the brand assets
The Daraz brand guide, developed by a third-party agency, was not fully suited to daily operations and lacked the flexibility needed for content localisation. This led to confusion and conflicts between stakeholders and designers, resulting in inconsistent branding.
To resolve this, I began by revising the existing brand guidelines and incorporating real case scenarios to streamline the design process for local designers.
Typography best practices
The Daraz font is rather narrow, making it difficult to read in smaller visuals. To address this, I illustrated the optimal combination of the Daraz font with another sans-serif font for body copy. This solution not only improved readability but also made the headlines stand out more effectively.
Standardising social media layouts
Given the variety of layouts and partnerships across different social media posts, it is essential to standardise the logo position, headline style, and blurb to ensure brand consistency. Designers are encouraged to incorporate diverse background designs to effectively showcase the product or promotional message.
Template compilation
I provided various templates for local designers to use in their future adaptation work, ensuring consistency and clarity across all design projects.
Preparing for Daraz’s Major Marketing Initiative
After establishing the new brand guide, I took the following steps to ensure the success of Daraz’s largest marketing effort:
- Identified Marketing Goals: Collaborated with the business unit to set targets and understand the campaign strategy.
- Analysed Customer Insights: Engaged closely with the Traffic Operation Team to understand customer behaviour.
- Reviewed Previous Campaign Strategies: Analysed past visuals for valuable insights.
- Identified Local Challenges: Spoke with the local team to resolve existing challenges before 11.11.
- Set Creative Theme: Conceptualised a campaign theme that aligned with the business goals to maximise impact.
- Conducted A/B Testing: Optimised visuals through rigorous testing processes.
Here is a part of the campaign design guidelines that outline the do’s and don’ts
Boost awareness
The majority of people in South Asia are not tech-savvy. Therefore, offline efforts such as distributing flyers, putting up billboards, and conducting roadshows are effective in reaching potential users. On the other hand, we also initiated digital efforts to target the tech-savvy population by using social media ads, web banners, and email marketing to increase app adoption rates, aiming to boost sales on 11.11.
KOL photoshoot
For the photoshoot, I collaborated closely with the local team, providing reference materials and guidance on posing, themes, and the selection of props that aligned with Daraz platform’s key categories. It was an engaging and creative process where we worked together to ensure that each shot captured the essence of the brand while also resonating with the target audience.
Here are some of the raw photos from Daraz Bangladesh
TV commercials (TVCs)
For our Daraz 11.11 TV commercials, we collaborate with local production houses to create videos tailored to specific regions. Once the campaign objectives are established, we share them with our local partners and jointly develop creative ideas. As part of the regional team, we provide art direction and references to ensure the production house aligns with our vision for the TVCs. This collaborative approach ensures our videos resonate effectively with local audiences.
TVC from Nepal
This TVC, featuring a wedding theme tailored to the wedding season, is part of our strategy to localise content based on market trends. The customised TVC has garnered 1.1 million YouTube views, surpassing last year’s reach.
App Store and Google Play Store screenshots
For each campaign, the team and I update the screenshots on the Daraz app’s download pages to ensure the latest campaign information is highlighted. This regular refresh keeps the app’s presentation dynamic and relevant, attracting new users and engaging existing ones by showcasing the most compelling aspects of the current campaigns.
Increase conversion with paid social media ads
By leveraging machine learning, we identified consumers’ shopping behaviour and retargeted them with paid advertisements on social media.
Social media adaptation done by the Pakistan team
Social media adaptation done by the Bangladesh team
User Educational Materials
Daraz is a comprehensive e-commerce platform that offers various mechanisms for online shopping. To enhance the user experience, I focus on creating intuitive visuals that guide users through these processes. This includes designing pages with distinct colour themes to drive recall, such as orange for main pages, green for free delivery, and purple for mega deals. All of these efforts are aimed at providing the best possible shopping experience.
Revamp of DMS page to attract sellers
To attract more sellers, I collaborated with the Daraz Marketing Solutions (DMS) and branding teams to revamp the landing page dedicated to potential sellers. My role involved gaining a deep understanding of the business model, illustrating, and aligning all content with relevant visuals. This approach ensured that the page was not only reader-friendly but also effectively highlighted key results to encourage better adoption. The revamped page was designed to engage potential sellers by clearly communicating the benefits of partnering with our platform.
