E-commerce Marketing Series: Mastercard’s Dheeraj Raina on e-commerce trends and technologies changing the SEA payments scene

As consumer preferences shift towards online shopping and cashless transactions, companies are implementing advanced payment solutions and sophisticated marketing strategies to stay competitive. Integrating secure, efficient payment systems with targeted, interactive marketing has become increasingly important for brands to thrive in the digital marketplace.

As part E-commerce marketing interview series, MARKETECH APAC sat down with Dheeraj Raina, vice president and head of integrated marketing and communications for Southeast Asia at Mastercard. In this insightful discussion, Raina shares her insights on changing consumer behavior, emerging marketing trends, and key developments in the payment and e-commerce marketing industry in Southeast Asia.

Emerging marketing trends for the payments industry in SEA

Southeast Asia is a dynamic and diverse region with both market similarities and nuances. For Raina, this means that marketing and consumer trends may be at different stages of evolution in each market.

Raina believes that one of the most important trends in Southeast Asia is the rise of social commerce.

“As consumers spend significant amounts of time on social media platforms, social commerce is not only a new shopping experience, but also a paradigm shift in the way consumers interact with brands. This trend reflects a broader shift in consumer behavior where social media is becoming the primary channel for product discovery, brand engagement and purchasing decisions,” he explained.

At the same time, he noted that voice commerce is also gaining popularity, driven by the increasing use of audio and voice technologies.

“While the penetration of these technologies varies across markets, early signs, particularly in Thailand, point to increasing acceptance and use of audio in commerce,” Raina added.

Navigating fragmented markets and consumer confidence issues

SEA is a dynamic and developing region. However, it also presents the e-commerce payments sector with myriad challenges to address, including an evolving regulatory framework, divergent consumer behavior, growing cybersecurity threats and the need to support financial inclusion.

According to Raina, SEA is a highly fragmented region where countries have different regulations regarding e-commerce and digital payments.

“Different markets also have different levels of confidence in the security of digital payments. This can make it difficult for companies to operate and grow in the region as they have to adapt to all the market differences,” he further explained.

Raina also noted that a significant portion of SEA’s population remains unbanked or underbanked. Therefore, providing e-commerce payment solutions tailored to this demographic can be a challenge.

Finally, he believes that as the use and adoption of digital payments increases, so does the risk of cyber threats. While combating cybersecurity threats can be expensive, he strongly recommends that companies invest in robust security measures to protect customer data and prevent fraud.

Opportunities for the e-commerce payments sector

While marketers in SEA face some challenges, they also have opportunities to thrive with technological advancements.

As Raina mentioned earlier, the rise of social commerce has made social media a major channel for discovering new products. However, Raina said this is not the only opportunity in the payments industry this year.

“We operate in a very dynamic industry and marketing environment, where flexibility and innovation will always be the key. SEA is seeing rapid growth in internet and smartphone penetration, fueling the growth of the digital economy. This means we are in a region where we can take a truly digital approach to our marketing,” he said.

Among the promising opportunities that Raina has identified in the e-commerce payments sector this year is the growing internet penetration and smartphone usage in SEA, which provides an excellent platform for mobile e-commerce payment solutions, with mobile wallets and payment applications able to reach a large number of customers.

Many SEA governments are also pushing for digitization and encouraging digital payments; Raina believes that these initiatives can boost e-commerce payments businesses.

Moreover, the growing middle class in SEA countries is another opportunity to pay attention to. According to him, e-commerce and payments companies should know how to attract this segment of the population that is more willing to shop online and use digital payment methods.

Raina further emphasizes that the emergence of artificial intelligence, especially generative artificial intelligence, has the potential to significantly change marketing.

“AI-powered chatbots can analyze data in a privacy-safe environment and help companies identify customer trends and preferences. This allows e-commerce companies to provide more effective personalized recommendations and targeted advertising,” he said.

The role of AI in e-commerce payments

According to Raina, new technologies, including artificial intelligence, are expected to significantly impact the trajectory of e-commerce payments in several ways. To stay competitive, he advises companies to invest in artificial intelligence technology and integrate it with their e-commerce platforms.

“Artificial intelligence provides greater security. It can detect fraudulent transactions, reduce the risk of data breaches, and increase e-commerce payment security by analyzing spending patterns and user behavior. This also helps reduce false declines, thereby improving the overall customer experience,” Raina explained.

He then discusses how artificial intelligence can create more personalized experiences based on real-time data processing.

“E-commerce companies can use artificial intelligence not only to process and analyze large amounts of data in real time, such as customer behavior and purchase history, but also to predict customer preferences and market trends. This enables them to make informed and strategic decisions regarding pricing, discounts and sales, and provide a more personalized and efficient shopping experience that will increase customer satisfaction and loyalty,” Raina said.

AI can also automate various payment processes, which Raina says is key to streamlining operations and increasing productivity.

“Chatbots and virtual assistants powered by artificial intelligence can provide 24/7 customer support, handle queries and payment-related issues, thereby enabling consumers to shop and pay seamlessly. Moreover, AI can help reduce errors in the payment process by automating data entry and other manual processes,” he added.

Additionally, companies can also leverage AI to improve their e-commerce payment systems and stay at the forefront of industry evolution.

As the field of artificial intelligence is rapidly evolving, Raina suggests that companies start investing in artificial intelligence technology and integrating it into their e-commerce platforms. Employees must also be trained in the responsible use of AI tools and technologies to improve efficiency and customer service quality.

By implementing artificial intelligence, it also encourages e-commerce companies to focus on improving the customer experience.

Explaining more, Raina said, “By leveraging AI-powered tools such as chatbots and biometric payments, e-commerce companies can develop payment solutions that provide their customers with a more personalized, efficient and seamless shopping experience. This helps increase repeat business, customer loyalty and sales.”

Finally, amid growing data privacy concerns, he believes that implementing stringent data security measures and complying with data protection regulations is essential to gaining customer trust as artificial intelligence technologies rapidly evolve.

Raina explained: “A recent study conducted by Harvard Business Review Analytic Services with Mastercard found that 80% of consumers in Asia consider information security and privacy important. This suggests that companies need to carefully consider data management if they want to use data to improve customer experience using AI-based tools.”

He added: “When AI is ethical, transparent, reliable and beneficial, people trust it. At Mastercard, we know that the only responsible AI is AI. Companies that make data protection a priority will strengthen their reputation as reliable guardians of customer data. As artificial intelligence continues to be a key component of the technology we use on marketing platforms, our awareness and responsibility for the use of artificial intelligence will be paramount.”

Navigating the next chapter of e-commerce payments and marketing

As Raina noted, the importance of artificial intelligence-based marketing is growing. Artificial intelligence enables payment service providers to have a deeper understanding of customer engagement, enabling more personalized interactions that result in better customer experiences and long-term loyalty. Moreover, artificial intelligence improves the analysis of consumer behavior and automates interactions between marketing and other departments to enable us, as marketers, to make better decisions in real time.

He recommends that companies in the payments industry learn to use the capabilities of artificial intelligence to their advantage.

“Mastercard uses artificial intelligence to analyze the landscape, study consumer sentiment and discover new product opportunities. This not only increases the performance of successful products, but also reduces time to market,” Raina said.

He added: “It is important for payment service providers to move beyond set-it-and-forget-it automation strategies and adopt a more collaborative approach between humans and AI to strengthen connections with consumers.”

Additionally, Raina highlighted that the growing cross-border e-commerce landscape in SEA is creating exciting new opportunities for companies to promote and sell their products and services internationally. This trend opens up wide opportunities for companies to reach new customers and expand their reach throughout the region.

“The payments market in Southeast Asia is rapidly evolving driven by digitalization, consumer preferences and regulatory changes. Marketers must remain agile, understand local nuances and create compelling narratives to capture this dynamic market,” concluded Raina.