A warm welcome to the Deeper newsletter, dear reader!
You’re reading this because, just like us, you’re tired of the non-stop tech and startup news cycle, where there seems to be something new and trendy to keep up with in Southeast Asia.
What you want to know about is the important stuff that matters—period.
And that’s what we’re bringing to you. We’ll dive deep into a trending topic in Southeast Asian tech, and their impact on society (i.e. me and you).
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Without further ado, let’s dive in.
Hi readers,
Jan here. Welcome to another visual edition of Deeper!
Did you buy something this 11.11? Let me correct that—how many items did you buy this 11.11? How about the recent Black Friday or Cyber Monday sales?
Over the past couple of months, many of my friends have been bemoaning the need to control themselves during the sales season. Myself included—as I was doing research for this Deeper edition, I stumbled upon the Black Friday promotion by gaming chair manufacturer SecretLab (which undoubtedly derailed my work for that few minutes), and I started coming up with reasons why I need a chair now.
Then I paused, and realized that my reasons to purchase only emerged after being enticed by the sale—it was, really, more justification rather than reasoning.
That led me to wonder if we are actually benefiting from the eCommerce festive sales that take place year after year in Southeast Asia. On a superficial level, it seems to be a win-win situation, where consumers get to save money and businesses get to earn from selling more.
However, looking beneath the surface, there are questionable implications of these sales for not only consumers and businesses, but society and the environment on the whole as well.
In this visual edition, we ask how we can do better as a people amid this festive season.
