Journal · 2026-04-28 · Tan Wei Ming
Raya face-outs: what the browse path reveals
Raya catalogs in Malaysian commerce apps have a habit of becoming gift galleries. Dates, cookies, baju, hampers, and a gold banner occupy the first screens of categories that, in ordinary weeks, are used for refill. The merchandising intention is generous. The browse path is confused.
A shopper who opens “groceries” in the week before Hari Raya may want a hamper. They may also want cooking oil, because guests are coming and the 5kg tin is empty. If the face-out is entirely hamper photography, the refill pack is not modestly lower; it is absent until a filter is applied. Many shoppers never apply the filter. They search, land on a branded bottle that is not their usual house brand, and leave the category thinking the catalog is “only festive now.”
Apparel has a parallel. A baju kurung campaign tile repeating across women’s, modest wear, and a dedicated Raya shop means three doors into the same eight SKUs. Newness elsewhere in the tree — school shoes, office tops — is starved of first-screen air. We walked one Klang Valley app where the same model in the same green set appeared in four categories. The shopper who wanted school shoes used search and never met the category the kidswear merchandiser had carefully ordered.
We are not arguing against festive face-outs. We are arguing for a second spine: a refill or everyday rail that survives the campaign, even if it is only one row, honestly labelled. Catalog teams that keep that rail tend to hear fewer “the app has nothing” comments from habitual shoppers after the first week of decorations.
Timing matters. A Raya study that starts after the face-out has already been live for ten days is a study of a tired catalog. If you want the path read, lock a sample in the first days, or wait until the next festive calendar — Deepavali, CNY, year-end — and book the window before the gold banners go up.