CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background Nowadays, the beauty and skincare market has escalated tremendously in growth expanding several times due to the growing role of personal care and beauty. The beauty industry has grown internationally and the change has been seen in formulations and strategies used. This industry is indeed saturated and considered to be very keen with waves of the traditional brands and the newer brands always flexing their muscles to gain consumer allegiance. One of the most significant shifts is the social commerce integration where the use of digital platforms has created a means for brands to independently communicate with the target audience through one to many marketing efforts and purchase intentions. This change has als purchasing behavior and made shopping more convenient and faster than ever before (Amed et al., 2023; Martaleni et al., 2022). E-commerce platforms have become more popular because they offer extensive product portfolios, cheap prices, and smooth business transactions. Digital economy has also been expanding in the region with millions of consumers shopping for their commodities online due to convenience, cheap and product variety. Marketplaces have grown to become giants of the e-commerce industry in this category with an example the likes of Lazada, Tokopedia, and Shopee to name but a few markets changing the traditional face of retail. Their success can be attributed to some new features like live shopping, flash sales and ads, and focused and having an appeal for young, smart shoppers who are frugal (Martaleni et al., 2022; Wang et al., 2022). Shopee is currently one of the most popular online selling platforms in Southeast Asia, successfully transforming the online buying and selling experience through the addition of new options that successfully target regional markets. With its simplicity in operation and intensive advertisement campaigns, Shopee has greatly promoted the development of the online beauty section. This incorporates such attributes of flash sales, celebrity endorsements and bundling pricing to create a consumers buying frenzy and prompted buys. These strategies are based on psychological factors including time factors like scarcity and urgency, sense of value, making it a good case for studying the effect of e-commerce marketing on the buying behaviour of the consumers (Jodi, 2024; Amed et al.,, 2023). Implementation of these strategies in Shopee’s environment shows insights into consumer behavior. For instance, flash sales which involve offering products through an online platform with a time-limited offer appeal to consumers’ Fear 9 of Missing Out (FOMO) and force immediate purchase. Bundling pricing strategies, where a company packages several products that are generally used together at a lower price, increase perceived value because the decision-making process is made easier for the purchaser. Celebrity endorsement appeals to social referent and trust which increases product attractiveness by linking them to more desirable personalities (Chen et al., 2023; Fang et al., 2022). These strategies have been highlighted by previous studies as being effective. Studies on flash sale suggest that this strategy disrupts the consumers’ ability to make rational decisions by creating a sense of urgency (Parsad et al., 2021; Lăzăroiu et al., 2020). Bundling pricing strategies have been shown to enhance the ability and willingness to buy because such a bundle is cheaper and more convenient than the individual item (Martaleni et al., 2022; Chen et al., 2023).