More Filipinos now

shopping online
Philippine Daily Inquirer 11:53 PM | Saturday, March 9th, 2013
http://business.inquirer.net/111455/more-filipinos-now-shopping-online
MasterCard survey reveals growing e-commerce market in PH, preference for local brands, and
enabling role of mobile technologies.
More and more Filipinos are beginning to shop online, according to the results of MasterCards
Online Shopping Behavior Study 2012 in 14 Asia Pacific countries. The survey also shows that
the countrys e-commerce potential is expected to grow even more with the emergence of
enabling technologies.
Dominating the Philippine e-commerce landscape are local deals and promo websites, although
the most visited website is eBay (12.5%). It is followed by Sulit (10.1%), Metrodeal (7.2%), Cebu
Pacific (6.0%), Ensogo (5.5%), and Amazon (5.1%). The preference for local sites is due to fear of
hidden charges, concerns about security and speed of delivery, and the availability of most of
the items in local sites.
Music download sites (43.9%) are the most visited in the Philippines, followed by personal,
education or professional development portals (40.3%), and computer software websites
(33.9%). Meanwhile, app stores registered the highest amount of online spend, pegged at
US$297, along with supermarkets ($245), and airlines ($195).
The study also reveals the rise in the category of ethical spending, with 78.6% of respondents
buying certain items because they are environment-friendly, up from 75.2% in 2011. In
addition, 62.5% bought the product because a percentage of sale is donated to a good cause,
up from 54.6% in 2011.

In general, the Filipino online shopper is cautious in making online purchases, with most of the
respondents (89%) citing security as a top concern, closely followed by speed of transaction
(88.5%), convenience of payment methods (88.5%) in their transactions. Other factors
considered important by 80% of the respondents are price/values, return or exchange policy,
website reputation, online review, customer service, low delivery charges, and use of various
payment methods.
Most respondents (79.5%) also plan their online purchases, up from 74% from 2011. This points
to an online shopping behavior that is less impulsive, except when it involved coupon/deal sites
(triggering 28.8% of purchases), and airline tickets (25.1%). To mitigate any perceived risks
associated with e-commerce, 81% of the respondents read online reviews. Moreover, majority
of the shoppers (77%) tend to go to the online shopping sites they have used before.
In terms of gender, women tend to have more positive views, higher involvement, and
openness about online shopping than men, who are more concerned about security issues.
Interestingly, the men are most likely to shop from and spend on foreign websites.
With respondents that cover the countrys 18 to 64 year-old population, the study shows that
40.4% of Filipinos access the Internet to shop. For the past three months, 64% of them
purchased online, up from 2011s 61%, and significantly higher than 2010s 38%.
While Filipinos currently rank lower than their neighbors in the propensity to conduct online
transactions, the countrys index of 71 has an upward trajectory, rising by 7 points from 2011s
64, and 14 from 2010s 57. The same is true for their online shopping satisfaction rating, which
is at 86.1%, increasing from 82.6% in 2010 and 84.4% in 2011. Such a pattern differs from the
fluctuating or plateauing trends among the top scorers like China, New Zealand, Australia, and
Singapore.
Mobile commerce is a key area of growth, with the number of Filipinos with in-mobile Internet
access rising to 78.5% from 74.6% in 2011, and the number of mobile-online shoppers doubling
in the last 12 months: 21.4% in 2012 (versus 11% in 2011). The expansion of this market will be
facilitated by the availability of more apps (36.1%), which presumably assuage security
concerns, and come with the promise of being able to shop on the go (32.5%), and convenience
(27.8%).
In general, the report is bullish on the prospects of e-commerce advancing in the Philippines, as
long as merchants, and credit card and payment solution companies more effectively promote

the security of online transactions, ensure that there are no hidden charges, and strictly adhere
to delivery timelines.
Other suggestions to improve the Filipino online shopping experience include minimizing the
delivery fees, protecting consumers from unscrupulous websites, and facilitating the ease of
transactions.

==================

Pinoys active but not impulsive online shoppers, study

says
By Kim Arveen Patria | Yahoo! Southeast Asia Newsroom Tue, Sep 4, 2012

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Pinoys are among Asia-Pacific's most active online shoppers but that doesn't mean selling goods to
them is easy, a research group said.

While most Filipinos who are into "e-commerce" use the Internet for product research or to look for
online deals, a recent Nielsen report showed that only half of these "online shoppers" actually make
purchases.

Over two-thirds (72 percent) of online consumers in the Philippines said they use the Internet for
grocery shopping research in the month before the survey, higher than the regional average of 70
percent.

Filipinos were also most active in Asia-Pacific in looking for online deals, with 61 percent reporting
that they have done this versus the regional average of 39 percent.

"However, when it comes to purchase conversion, only 34 percent have made a purchase online in
the past month compared to 62 percent in Asia Pacific and 49 percent globally," Nielsen said.

The data was part of the Nielsen Global Survey, which polled over 28,000 online consumers in 56
countries throughout Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and North
America from Feb. 10 to 27.

The growing number of Filipino consumers who turn to the Internet to conduct product research and
ensure that they get the best price or deal is spurred by "exponentially increasing Internet
peneteration in the country, Nielsen said.

"This trend provides an apt environment to convert online researchers to make online purchases,"
Nielsen Philippines managing director Stuart Jamieson.

He added that the Internet allows retailers and manufacturers to tap into a broader consumer base
and increase consumer engagement.

This, as he noted that while connected devices such as computers, mobile phones and tablets have
"become a way of life" for many Filipinos, shoppers are "digitally engaged to varying degrees
depending on the products they buy."

Nielsen data showed that 52 percent of Filipino respondents said they are likely to buy computer or
gaming softwares online in the next three to six months.

This product category thus topped the list of products that may be sold to the Pinoy market.

Mobile phones are next on the list with 46 percent of respondents likely to buy; computer or gaming
hardware, 38 percent; apparel and accesories, 36 percent; and travel reservations, 35 percent.

Also likely to be sold to Pinoys online are entertainment tickets, 34 percent; video or music
recordings, 33 percent; food and beverage, 32 percent; books and magazine, 30 percent, among
others.

"Marketers need to determine which consumers are embracing digital for their grocery shopping
needs so they can focus on the right shoppers with the right digital strategies to improve consumers'
online experience," Jamieson said.

"[C]lear strategies to build online consumers' trust and ultimately increase purchase conversion rates
need to be ascertained," he added.

https://ph.news.yahoo.com/pinoys-active-but-not-impulsive-online-shoppers--studysays.html
====

Online retail becoming popular in Philippines

March 2, 2014 10:34 pm

by JAMES DANTOW

Are you looking for a gift for that special someone?

Booking a weekend getaway to Boracay? Or buying that fantastic wardrobe you have wanted all
year long? Of course, its easy to rush to the nearest mall to shop, or visit or call your travel agent to
book the best package available for a trip. But more and more Filipinos nowadays are choosing the
most convenient, most affordable and the safest way possible to purchase products and services
ONLINE!
Online retail has experienced steady growth in the country, boosted by the flurry of steep markdowns
such as discounts of up to 70 percent. Sites like Lazada, CashCashPinoy, Zalora, Groupon, and
LivingSocial have brought excitement to ecommerce and have helped to build a growing market of
online buyers.

The Philippines still has the lowest online retail reach in the Asia-Pacific region at 53 percent,
compared to the leader Vietnam at 76.7 percent, according to comScores Southeast Asia Digital
Future in Focus 2013 study. Yet, interest in online shopping is on the rise, promising bright prospects
for the sector. Specifically, local visitors to Lazada swelled dramatically, up 46 percent in 2013 due to
an expansive portfolio of bargains for even the traditionally priciest items.
This trend led to more online retail sites opening shop in the Philippines to tap local and global
markets. One case in point is Island Rose, considered the largest flower retailer and wholesaler in
the Philippines, which opened an ecommerce site in 2000 (www.islandrose.net.ph). This online retail
shop lets consumers from all over the world purchase gifts, from fresh-cut flowers to mouth-watering
confectioneries, and have them delivered to their loved ones anywhere in the Philippines. As its
name implies, flowers are the companys main product, having been a leading supplier to wedding
coordinators, florists, hotels and restaurants since its establishment in 1983. It has since expanded
its product line to stuffed toys, jewelry and other accessories.
The challenge of maintaining online retail operations can be daunting for start-ups and even
seasoned retailers, especially in building and maintaining the solid yet costly infrastructure to support
it. Island Rose overcame this challenge by bringing key online retail business applications to the
cloud through software-as-a-service solutions from San Mateo, California-based NetSuite.
Crucial in Island Roses operations is NetSuites order management functionality, which automates
the processing of 75,000 shipments to locations across the Philippines, from the data encoded and
payment processing in its online site to deployment through logistics providers, such as LBC and
DHL. NetSuite enables Island Rose to efficiently handle order during peak demand, particularly on
special gift-giving seasons, such as Christmas, Mothers Day or Valentines Day.
By using the NetSuite cloud, we are leaner and stronger organization better fit to serve our
customers, stressed Dustin Andaya, founder and marketing director of Island Rose. We need not
focus our attention on how to maintain and operate our data infrastructure and instead strategize on
keeping our customers happy with the experience buying from our online store.
Island Rose also maintains hundreds of thousands of customer records in NetSuite leveraging its
CRM capabilities, with registered customer profiles for building relationships and marketing. In
addition, key operational processes are being enabled by NetSuites line of cloud-based Enterprise
Resource Planning (ERP) software, such as financials and inventory management, all executed on
the cloud.
Having such systems in place, Island Rose is dead-set on expanding its retail business online and
contributing its share to the growth of online retailing in the Philippines.

And, of course, turning more and more Filipinos into satisfied online shoppers.
(James Dantow is VP for Worldwide Support and GM for the Philippines, NetSuite)

http://www.manilatimes.net/online-retail-becoming-popular-in-philippines/79528/
===

Study: Pinoys active in product

research, but rarely buy online
Posted on September 4, 2012

Online consumers in the Philippines are amongst Asia-Pacifics most active in terms of conducting
product research, reading consumer reviews, and searching for online deals.
This is according to a report on the influence of digital media on shopping habits released consumer
research firm Nielsen.

The Nielsen report found that amongst consumers who engaged in eCommerce activities, over two
thirds of online consumers in the Philippines (72 percent), indicated using the Internet for grocery
shopping research in the past month, and 47 percent of those consumers did so daily, compared to
39 percent in Asia-Pacific.
Online Filipino consumers were also the most active in Asia-Pacific to search online for deals; 61
percent have done this in the past month compared to 39 percent in Asia-Pacific.
However, when it comes to online purchase conversion, only 34 percent have made a purchase
online in the past month compared to 62 percent in Asia-Pacific and 49 percent globally.
With Internet penetration increasing exponentially in the Philippines, and the growing number of
consumers who are turning to the internet to conduct product research and ensure they are getting
the best price or deal, this trend provides an apt environment to convert online researchers to make
online purchases, said Stuart Jamieson, managing director of Nielsen Philippines.
The Internet presents an opportunity for retailers and manufacturers to tap into a broader consumer
base and increase engagement levels with consumers. However, clear strategies to build online
consumers trust and ultimately increase purchase conversion rates need to be ascertained.

While non-consumer packaged goods (CPG) products such as electronics, clothing, and travel
reported the highest penetration for digital shopping intentions, the level of influence for CPG-related
products is growing.
Filipinos intentions to buy food and beverages via online sources more than doubled from 15
percent to 32 percent in two years.
Connected devices, such as computers, mobile phones and tablets have become a way of life for
many, but shoppers are digitally engaged to varying degrees depending on the products they buy,
added Jamieson.
Marketers need to determine which consumers are embracing digital for their grocery shopping
needs so they can focus on the right shoppers with the right digital strategies to improve consumers
online experience.
Over half (52 percent) of Filipino respondents said they planned to purchase a computer, game or
software via a connected device in the next three to six months (up from 19 percent two years ago),
compared to 35 percent in Asia-Pacific, and 46 percent indicated they would purchase a mobile
phone online, compared to 33 percent in the region, making technology categories the key driver of
online purchase intention for Filipinos within the next three to six months.

http://newsbytes.ph/2012/09/04/study-pinoys-active-in-product-research-but-rarelybuys-online/
===