Infrastructure holding back Philippines online shopping

E-commerce. Shopping cart with cardboard boxes on laptop. 3d

Rising smartphone and internet penetration are fuelling demand for online shopping in the Philippines, according to a new report.

But, payment problems and poor logistics infrastructure are stunting growth of Philippines online shopping, says the report, Philippines B2C E-Commerce Market 2015, newly published by Hamburg-based secondary market research company yStats.com.

With a population of more than 100 million and the 13th largest Internet audience worldwide, the Philippines has a great potential for B2C eCommerce development. Half of the population is under 25 years-old, and thus more likely to become tech-savvy.

However fewer than 10 per cent of adult Internet users made purchases online in the Philippines last year, less than in some other emerging markets worldwide.

yStats.com says rising internet and smartphone penetration is expected to boost online shopping – once underdeveloped payments and logistics infrastructures are addressed.

“The government recently launched a roadmap to overcome these challenges and support the growth of online retail,” the company said in the report.

Major trends of the Philippines online shopping market include mobile shopping, social commerce and cross-border shopping.

“A high double-digit share of online shoppers in the Philippines used mobile phones to make purchases online at the start of last year, more than in any other country in Southeast Asia, although mCommerce was largely limited to the purchase of digital goods and services.”

yStats.com said the online audience in the Philippines is one of the most engaged in social networks by global standards, which makes social media an important platform for online merchants. The country’s major online retailer, Lazada.com.ph had over 10 million local fans on its Facebook page, ranking second in popularity among all Facebook pages in the country.

Other important players in the Philippines online shopping market included daily deals websites Cashcashpinoy.com and Ensogo.com.ph, each of which received substantial investment recently, online clothing retailer Zalora.com.ph and classifieds website Olx.ph. Popular foreign shopping websites include Amazon.com, Aliexpress.com and eBay.com.

Source: insideretail.asia