By Victoria “NIKE” De Dios
While pandemic has affected a lot of businesses, especially the brick and mortar operations, it is interesting to note that the Philippines has the biggest growth in Asia since the implementation of the community quarantine.
In the update about the e-commerce industry in the Philippines during the digital launch of Union Bank of the Philippines and Lazada co-brand partnership, this was revealed in the studies both by Union Bank of the Philippines and Lazada Philippines.
According to Neil Trinidad, Chief Marketing Officer of Lazada Philippines has 3X more growth, 2 times more buyers and spending, 100K followers on a monthly basis since the lockdown based on their own experience in Lazada.
Neil Trinidad, Chief Marketing Officer of Lazada the Philippines
“The pandemic somehow has a good effect in the e-commerce industry as many Filipinos created their own respective online stores in order to survive in times of trying times. It’s part of our resilience. Lockdown has taught many people to use the e-commerce platform, even grocery items such as food, disinfectants, beauty care products, and deliveries and they are all part of the ecosystem of e-commerce,” Trinidad added.
Meanwhile, Antonio Sebastian Corro, Senior VP and Head of Card Business at Union Bank of Philippines, also noted the sudden change of the spending habits of Filipino consumers based on their studies in UnionBank for the credit card usage.
Antonio Sebastian Corro, SVP and Head of Card Business at Union Bank of Philippines
“There is more spending on food, and other essentials like Vitamins, disinfectants, and an indication that the pandemic has really shaped up the consumer behaviors. All spending is done on the basic necessities,” Corro said.
The UnionBank Head of Card Business also added that while there is a dramatic surge in online purchases, they also observed that there is a declined in the usage of credit cards in the international market and entertainment activities such as restaurants, bars, hotels, hotel bookings, airfare and out of the country travel destinations.
In the recent study, despite the connectivity issue hounds the telco industry, the Philippines has a 71% internet penetration rate, and users plugged in ten hours and two minutes a day on average. This is the reason why the Philippines’ e-commerce industry grows by leaps and bounds and made our country out as an exciting market for any international e-commerce opportunity such as online shopping, delivery apps, and other allied products.
