MOBILE is the way to go as far as business is concerned in the Philippines, according to an executive of a major technology company.
“Mobile transactions in the Philippines year-on-year between 2016 and 2017 have grown 33 percent. We’re seeing more and more consumers want to do business that way,” said Jason Miller, chief strategist of commerce of Akamai Technologies (www.akamai.com), in a recent interview with BusinessMirror. The company is, according to Wikipedia, a “content delivery network and cloud-services provider” headquartered in the United States.
Miller said there’s going to be continuous growth on the use of mobile devices in the Philippines and Asia because the people in these places are quite receptive to the use of mobile technology. It’s also a fact that the daily horrendous and chaotic traffic situation, especially in Metro Manila, is contributing to the growth of mobile technology, as thousands of commuters use their mobile devices for various functions while struggling through traffic.
In his presentation to local customers, Miller said mobile Web traffic is bigger than that in the desktop space. “Sixty nine percent of the Web traffic is generated by mobile devices, which offers proof that mobile is the primary device of most Filipinos,” Miller pointed out.
Furthermore, he said 70 percent of Filipinos use the mobile phone first when they open their e-mails. “I use my mobile device when I open my e-mail in the morning,” Miller pointed out. To ensure that business can maximize e-mail to drive customers, Miller said e-mail needs to be responsive in terms of optimized mobile Web page that can make browsing easier for the consumer.
“The Philippines is actually one of the highest users of social media in Southeast Asia. That is good way to reach out to customers where they are,” Miller said.
“Filipinos spend 3.5 hours on the mobile platform while surfing the Internet. That number is bigger than the time they spend on a desktop or watching television,” he added.
Furthermore, the growth of mobile will see the stronger partnerships and alliances between telecommunication companies and the business sector to enhance their position in the market.
Gerald Peñaflor, country manager of Akamai Philippines, said local businesses are now realizing the value of mobile technology in enhancing their business. “I think this is a natural evolution for the business sector to ride on the trend,” he said during the same interview.
“As the mobile prevalence in the country continues to peak, the other sectors will follow the trend, especially in the country where going to the mall is quite difficult because of the traffic,” he added. Aside from the major retail players, Peñaflor said Akamai is also talking with small retail shops to strengthen their mobile platform. Moreover, he added Akamai is also meeting with regional players in Asean region to explore business potentials in the Philippines.
Meanwhile, Miller said small and medium enterprises must also explore the power of mobile technology, as it can reach to more markets here and abroad.
“It is the perfect storm. If you look at in a business perspective, they don’t have to invest so much in building the infrastructure in order for them to achieve the same result as they would with is an alternative platform such as this one.”
Miller said omnichannel retailers and e-commerce merchants are aware that business performance must be consistent throughout the year
In a society that now considers smartphones essential to daily life, Miller said the 2017 holiday season will be the “mobile and online” season. “Fifty three percent of mobile-site visitors will leave a page that takes longer than three seconds to load,” he said.
He added web site performance is a critical part of the customer experience and key to maintaining customer attention and completing online transactions. “As consumers’ expectations continue to soar, e-commerce retailers need to provide high-performance experiences because even small degradations will cause buyers to go elsewhere in an instant,” Miller noted.