MOBILITY and digitization continue to open a lot of growth potentials for the Philippines that businesses, which are too slow to adapt to the ever-changing digital world, should now take advantage of. Otherwise, they face a tough road ahead, warned technology and retail experts.
“In the Philippines, 92 percent of people are placing their orders online,” JDA Software Vice President (VP) for Solutions Advisor Sriharsha Ilindala told reporters during the 1st Omnichannel Asia Summit Philippines 2019 held on Thursday at the SMX Convention Center Aura, SM Aura Premier, Taguig City. “That’s the opportunity you don’t have to miss.”
While local enterprises—whether small, medium or large—are open to changes, the “wait-and-see” attitude of some of them holds them back to shift to digitization, according to him.
“The first of all the things you’re going to do is recognize the opportunity, and then grab, believe and make it happen. That seems to be a problem here in the Philippines at the moment,” he said. “So I think you need a more positive integration attack or approach on how you move forward to this opportunity, whether online or omnichannel.”
Omnichannel facilities are now changing the brand-to-customer experience, especially with the advent of mobile devices and digital tools.
From the stores to the apps, desktops, or tablets, they are proven technologies that provide a seamless customer journey.
These solutions link multichannel listing, point-of-sale or POS, inventory management, and other solutions to consolidate customer data from all points of the buying process.
With more than 67 million Filipinos now using the Internet, this trend about connecting the customer experience is seen highly suitable to the Philippine market.
“Retail is not complicated but old strategies are failing to address customer problems due to the changing demands of the market. By taking advantage of omnichannel facilities, businesses can provide an even better experience to their customers,” said Mahesh Gopinath, chief operating officer of GenieTech Philippines.
Citing AC Nielsen’s 2018 study that shows the global fast-moving consumer goods (GFCG) e-commerce platform will reach over $400 billion and will account for 10 to 20 percent market share, he urged the local retailers to integrate them to their stores so as to tap more potential customers on the web and even those still turning to brick and mortar outlets.
“Retailers are competing to provide the best customer experience. Omnichannel solutions are the way to provide customers with a seamless online and offline experience,” he noted.
The impact of these emerging platforms has been apparent in the profitability of various stores in Asia and other parts of the world.
GenieTech Senior Director on Consulting Services John Boe pointed out that in Vietnam, for instance, store sales growth averages at around 12 percent.
Both in the United States and Europe, on the other hand, it stands at a “single-digit’ growth between one percent and two percent per the last quarterly report, he added.
“We’re also seeing growth here in the Philippines,” Boe said, without citing the exact figure.
But compared to the Philippines, he stressed that there are many retailers in Asia that have put changes in their business model, or have larger footprint stores that are profitable.
“What these retailers are doing to achieve their one percent or two percent growth is a lot of work to change their business model,” he said.
In order to catch up with them, Filipino enterprises, particularly those in retail, must embrace a new approach to engage with their customers through omnichannel technologies.
“If businesses don’t evolve, then there will be other businesses that will take that and seize the opportunity for growth,” he said.
A bevy of upcoming innovations that they ought to adapt in so far as predicting and resolving customer issues in scientific ways are concerned are in the fields of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Algorithms, Boe predicted.
“There will also be a continuous migration to Cloud. The tide won’t be stopped because of the ease that’s compensated in Cloud and the ease with rich innovative and added capabilities on Cloud. That’s going to happen. So you have to pick technologies that will have a big game-changing impact on your business,” he said.
With the theme, “Connecting the Customer Journey,” the 1st Omnichannel Asia Summit Philippines 2019 gathered more businesses and professionals for a day of learning with retail and innovation industry experts sharing their knowledge and expertise in logistics, supply chain, customer service, data-driven insights, and social media for a complete, hassle-free customer experience.