Not surprisingly, e-commerce in the Philippines has grown exponentially since Covid-19 drastically changed everyone’s lives. Because of limited mobility that resulted from the necessary lockdowns, Filipinos are now heavily relying on online shopping for their needs through their smartphones and have their purchased items delivered in front of their doorsteps.
It’s a far cry from the usual mall-hopping that people are used to before the pandemic. Still, as more people turn to online shopping, it’s also no surprise that, according to Google and Temasek report, the country’s e-commerce economy is currently valued at a whopping US$7 billion and is expected to grow to US$25 billion in 2025.
At the forefront of e-commerce activity in the Philippines is industry leader Shopee. It continues to evolve and stay ahead of the e-commerce competition through innovative offers on products. Shopee connects with consumers, understands their specific needs, and creates well-executed localized strategies to serve shoppers, brands, and sellers, especially during this period.
“At the beginning of the pandemic, we saw a surge in demand for daily essentials; that’s why we introduced the 5.5 Shopee Mart Sale to provide our shoppers with convenient access to personal and household items as well as great cost savings. And as the holiday season approaches in the Philippines, we’ve also launched campaigns like 9.9 Super Shopping Day and 10.10 Brands Festival to provide our shoppers easy access to an extensive collection of products as well as greater cost savings,” according to Martin Yu, Shopee Philippines Associate Director.
Creating a digital experience for consumers
During the Shopee 9.9 Super Shopping Day’s record-breaking performance, there were 12 million items sold in the first hour alone. At its peak, 700,000 items were sold in a single minute across all categories. This impressive performance demonstrates an increasing reliance on e-commerce, which provides Filipinos with one-stop access to essentials, health products, and more.
According to Yu, Shopee also saw greater demand for engagement and entertainment while Filipinos shop online. The company has seen opportunities in its in-app engagement features such as Shopee Live in the past months as Filipinos stay connected online. Shopee Live is also becoming popular among Filipinos of all ages tune in regularly to watch a wide variety of live streams in April, making it their preferred entertainment source, recording 30 million views in a single month.
Aside from best online deals, the e-commerce giant also takes on a highly localized approach for entertainment in each target market, especially in the Philippines, to tailor campaigns and content based on local consumption preferences. Shopee has continued to partner with GMA, GMA News TV, and Wowowin Primetime to offer shoppers greater fun and entertainment while they shop online. To this end, Shopee has also tapped brand ambassador Jose Mari Chan and celebrities like Catriona Gray, Rhian Ramos, Willie Revillame, and Gabbi Garcia, to name a few.
Furthermore, as Filipinos embrace e-commerce for greater convenience, Shopee sees greater adoption of digital payments across the country with enhanced security.
“We are committed to offering a wide range of digital payment options to our users, including services such as ShopeePay. Users between the ages of 18 to 34 are the primary users of digital payment as 70 percent of the total number of purchases but we observed 100 percent increase in the number of ShopeePay transactions among users over the age of 50,” Yu reported.
“We foresee this shopping trend to continue as Filipinos go online to buy their gifts for their loved ones as they celebrate the festive season,” said Yu.
To continue the momentum of previous campaigns’ success, Shopee is looking to kickstart the Christmas celebration with the launch of Shopee 11.11 to 12.12 Big Christmas Sale.
Building connections, empowering Filipino entrepreneurs
“As the market leader, Shopee is in a strong position to connect people and businesses, promote digital inclusion, and power the next wave of growth. We empower our online sellers and entrepreneurs by catering to the rich and diverse pool of businesses, setting up both new and experienced sellers for long-term success,” Yu further explained.
This year, Shopee plans to create their 11.11 shopping event to significantly impact the Philippines as part of our broader vision to make e-commerce for everyone.
“More than just a shopping festival, we aim to share the benefits and opportunities of online shopping with every person and business by creating a positive impact for communities in need by fostering the Bayanihan spirit, creating new opportunities for growth for brands and MSMEs, and creating stronger shared experiences for shoppers,” Yu mentioned.
Also, Shopee accelerated seller empowerment efforts and rolled out a wide range of measures to smoothly transition online sellers. The company introduced the Seller Support Package, which comprises a series of initiatives to ease operational costs and boost sales, including subsidized shipping and administration fees, vouchers, and free advertising credits.
“We also enhanced our Seller Center, a one-stop platform for sellers to manage their online stores on Shopee. With this, sellers can easily keep track of orders, monitor payments, track deliveries, and handle in-app marketing campaigns all in one place. We also conducted various courses through our Seller University, where sellers can learn and level up different essential skills, ranging from digital marketing to logistics,” Yu added.
In partnership with local government units, the Shopee University program conducted a seller masterclass for over 100 participants in Cavite. During the masterclass, sellers were empowered on how to tap on marketing tools on Shopee and use effective advertising tactics to amplify their online presence and boost online sales.
Shopee is also partnering with the regional offices of DTI to conduct the same educational support to help sellers expand their marketplace and become equipped with in-depth e-commerce knowledge and skills. Shopee joined the first ASEAN Online Sale Day to celebrate the ASEAN’s 53rd founding anniversary on August 8, aiming to boost regional digital trade and offer sellers greater product exposure and broader audience reach on Shopee.
According to Yu, to further elevate their online presence and scale their seller’s e-commerce business, Shopee offers a strong ecosystem of solutions to help brands by using easy-to-use brand marketing tools such as the store decoration tool in building authentic connections with their customers through enhanced brand storytelling.
Shopee also recently teamed up with Google to launch Google Ads with Shopee, a first-of-its-kind marketing solution for brands to drive sales online. The company enhanced its support for brands with the Shopee Media Agencies Partner Program (SMAP) launch to equip media agencies with in-depth knowledge and skills on using Shopee’s suite of brand marketing tools.
As brands invest more in growing their online presence, SMAP will enable media agencies to leverage a broader range of e-commerce tools to maximize the return on investment of their clients’ media spend.
“We are not only committed to helping out our brands and sellers to achieve long-term sustainability, but we have rolled out extensive programs to help them digitalize, recover, and succeed in the long term with e-commerce.”
Giving back to the community, partners
Shopee is committed of making a difference and uplifting the lives of local industries and communities through its several programs.
First, Shopee launched the Shopee Bayanihan to uplift different sectors in need of help. The company partnered with 39 organizations including PGH Medical Foundation, Kaya Natin, and World Vision to help raise funds to help Filipinos in need during the Enhanced Community Quarantine. There were some 2,800 respiratory masks donated to help medical frontliners on their fight against COVID-19.
Then Shopee launched Shopee Bayanihan: Frontliner Package to support frontliners in the Philippines by providing them with Shopee vouchers, Unilever vouchers, and mobile load from Smart that they can use for their personal needs.
The company recently announced the Shopee Bayanihan: Pamaskong Pambata, together with its newest brand ambassador Kris Aquino. It is a campaign to spread awareness for youths in the Philippines and encourage Filipinos to create a big impact. Shopee will be supporting the 11 foundations through a digital charity sale, co-branded live streams with brand donations, and in-app donations.
“Initially, the initiative will run from October 26 to December 12, wherein each will have a virtual goods shop wherein users can choose from 4 voucher denominations to purchase and donate directly to their chosen beneficiary. Not only will you be able to shop to your heart’s delight this 11.11-12.12, but also make the Christmas of underprivileged Filipino youth much more special,” Yu concluded.