E-COMMERCE is here to stay as online trade is seen to sustain growth post-pandemic, according to the Philippine E-Commerce Association (PECA).
“We did not see any decreasing growth of the industry. It will keep on increasing from 2023 [and beyond],” PECA Cofounder and President Jere Von Basa told reporters hours before their staging of e-Levate, the country’s grandest sectoral networking event held recently in Pasay City.
Since the Covid-19 crisis started late 2019, the e-commerce vertical has seen a “dramatic” rise due to movement restrictions and lockdown enforcements. This, in turn, has made the Philippines the third in Southeast Asia, next only to Indonesia and Vietnam, with the highest e-commerce growth rate.
In fact, data from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) show that the industry generates an average of P2.3 billion sales a month. More and more people are being drawn to ply their trades on the web. At present, there are about 8 million online sellers nationwide.
“So that’s how big the market is in the digital world,” Basa said, while noting that each of the leading e-commerce players Lazada and Shopee has around 2 million to 3 million virtual merchants, per industry data.
Amid the easing pandemic situation at present, he still expects a double-digit growth for the “still young” industry. Hence, he enjoined both the public and private sectors to back up the entire online selling community in so far as addressing the three challenges besetting the e-commerce players is concerned.
“We are giving good revenue for the Philippine economy. But, unfortunately, we have [not] been given enough support from the government. That’s why we built the association to have this kind of voice of small online sellers be heard,” Basa said.
“Second, we want also to get access to financial institutions [through] loans, especially those who are just starting in online selling,” he added. “That’s one thing that we are really working on right now. We are in partnership with UnionBank and Good Loan.”
The cofounder and president of PECA also pointed out the importance of educating further the cyber merchants in today’s digitalization era.
“The third [challenge would be] the changes of technology in the Philippines that are really fast. It’s so volatile. It changes every month. In parallel to the kind of changes is the need also to educate the online sellers. That’s why we also want to work with the DTI as well as with the Tesda [Technical Education and Skills Development Authority] to also give support for the education of our online sellers,” he said.
Policy-wise, Basa underscored legislative reforms for the industry, such as laws that could help push for logistical support and consumer protection by way of certification of online traders to combat scam and fraud.
“Good thing that we are in partnership with the DTI, especially the division for e-commerce. We have given them some of the possible legislations that could be enacted for us,” he stressed.
PECA was established in 2022 to create a unified body among online sellers all over the country. This nonprofit organization is envisioned to enable the further growth and advancement of e-commerce by making solidified programs that are regulated and recognized by actual practitioners. Its membership has so far reached more than 500.
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