ONLINE shopping portal Shopee said the Philippines remains an important market as a big portion of the population is composed of technology-savvy millennials.
In an e-mail interview, Shopee Head of Commercial Operations Macy Castillo told the BusinessMirror that the potential of the country is huge that makes it logical for the company to plan for the long haul. Based on a 2017 study by Google and Temasek, the Philippines’s e-commerce market is projected to reach $9.7 billion (P498 billion) in 2025 and with a 34-percent annual growth rate, which is said to be above the global average growth rate.
Castillo said the current thrust of Shopee is on the country’s mobile users who incidentally are largely belonging to the millennial generation.
“And this move toward mobile is perfect for the Philippines, as Filipino mobile shoppers are highly social. According to our last review, we’ve seen that 85 percent of total orders done through Shopee had customers chat with sellers first, compared to the 77-percent regional average,” Castillo added. “This is something that gives us a clear edge over other e-commerce platforms.”
Despite the slow Internet speed, Castillo said the future of the Philippines’s e-commerce market is very promising. To remedy the situation, Shopee has formed a partnership with PLDT Inc. and Smart Communications Inc. to give users more hassle-free online-shopping experience.
PLDT Assistant Vice President Luigi Casa said they are supporting Shopee to boost the growth of e-commerce and digital transformation in the country.
“We are very excited and proud to partner Shopee Philippines. Together, we aim to increase awareness on the benefits of e-commerce adoption and how it drives the country’s economic growth as we redefine the retail industry,” he said in a statement.
Castillo said Shopee’s partnership with its official shops allows them to offer more varieties and options to its users. Furthermore, she said Shopee will continue to look for new and sellers to further expand the user base in the Philippines.
She added Shopee will also continue to train the staff to become more productive in their tasks.
“We will continue to train our sellers through Shopee University to help them enhance their efficiency, sales and productivity,” she said. Castillo added Shopee aims its growth in the long haul.
“We target to maintain our double-digit growth through product and user-experience optimization and enhancement of our E2E [exchange-to-exchange] experience through integrated logistics and payment,” she explained.