It is estimated that 45,400,000 Filipinos, including all age groups, are registered on Facebook. Facebook has very low restrictions on joining the community and selling online, and it’s as easy as posting a photo. What’s more, with very low capital requirements and the acceptance of cash on delivery, even students are engaged in online sales. A typical physical store requires a minimum initial cost of 30,000 pesos.
Facebook is often a place for beginners to try online sales. Another feature is that sellers are good at marketing and advertising skills when expanding the scale of advertisements and delivering them. Small entrepreneurs start from Facebook, but the hurdles to start are low, so the competition rate of most products is high. However, the presence of a large number of sellers shows how easy it is to use this channel.
LAZADA
Lazada sells fashion items, appliances, car accessories and appliances that Filipinos often use and buy. Its usage is also reflected in large Filipino local retailers such as SM Super Mall, which is now accessible through Lazada. This is proof that Lazada users have reached it. With the huge support of Alibaba, a large Chinese company, we have more sellers than our products and our competitors. Based on Alibaba’s Taobao Mall, we launched Lazmall with a guarantee that we are selling 100% genuine products, and we are developing it in a very advantageous way in terms of the legality of the products.
Lazada is an outstanding award in Southeast Asia and has been awarded the iEMA, which is determined by voting and evaluation by online customers. Lazada is superior to other competitors. According to Price insights (iprice.ph), which provides an illustration of e-commerce, the top e-commerce users in the Philippines are app usage history, average 3 months of communication and various social media sites. I know I’m choosing Lazada from my followers. Some studies also show that the overall average number of people using Lazada in the 2017 quarter was 25,652,100.
SHOPEE
At the beginning, Shopee was second only to Lazada. But within a few years I managed to catch up and now I’m in a good match with Lazada. We’ve invested a fair amount of money in marketing, hired Philippine actress Anne Curtis for a show just to promote Shopee, and hired the famous lunch show host Willie Revillame. With these novel approaches, Shopee has established authority in this field.
Shopee is known for its excellent customer service and cheap products. These two may be the reason why they were able to catch up with Lazada. Shopee has something like a Shopee warranty, where the buyer confirms that the item has been delivered in good condition before proceeding with payment, until then the seller pays the fee. In addition, Shopee has a low sales commission for sellers and low shipping costs for buyers.
ZALORA
Zalora appeared after Lazada and Shopee. It is strong in the interface, and you can immediately see that the core part is different from the above two. Lazada and Shopee focus on youthfulness and fun design, while Zalora has the opposite, more formal atmosphere with a monochrome tone. In order to win a bigger market in the Philippines, we have partner agreements with social media icons like Georgina-Wilson Burnand, Isabelle Daza-Semblat, Liz Uy and Solen Heusaff-Bolzico to handle several brands. Given this support, we can see how Zalora aims to establish a brand, a more sophisticated atmosphere and a differentiated market.
AMAZON
World-class e-commerce sites show why their dominance becomes global dominance. Despite being superior to Lazada and Shoppe, it is still trying to reduce its market share. However, it lags behind Asia in terms of advertising. Lazada and Shopee are looking to the Philippine market by forming a group just for Filipinos to discuss good products at Lazada and Shopee on facebook. Buyers can let their peers know about coupons and good products. Filipinos are using Amazon in search of brands that aren’t available locally.
The future of online sales
Although some of the best sources, such as the World Bank, have shown that geographic and financial knowledge makes it difficult for global brands to establish public support, there is still plenty of room for growth and innovation. The Filipino geography has paved the way for locals and small entrepreneurs to gain market share reasonably. If you live on an island like the Visayan region of the Philippines, it’s your chance to join the competitive world. Mastering the supply chain process and prioritizing the recruitment of locals familiar to the region, the global brand will not be lost.
