The ongoing pandemic has brought about a broad, deep, and irreversible shift to online for businesses and consumers, a trend that will continue in the new normal. As such, Shopee outlines three key predictions for the Philippine e-commerce market in the areas of payments, logistics, and digitalization.
Increased adoption of digital payments
Digital payments are the preferred mode of transaction for e-commerce. As more people become accustomed to e-commerce, it will also drive the cashless movement offline.
Shopee continues to offer digital payment options to cater to evolving needs, including its mobile wallet, ShopeePay. The brand saw a four times uplift in the total number of orders completed by its mobile wallet across the region, with the greatest increase shown for users above 50 years old. This is evidence of ShopeePay’s ease of use.
Logistics will come to the forefront
Logistics will become more important as consumers continue to rely on e-commerce platforms and develop greater expectations for efficient deliveries. The increase in demand is significant for daily necessities and household essentials. In PH, Shopee saw a 5.8X increase specifically in food-related items shipped from the Shopee Warehouse.
For brands and sellers, it will be about making effective use of technology to ensure that parcels are delivered in a timely and cost-effective manner. One way to do it is to tap into the extensive and integrated networks of e-commerce platforms.
Shopee enables brands to scale efficiently and focus on growth by taking care of the entire process which includes the continuous strengthening of its logistics network and warehouse capacities. Last year, Shopee Express, the brand’s express delivery service, expanded its geographical coverage to reach even more users, including those in rural areas.
More brands also tapped on its logistics infrastructure with a three times increase in brand items shipped from its warehouse last year.
Brands and sellers will implement innovative retail strategies
The pandemic pushed all businesses to quickly implement digital strategies in order to continue reaching customers amidst the lockdown. As online selling becomes a bigger revenue channel for brands and sellers, e-commerce platforms will have to rely on innovative retail strategies to help engage customers in a differentiated manner and grow their online presence.
Today, there are more than 20,000 leading global and local brands on Shopee Mall, offering shoppers a wide selection of authentic products. Shopee works closely with these brands to constantly push the boundaries and create new, exciting, and unique shopping experiences.
A good example would be when Shopee worked with POND’s to integrate its AI-powered beauty tech solution, Skin Advisor Live, into the online shopping experience, allowing shoppers to enjoy a free personalized skincare analysis, helping them make more informed purchase decisions. POND’s was able to tap into Shopee’s engagement tools, such as live streaming, to interact with their target audience.
Download Shopee for free on the App Store and the Google Play Store.
Emman has been writing technical and feature articles since 2010. Prior to this, he became one of the instructors at Asia Pacific College in 2008, and eventually landed a job as Business Analyst and Technical Writer at Integrated Open Source Solutions for almost 3 years.