Shopee, the leading
e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, identifies four major
e-commerce trends in 2020. The retail landscape in the Philippines has been
transformed due to increased social distancing efforts, such as the
implementation of the Enhanced Community Quarantine as the nation combats the
spread of Covid-19. As a result, brands and sellers are venturing online in
search of growth, while consumers turn to e-commerce to meet their shopping
needs.
Ruoshan Tao, Head of Marketing at Shopee Philippines
said, “The year 2020 has changed the way we live,
work, and shop. Brands and sellers across the region are stepping up their
digitization efforts, with e-commerce becoming a key channel for them to
sustain and grow their businesses. At the same time, consumers are increasingly
going online to fulfill their everyday needs, in areas ranging from groceries
to home appliances. As e-commerce takes on greater importance in people’s
lives, Shopee will continue to make shopping even more social, engaging, and
easy for everyone.”
In the Philippines,
Shopee has identified 4 key trends for e-commerce in recent months:
1. Brands and sellers are growing their e-commerce
presence
Brands and sellers
are venturing online to boost their online presence while exploring new
strategies to reach and engage consumers.
●
Robust growth for Filipino sellers: As people
shop for their home and essential needs online, brands, and sellers in the
Gaming and Pet Care categories are seeing strong growth. In addition, Brands
and sellers offering pet essentials and home appliances & accessories saw
40 times and 15 times more orders respectively than the same period last year.
●
Reaching customers with live streaming: Brands
and sellers are actively exploring new ways to reach consumers. Shopee has
observed that the number of Shopee Live streams from brands and sellers
increased by 40 times. Homegrown SMEs have successfully boosted online visibility
with Shopee Live. For example, Sirods Stuffed Toys has recorded a robust number
of views for its streams by showcasing popular toys and collectibles to users
in real-time, enabling it to engage customers more effectively.
2. Shoppers turn to e-commerce for everyday needs
At the same time,
Filipinos are relying on e-commerce to meet their everyday needs as people
live, work, and play from home.
●
Consumers search and shop online for a wider variety of needs: Shopee has observed an increase in search and shopping activity in the
past 3 months, especially for health and fashion products. This reflects an
increasing reliance on e-commerce, which provides Filipinos with one-stop
access to essentials, health products, and more.
○
Top searched keywords: Face masks, Dresses,
Power banks, Undergarments
○
Top products: Mosquito incense, Vitamins, and
supplements, cell phone cases
3. Shopping preferences evolve as consumers seek
convenience on e-commerce
Shopping
preferences are also changing in the Philippines as consumers look for
convenience in e-commerce during this period.
●
Increased shopping activity on weekdays: Online
shopping activity has peaked on Tuesdays in recent months, showcasing the
preference among Filipinos to shop earlier in the week. Shopping activity is
also the highest at 12PM and 1PM as Filipinos shop more often during lunchtime.
●
Preference for cashless payments: Adoption of
cashless payments is growing as consumers value speed and reduce physical
interactions. Shopee has observed that users are increasingly using cashless
options such as ShopeePay to pay for purchases in recent months.
4. Increased social interaction and engagement among
online shoppers
E-commerce has now
evolved into something more than just a way to shop - it’s also become a place
where people come together to interact, read content, and connect with others.
Shopee has seen greater use of its in-app engagement features in the past three
months as Filipinos seek to stay connected online:
●
Shopee Live Chat: Shopee has seen an increase
in social interactions on its platform. Over 1 million messages were sent daily
on average as brands, sellers, and consumers interact with each other across
the shopping journey.
●
In-app games: Shopee recorded 200 million
plays for its in-app games over the past three months. This is driven by users
logging in daily to earn rewards and try out new in-app games such as Shopee
Farm and Shopee Throw.
Tao closed, “We want to make
online shopping safe and convenient while staying true to our vision of
delivering a social and engaging experience to our users. At the same time, we
will continue to help both our sellers and buyers by providing them a seamless
online shopping experience, especially during this COVID-19 crisis.
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