Shopee sale sees 13-times increase in items sold in opening hours

Promos, influencers drive online sales

Filipinos love a good deal, based on trends from Shopee’s 12.12 Christmas sale, which saw over 14 million vouchers claimed within the first two hours. The Southeast Asian e-commerce platform also saw an increase of more than 13 times in items sold within the same time window, as compared to an average day.

“I prefer online shopping for items that I know I can get discounts from if I buy from websites or e-commerce stores,” said Vanya P. Tantoco, owner of digital agency Z Digital Studios, in an e-mail to BusinessWorld. “Shopping online makes the selection process easier. It also makes me decide a lot faster.”

According to Shopee, the most popular categories in its 12.12 Christmas sale this year are health and personal care; women’s apparel; and home and living.

ONLINE FOR GIFTS
Meanwhile, theAsianparent, a community platform of parents across Asia, found in an October survey that shopping online is the fourth top activity of the season among this market segment at 61%, three points above visiting friends and family at their home (58%).

A majority of Filipina mothers (84%) choose the brands for the household, pointed out Malena Gong, regional head of insights at theAsianparent, in a press statement.

“Combine this with the cultural phenomenon of a long holiday season, and you’ve got an extended period of traditionally higher spending, concentrated on one key demographic: moms,” she said.

Six out of 10 mothers intend to purchase more than 10 holiday gifts, theAsianparent’s aforementioned survey found, with budgets ranging from P7,073 to P12,015.

“I usually start shopping little by little starting in November,” said Ms. Tantoco, also a Filipina mother of three.

TheAsianparent said the top factor that influences shopping decisions are promos on e-commerce platforms (74%) and brick-and-mortar retail stores (69%).

In a Facebook message, Kathlene Orit-Lopez, a Filipina mother of one and a property sales manager of a real estate firm, told BusinessWorld that she buys online “mainly because of the special promos or discounts.”

OFFLINE FOR MILK
For daily necessities such as formula milk, on the other hand, theAsianparent found that offline prevails.

Mothers in the Philippines buy formula milk once every two weeks with an average of six packs a month — at par with Indonesia and Thailand, a separate, region-wide survey by theAsianparent found. Forty-six percent of Filipino mothers buy at a grocery; 27% at a pharmacy.

While offline shopping is relevant to all five of the Southeast Asian countries in the aforementioned survey, Shopee and Lazada emerged as the top shopping platforms for those who do choose to shop for formula milk online.

“Our community of mothers have intimated to us that they prefer cash on delivery more than credit cards or virtual wallets, not necessarily because they prefer to pay in cash, but so they can personally check the parcel before handing over their hard-earned cash,” said Frances H. Ang, theAsianparent’s general manager in the Philippines, in an e-mail.

MOM-FLUENCERS
As with the holiday shopping survey, more than 40% of mothers in every country that was asked in the consumer milk survey also follow mom influencers for baby-related products.

In the Philippines, influencers include Dette M. Zulueta, the founder of online community Millennial Moms; Ginger P. Arboleda, co-founder of tax filing platform Taxumo; celebrity mother Princess Velasco; and Gracie M. Maulion, the blogger behind Tipid (or Thrifty) Mommy, according to theAsianparent’s Ms. Ang.

“Our community of moms at theAsianparent are inspired by the everyday mom who’s not afraid to share her everyday woes and wins,” she added. “Moms who elevate moms are the most inspiring ones.” — Patricia B. Mirasol