Lazada Philippines: State of the Ecommerce Nation

As of late, there are a lot online shopping malls coming out from nowhere in the country. It started when big Ecommerce websites were launched last year. One website that we can cite is Lazada. This online mall is also available in Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia. Rocket Internet, a German company owned by the Samwer brothers, powers it. Their ads can be seen easily and from anywhere online. They are clearly heavily invested on their online paid marketing channels. They were clearly visible online as they bombard the Internet with their odds. They are really visible online. Their brand quickly boosted online.

Ecommerce in the Philippines was really a challenge for them. The online audience was thin so they really needed to build it up when they arrived in the country. To successfully overcome this, they offered Cash on Delivery or C.O.D. It removed the online payment issues since customers don't necessarily need to pay online the conventional way online. Credit card owners in the Philippines are actually only a fraction of the entire population. It is why the Ecommerce penetration in the past wasn't successful. It was obvious that we weren't ready yet for the Ecommerce industry. It was actually very costly for everyone to have his or her own laptop or smartphones. As the affordable smartphones and netbooks came into the picture, it allowed users to stay online longer. It eventually helped the market audience expand in numbers like how the Ecommerce industry originally wanted in the beginning.

It gave website like Lazada more number of visitors to become potential customers. It definitely was a great move for the Philippines’ Online Shopping Mall for timing their launch at the same time the Ecommerce in the country were starting to grow. The arrival of Lazada definitely helped the Ecommerce grow faster than ever. It opened the doors for others to avail online shopping instead of traditional shopping, which they got accustomed to. The realization of the locals was apparent that it needed to consider trying online shopping as well. Since online malls arrived in the country, it eliminated the negative perception in online shopping. Nowadays, they can do it even in their own rooms. Now that users have their very own Internet capable device with Internet connection, they can decide when to shop anytime. Even if competitors are actively competing with them, they still came out as a key player. With the Philippines’ Online Shopping Mall, they actually allow their customers to have freedom to choose whether they will pay the conventional or unconventional way online. Conventional online payment is usually done via credit card transaction only.

Online shopping malls usually require their customers to pay them right away before they even process their orders. It is actually the exact opposite in Cash on Delivery or C.O.D. They allow customers to not pay right away and have their orders processed right away without even paying up front. They only need to leave their address and they will process it within 2-5 days. They only have their customers to pay them after they have received their orders right in front of their doorsteps.