Lazada: Being grateful in online shopping in the Philippines

People have always wondered what it are the usual requirements in online shopping. A lot of us are pretty aware that it is only common to do it via credit card, which a lot of us in the country don’t have. A lot of us may have already bought from internationally based online malls and hate the part were we wait a week or two for the actual delivery. Not to mention the fact that we pay extra for the delivery fee. Regardless, it's great that we now have online shopping as an alternative way for shopping. People now can control their schedule and time. They live in lifestyle where they prefer to live life at night. These are the customers who don’t have free time in daytime and are at work at night. Traditional malls are usually closed already by the time they are free. They really have a hard time visiting traditional malls. These traditional malls are only visited during the time when they don't have work.

People who live this kind of lifestyle gets a hard time compared if they work on a normal shift. It actually benefits them now that online shopping is an available option. A lot of the offline business models are being translated to online. It only started to rise last year in the Philippines. I strongly believe it happened when Lazada arrived in the country. Their arrival makes them one of the first online malls to arrive here. They can be availed also in other South East Asia countries. The Ecommerce industry had a spike once Lazada arrived in South East Asia compared to the previous years. The local online market was influenced dearly by their arrival. Since the competition is lesser compared to other country, it's only natural to have it launched in the country. What makes it challenging for them is how they will lure local Internet users to their online mall.

Local online users were hard to convert to online customers since online payment is no easy task for them. It's quite hard to shared confidential personal details such as credit card details since it leave us prone from getting stolen by hackers. Actually, only a small ration in the population has their own credit cards in the Philippines. This is why Ecommerce never took off early since customers have limited payment options. This doesn't mean that the local consumers are unaware of local online payments. A customer in general judges an Ecommerce website right before it is given a chance to introduce themselves to their market. In essence, we just don't trust dealing with online malls especially for our first time attempt. We judge them immediately as a scam websites. These combinations can easily tell to investors that it will be hard to penetrate the local market. This is an issue in the local Ecommerce market was fixed by them. Their C.O.D. or Cash on Delivery alternative payment method as introduced to the local online users. Customers can get to keep their money up until they received their orders at their very homes.

Lazada Philippines: Time is no longer an issue in shopping

Most of the local online users struggle when it comes to shopping. A lot of us don’t have the luxury of time unlike most people. Before, it is almost impossible for busy professionals or who have an unusual time shift at work. But nowadays, things have changed drastically. A lot of the usual activities that we used to do offline are now available online as well like online shopping. On top of the very conventional offline shopping, it's great that we have online shopping as an alternative. Shoppers can be in control on when to buy, wherever they may be. Their schedules are just very unusual compared to most people. Normally, these are the people who work at night. They are only free when malls are closed. It's really hard for them to visit traditional malls as they please. They only visit traditional malls during their day off at work. Its way complicated for them compared to people who work on a normal time shift. It's now easier for them now that online shopping is available for addressing their shopping needs.

Most offline businesses are now launching it on the online platform as well. This shopping craze only started last year in our country. This all happened when Lazada came into the picture. They are one of the first online shopping mall in the Philippines. They can also be seen in other South East Asia countries. The industry of Ecommerce has risen after they arrived in the country. It's easy to say that they influenced the Ecommerce industry for its rapid growth. It actually made sense to launch it in the Philippines since the competition is non-competitive. They are actually facing a problem on how they will convince the local online users to try their store. One reason it was hard for them is that local online users are not optimistic about online payment. It is just difficult for online users since they expose their credit card and personal information online. As a matter fact, only of few of the local online users have their own credit cards.

Payment setup is one of the factors why Ecommerce never grew fast compared to other countries it reached success earlier. It doesn't mean local online users are not familiar with online payment. We tend to consider the risk only when dealing with online stores. It's just simple and easy, we don't want to give online malls a chance especially if it is still new to our ears. First thing that comes to our mind is that it is only a scam for us. These two alone will be enough to convince any investor that it will be pretty challenging for them to put up their online business in the local online market. These Ecommerce woes were solved by Lazad when they arrived in the country. They introduced Cash on Delivery or C.O.D., which enables customers to pay in cash instead. This allows local online users to pay only after they receive their orders and not upfront, which is the usual setup with online malls.

Lazada Philippines: How to make an online retail business work in the country?

It is almost natural for anyone to seek the best service they can get from whatever kind of store they go to. No matter how we put it, it is always about the customers. Having a good relationship with customers doesn't hurt. Instead, it may help a business thrive. Another thing to consider from a business standpoint is to keep their past customers happy. Acquiring new customers, while keeping the current customers is very crucial in building a brand of a business. It doesn't hurt that you can use this as leverage to create some noise within a community to help build your brand. When it comes to online, it is not just based on giving good customers service. It also involves other aspects when it comes to online customers.

Believe it or not, it also in involves the actually online mall website. It is actually expected since website nowadays is considered the company's office extension online. With this, it is important that companies strive to make sure their website is at excellent condition and provides great user interface. Having a website that can process request of users faster also helps. As long as website takes time to load, it won't matter if a website is intuitive to its users. A good example of a balance website is Lazada Philippines. Even if they are loaded with images on their website they can still be loaded faster than other websites out there. It doesn't end there as they also have friendly user interface. It's just plain and made simple for their online users to understand. The website's navigation can easily be located on first glance.

Unlike other websites, their design and navigation is not cluttered. Their product page presentation is superb and made easy. We can simply click on the “Quick View” button and it will instantly flash and exit their product details without leaving the page you where viewing prior to clicking the “View Button”. Even their shopping cart is very helpful and useful. From the shopping cart, you can easily add and remove items. Anybody can select any item they want to add on the shopping cart and just decide which ones to drop or add upon checkout. Categories of their website are well segmented. There is no need for them to get stuck on the wrong category of the website only to find out later on that the item they are looking for is no longer available.

These definitely save a lot of the local online user's time. It is actually amazing that from the shopping cart, a customer is just two - three clicks away from finishing his/her order. My jury is that they have a decent performance for an online mall. Just having an average Internet connection won't be an issue in accessing this website. Website performance with decent customer service is the way to go for online shopping. This is how to make an online business work in the Philippines

Lazada Philippines: Considering online shopping as an online user

Online users usually stay online to communicate via social media websites. The initial intent of using Internet is to get content or information and to communicate to people. These two components were essential on helping Internet expand widely to its users. For an average Internet user, some local online users just re-visit the same website most of the time. Local online users should always have a purpose in visiting a specific website. Website owners should question if they gave their online visitors great user experience. Hundreds and thousands of new websites are being launched worldwide every day. A website with great user interface helps them get more returning visitors down the road. Extended or extra revenue can also be achieved for Ecommerce websites.

There are websites that offer great deals but don't necessarily provide better user interface. Customers may sometimes disregard great deals with lousy user interface over just decent deals with great user interface. The credibility of online malls usually lies on this matter as well. Bad impressions can easily be earned if an online mall offers bad user experience to their customers. Frauds and scams labeling may even occur from disappointed local online customers. Nowadays, the Ecommerce industry is thriving in the country. To be honest, I believe this started only last year. What's surprising is that the local online users didn't even consider online shopping a year before that.

The local online community usually prefers to visit local online classified ads to check for second hand units or items. Honestly, the rate of online scam probability is a bit high in online shopping. When website like Lazada arrived in the country, everything changed in the local online shopping. By offering Cash on Delivery or simple called C.O.D., it allows local online users to try online shopping without risking too much. No need for online customers to pay right away since they can pay later after their orders are delivered at their very home. They are actually risking a lot by giving their customer all of the advantage between the deals. For those that selected Cash on Delivery as their payment method, they can pay only after their orders are handed over in real time.

We are no longer held to shop online just because we don't have a credit card. But what I appreciate about the Lazada websites is their layout design as well. Regardless if they are first time visitors, I'm sure they will find it easy to understand on how to shop on their website. First time local online visitors that see their website will easily understand how it should be navigated. Since the category menu is available on all of their website pages, it will be harder for someone to get lost. The category selections are grouped properly that it will be easier for local online users to browse for the items they want. Local online customers can directly go to the category of their choosing depending on their preferred interests.

Lazada Philippines: Evolution of shopping

We all grew up visiting traditional malls whenever we want to shop. Partly it is because it was the culture and lifestyle that our parents grew up in. Therefore, it is inevitable for us to actually inherit it from our parents. Traditional shopping has been around for a while and it helps that online shopping is now an option as well. No longer will it be frustrating for shoppers who have a busy schedule or have no free time during daytime. Their lifestyle is just not fit for shopping during regular hours. These are the consumers who don't have time in the morning since they work at night.

 They are only free when mall hours are actually closed. It makes it harder for them to visit traditional malls. They can visit traditional malls during the day off at work. It's way harder for them if compared to people who work on a normal shift. Now that they have online shopping as an option, they can shop whenever they want. Offline businesses are now stretching their reach in online. As a matter of fact, it only happened last year in the country. It happened when Lazada Online mall arrived in the country. The Philippines' Online Shopping Mall is one of the very first online malls in the country. They are made available in other South East Asia countries.

Ecommerce quickly have risen once they arrived into the local online scene. It was hard not to notice their influence in local online market. Actually, it's only logical to establish an online mall in the Philippines since there is not much of a competition. It's actually more on how they will convert the online users to become their visitors. Online payment was just not regarded dearly by local online users that are why it was harder for online malls to turn visitors to customers. This is actually hard for online users as their credit card details might get exposed. Sadly, only few of the entire population in the Philippines own a credit card. Ecommerce in general really had hard time growing in the country because of these limitations. This doesn't mean that we are not aware of online payment. It's quite hard for customers to not focus on risk before looking on the reward that lies ahead. It's only because we don't give online malls a chance. We jump to conclusion that they are only there to scam people. These two alone are enough reasons to tell that Ecommerce is really challenging here. It's great that these Ecommerce issues have been solved by the Philippines’ Online Shopping Mall.

Cash on Delivery or C.O.D. was introduced to Lazada' local online customers as their alternative payment method. Customers can pay only after their orders have arrived and are handed over to them with this payment method. This kind of setup is actually unconventional for an online mall since they are risking too much on a business side. It is why not too many online malls can offer it.