Monday, August 26, 2013

Lazada: Change of Ecommerce in the Philippines

Internet usage had evolved over time. What used to be a source for information is now a tool used for more complex online activities such as shopping online. The trend in online nowadays is online shopping, which is currently on the rise in the Philippines. Most of us never thought the local online market would accept it if we go back two to three years ago. It's no secret that both online and offline frauds happen at high rate in the Philippines. It made online transaction unsafe to many of the local online users. Top websites in the country were local online classified ads in the buy and sell industry. Unintentionally, it helped the local online mall's arrival in the country.

A marketplace community was eventually born thanks to these local online classifieds. It made it hard for local online users to buy what they want online when local online classifieds didn’t exist yet. It became more of a reference for pricing when they want to buy something. Its purpose was stretch to new lengths and allowed Internet to be more than what it used to for customers. It was a venue for buy and sell local online audience.

Ecommerce was very far from this as third party resellers populate the local online ads. Offline transaction is done here most of the time. Group buying websites helped influence the thinking of local online users. It paved way for the Ecommerce industry in the country. When they arrived in the country, local online users already have experience in online dealing. Online shopping was still considered since the reward customer's will get beats the risk. Group buy website offered unconventional better deals to local online users. Prices were way lower that local online users struggled to refuse their offered deal. Lazada Philippines was launched a year ago in the country. It is an online store venture available in South East Asia.

The Samwer brother owns this venture along with the other ventures under Rocket Internet as well. The Philippines’ Online Shopping Mall made an impact in the local Ecommerce industry through its payment methods. These allow customers to be in control since they get to choose from a lot of payment methods. Conventionally, only via credit card or PayPal payment is allowed by conventional online malls. The conventional way of payment is usually tough for local customers since they don't have any of the mention for online payments. The Philippines’ Online Shopping Mall introduced Cash on Delivery or simply known as C.O.D. as new way to pay online.

This made the untapped market a reachable market audience in the Philippines. This market is actually the majority market in the Philippines. Since the entire market is now open in Internet, it definitely helped Ecommerce thrive in the country. Compared to the previous years in Ecommerce, the market has grown exponentially. A lot of different payment options offered online in the country contributed to it, particularly the options to pay in cash and only after orders are delivered at the customer’s doorsteps.


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