Online shopping is a great thing because we get to buy things we need (or just want) any time of the day. Whether it’s 8AM or 12MN, we can just go to our favorite platform’s website or app, click a few times, and boom, the item is now ours. Our favorite part is that the item can be delivered at home, making it more convenient than going to a mall.
Sure, we know a lot of people who are into online shopping but we didn’t know the industry is that big. iPrice Group, in partnership with App Annie Intelligence and with data from SimilarWeb, conducted a research on the top e-commerce platforms in the Philippines for the first three quarters of 2019. What they found was interesting.
According to research, Lazada, Shopee and Zalora have consistently been the top 3 players of the Philippines’ e-commerce market, while homegrown sites Beauty MNL and Argomall have both proven to be consistently competitive in the top 7 in terms of market share.
Lazada
Lazada, consistently reigning the top rank, has garnered the most average monthly users (MAU) for all three quarters of 2019. It reached a total web visit of 35,619,900 in the third quarter, marking a 60.8% market share compared to 55.3% in the second quarter. It has the second most downloaded e-commerce shopping app in the second and third quarter of 2019. Some of its outstanding initiatives include the launch of LazMall, in-app live streams, and in-app consumer games.
Shopee
Its main competitor, Shopee, remains number one in the most downloaded e-commerce shopping apps in Southeast Asia. It ranks second in terms of MAUs, with 18,174,000 web visits in the third quarter and a market share of 33.9% in the second quarter. Notably, Shopee has one of the most impressive growth in terms of total visits, with an increase of 376% in the last two years. At this rate, it is deemed to have a very high potential for immense growth.
Zalora
Fashion e-commerce site, Zalora, has remained the third most competitive player in the Philippines in terms of MAUs for the first three quarters of 2019. Its high performance achieved 1,539,500 web visits in the third quarter, with 2.6% market share. It continues to be bullish as it constantly expands its partnerships with big brands like Bench, SSI Group Inc., Penshoppe, Nike, Adidas, Marks & Spencer, garnering them one of the top choices for online retail shopping. As Zalora recognizes the Filipinos’ shift to online shopping, they expect a 50% annual growth for the next five years.
With the launch of Zalora Now, a subscription service that allows consumers to receive their products the very next day, it comes as no surprise that it has the 5th most downloaded e-commerce shopping app in the 2nd quarter of 2019, and the 6th in the third quarter.
Bright Future for the PH’s Online Economy
The Philippines continues to allot space for e-commerce to thrive in. Local e-commerce sites have been emerging, and it continues to rise up the ranks in terms of market share. In the second quarter of 2019, tech shopping site Argomall took the 5th rank with 1.6% of market share, and Beauty MNL right behind with 1.3% of the market share. In the third quarter, Beauty MNL overtakes Argomall with 1.
4% of the market share, slightly trailing behind eBay.
The country’s economic environment welcomes further growth not just for the local e-commerce players, but for the international e-commerce giants as well. The Department of Trade and Industry launched the Philippines E-commerce Roadmap 2016-2020, the country’s first on e-commerce. DTI has been taking proactive steps in pursuing this. Recently, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed to establish a partnership on e-commerce policy. DTI also continues to seek assistance from e-commerce stakeholders in identifying issues and recommendations for the 2022 roadmap.
Between the determination of the Philippines’ e-commerce players and the support of the Philippine government, it is difficult not to see a bright future for the country’s online economy.
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