Online shopping still far-fetched in RP

Although there is a tremendous growth of consumers embracing the online shopping technology, this no-sweat shopping style however, is still far-fetched in the Philippine setting.

Philippine Retailers Association (PRA-Cebu) president Jonathan Jay Aldeguer said in an interview recently that local retailers are still hesitant to offer online shopping facilities, because consumers are not yet ready, as well as needed infrastructure.

"The back-end infrastructure to encourage online shopping facilities in the Philippines, are not yet ready, like the payment system, logistics, and others," Aldeguer said.

Significantly, Filipino shoppers still prefer to go out and go to the mall, rather than ordering things from the Internet.

On the other hand, Aldeguer said online shopping is now a growing trend for Filipinos, ordering consumer products that are not available in the Philippines.

He said the international online shopping facilities now are getting efficient, as orders to the United States, from the Philippines, or Cebu example would only take at least five days.

But for the local retailers as well as local shoppers, online shopping in local stores or brands is still not the trend yet, Aldeguer said.

Even giant retailers like SM, local brands like Penshoppe, Island Souvenirs, are not doing it right now, he said.

Aldeguer, whose family owns the Island Souvenirs said that their company attempted to offer this facility in the past, but decided not to pursue it, because of lack of market interest, and weak infrastructure support.

Besides, he said majority of Filipino consumers are using cash in shopping, unlike in the U.S. that credit cards are the commonly used mode for payment.

Ironically, there are instead micro entrepreneurs in the Philippines who are capitalizing on the advent of online shopping, through setting up virtual stores and attract the worldwide market.

IT expert and IT products and services retailer Wilson Ng also agreed with Aldeguer's view saying online shopping in the Philippines is still not on the trend "loop".

"In the Philippines, obviously still a small part of the population still owns credit cards which make paying difficult. Our infrastructure is also not yet there, so if you order through the web, delivery is difficult and expensive," Ng said.

Moreover, many Filipinos still prefer to go "malling" because it is huge and airconditioned. 

"So people go to the malls even if they have no intention of buying because it is where they enjoy spending their free time," Ng added.