Local retailers prepare for online trading trend

CEBU, Philippines - Retail players in Cebu gear up towards embracing the emerging trend in online shopping, as well as capitalizing on social media to attract more consumers.

The 6th Cebu Regional Retail Conference & Expo that starts today and will run until the 24th, aims at providing retailers the updated trend in the retail trade, how to cope with the changing landscape and consumer preferences whether in physical and online shopping.

The most important aspect that retail players are going to watch is in maximizing the growing number of consumers going into the Internet for shopping, instead of physical shopping, as well as taking advantage of the social media to boost sales.

Although, the online shopping is yet to take off in the Philippines, Cebu-based retailers have already set up their own facilities to prepare for this emerging trend.

The reason why organizers of the conference and exhibition Chester Lim said experts in the eCommerce and social media were invited to teach retailers the “rule of thumb” in this new dimension of retail trade.

The mother of eCommerce Law in the Philippines Janet Toral and head of the Digital Filipino, as well as other experts in the online shopping and Internet-based trading, will talk about retail and social media.

Lim, whose family owns Belmont Hardware, said that his company has already set up online shopping facility, although the volume sales is not as encouraging, but the growth is in the upswing trend every month.

Belmont Hardware set up its online shopping facility last year, he said the sales pattern is going high, especially if the facility will be complemented by active participation and marketing exposure in the social portals like Facebook, twitter, among others.

“We’d like to speed-up our preparedness in the online shopping trend, although we see few hurdles in this new shopping dimension,” he said identifying that local logistic companies in the Philippines are not yet ready to accommodate retailers in this kind of service.

Lim said supply chain still has to be equipped with “know-how” in serving huge retailers engaged in the online shopping.

“Local couriers are not yet prepared, they don’t have enough facilities to address the need of retailers for logistical concerns,” Lim said.

Likewise, Jonathan Ho of Mandaue Foam, he said that the furniture and home furnishing retail chain is going to set up its own online shopping facility this year.

Mobile phone retailer Junrex Holdings Inc., president Jun Yap said that although the mobile phone trading is highly “touch and feel”, the chain is maximizing fully the social media to drum up interest from the market further.

Yap, who is the president of PRA-Cebu said that although online shopping is now an emerging trend, some retail players whose products are highly into “touch and feel” like mobile phones, still thrive in the physical shopping dimension.

In an earlier interview with PRA-Cebu chairman Jay Aldeguer, he said that 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.

"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 order things from the Internet.

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

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

The Regional Retail Conference & Expo will kick off today at the Radisson Blu Hotel for the conference, while the exhibition will be held at the SM City Cebu.  (FREEMAN)