2020 Visa study shows that more Filipinos used e-commerce for the first time during the pandemic
Due to the pandemic, the move to e-commerce registered a spike in the last year. A large number of Filipinos were forced to use e-commerce for the first time out of necessity. In a 2020 study of Consumer Payment Attitudes, Visa found that as much as 52% shopped online, through apps and websites, for the first time during the pandemic and 43% made their first online purchase through social media channels. This study was conducted between August and September 2020 via online questionnaire and involved 1,014 Filipinos.
Dan Wolbert, Visa Country Manager of the Philippines and Guam, presented the results of the study.
Three new consumer behavior trends were observed. The study indicates that these behaviors, even after this pandemic is over, could remain the shopping habits of most Filipinos.
1. More Filipinos used e-commerce for the first time to make purchases. This is a fact and you yourself have seen this among friends and family. You probably even helped some seniors, or your kasambahay (househelp) get on the internet and open an e-wallet account. Everyone had to eat, shop for groceries, and pay bills and the safest way was to do it online.
2. e-Commerce users bought from large online marketplaces and home-based online businesses. 53% used large online market places (these would be Lazada, Shopee, and the websites of supermarkets, drugstores, mall establishments, etc); 61% bought from home-based businesses (this is us! My kids and I would scour Facebook Pages of home-based business offering everything from main dishes to pasta to desserts).
3. e-Commerce activity leads to increased usage in home delivery services. A whopping 93% of Filipinos use home delivery services (Very true in our home where almost everything is delivered to us).
With the increase in digital payments, there was a noticeable decrease in cash payments. Pre-pandemic, more than 7 out of 10 Filipinos paid using cash; today, only 5 out of 10 pay in cash. This was a trend found throughout other Southeast Asian countries as well.
The surveyed Filipinos gave several reasons why they chose contactless payments:
- 54% perceived cash as unsafe because of the potential spread of infection
- 50% said that with more establishments adopting digital payment modes, they opted for this mode over cash
The study also revealed that the top 3 areas where Filipinos expected to go completely cashless were 1) bill payments (81%), 2) grocery shopping (71%), and 3) overseas travel (68%). Dan Wolbert said that they believe contactless payments will continue to grow as Filipinos now perceive this payment method to be more hygienic due to the absence of physical interaction at point of sale.
Truly, this pandemic has changed our shopping habits. The e-commerce industry had to mature by leaps and bounds in just one year with establishments forced to undergo digital transformation in that same period of time. Wolbert concluded that even though progress has been made in the adoption of digital payments, there remain huge opportunities to encourage even more Filipinos to adopt digital payments across the country.