Fashion is not the priority of Filipinos as remote working becomes popular due to the threat of the novel coronavirus disease, according to an e-commerce report of an online shopping aggregator.
iPrice Group in its latest “Map of E-Commerce” report, in collaboration with data app App Annie and analytics website SimilarWeb, found out that fashion websites’ traffic in the Philipines have collectively decreased to 30% compared to last year.
It also discovered that fashion retail sites are falling out of favor regionwide, noting that clothing and apparel have taken a back seat in terms of consumer priorities.
“Each country’s fashion websites recorded by iPrice and SimilarWeb have experienced a collective decrease in web traffic,” the group noted in a release.
It also hypothesized that the country is now “catching up” with its Southern Asia peers in terms of digital adaptations, noting that e-commerce and digital services were not so accessible in the Philippines before.
“Brick-and-mortar stores still deemed to be more profitable. Given the country’s strict lockdown measures, however, the country’s economy is now forced to adapt,” the group said.
Meanwhile, the notable decrease in fashion comes as the public, especially non-essential workers, continue to report from their respective homes while COVID-19 cases rise in the country.
Earlier this month, the Philippines entered the Top 20 list of countries with the most number of COVID-19 infections despite being quarantined for more than 200 days.
Remote working has prompted the public to prioritize electronics and technology instead of fashion.
The group said that while fashion websites have decreased its online traffic, websites dedicated to electronics saw a “glaring 59%” surge in the department.
It indicated that as Filipinos continue to work from home or outside their offices, their interest in fashion and apparel have decreased since they no longer need to put effort into their appearances.
But some psychologists believe that wearing work attires while reporting from home may increase productivity.
“When the routine of getting changed into new clothes for working at home is practiced enough, psychologically, you become conditioned to associate the changing of clothes with a change of mindset, psychological pace and focus, therefore preparing you for the working day ahead,” media and business psychologist Charlotte Amitage explained.
“The idea of staying in PJs (pajamas) all day has some negative connotations associated with it and therefore if we behave that way, we can start to feel lazy and demotivated, which in turn leads to a lack of productivity and low activity levels, and consequently starts to create a negative vicious cycle,” she added.