Most shoppers in the Philippines are opting to check out of their online shopping carts using their phones — signaling a rapid shift to mobile devices among e-commerce consumers — according to e-commerce firm iPrice Group.
In a report called “The State of Online Shoppers in Southeast Asia 2021/22,” the e-commerce company found that mobile purchases in the Philippines grew to two times higher than those using desktops. The group also noted an aggressive mobile adoption in the rest of Southeast Asia except for Vietnam.
“Times have changed – and so have consumer preferences. Today, online shopping in the Philippines and most of Southeast Asian markets has shifted to smaller devices,” iPrice Group said in a statement.
This is a stark difference from the e-commerce group’s findings five years ago, which previously found consumers more likely to check out their online shopping carts using their desktop computers.
While shopping on mobile phones is likely to stay, the group said that desktops still play a “key role” in e-commerce, especially in the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore where device penetration is high.
Among these markets, iPrice Group pointed out “hybrid browsing and buying patterns” where online shoppers would look for products using their phones during their daily commute, research more thoroughly on the products using their desktops at work and make the purchase via their tablets at home in the evening.
Three macro trends are driving online shoppers’ shift to mobile phones, according to iPrice Group.
“The rapid roll-out of mobile broadband, and a wider and more affordable range of internet-enabled mobile devices, have made it easier for consumers to browse and buy online,” the group said.
Filipino shoppers are also encouraged to make purchases online when e-commerce providers have mobile applications or offer exclusive discounts for first-time purchases on their handheld devices.
The study collected data from 125 million unique users on iPrice Group websites in the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore from Jan. 1, 2021 to April 30, 2022.