The government, through the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), is moving to promote online commerce in the country by spearheading the first ?Pinoy Cyber Sale? slated this November 27-30.
The DTI, together with over 20 of the major e-commerce players in the Philippines, have linked arms to launch the first multi-vendor online shopping extravaganza over the long weekend. The Pinoy Cyber Sale will feature merchants in retail, travel, and services. The sale coincides with Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the biggest online retail shopping days in the United States.
This is the first time that rival e-commerce companies such as Lazada and Zalora have banded together to hold a government-sanctioned online sale. Last year, Lazada held its own online sale on Nov. 11 (dubbed ?11-11?) while Zalora staged its own cyber bargain on Dec. 12 (dubbed ?12-12?).
With almost 50 million Filipinos online, the projected sales from the e-commerce industry for the year is at over $1 billion, making it a sizeable contributor to the country?s economic growth.
At a forum held on Monday, Nov. 23, DTI e-commerce division director Lourdes Yaptinchay said the government has drawn up a five-year e-commerce roadmap that seeks to increase the online shopping penetration in the country to 30 percent by 2020.
This target, however, is way over the modest goal set by online commerce firm Lazada, who said that it is only expecting the industry to grow to 4 percent, considering that the current percentage of e-commerce penetration is about 0.04 percent.
Inanc Balci, CEO of Lazada Philippines, emphasized the incessant need to address challenges involving logistics, payments, and market conditions.
?We need all hands together to increase the e-commerce penetration in the Philippines and this includes the government, private sector and consumers,? Balci said.
Zalora Philippines marketing director Tolian Gjika also discussed how the tremendous growth of digital, specifically through mobile devices, is creating new opportunities for everyone: from customers, to e-commerce companies, to traditional brands.
He shared how Zalora, Asia’s Online Fashion Destination, is helping to promote online shopping by creating a compelling end-to-end customer experience.
The stakeholders are keen to make the Pinoy Cyber Sale an annual online shopping event in the country.
In a statement, DTI undersecretary Prudencio Reyes said: ?I am confident that this initiative of drawing together all major facets of the e-commerce industry would be a good venue for the consumer to enhance their awareness and boost their confidence in online shopping as it presents legitimate e-commerce players in a consortium website where members are bound to provide a ?one-stop solution? offering more creative marketing methods; ethical advertising; sets out consumers? needs; and promotes consumer protection above all.?
Participating merchants and their offers can be viewed on www.pinoycybersale.com. Merchants include Lazada, Zalora, Foodpanda, Ensogo, Shopee, Goods, Xend Business Solutions, Shopinas, Weemall, AVA.ph, Reloved, Island Rose, Azalea Residences, Best Western Antel, Ellana Minerals, Mimaropa Ventures, One Network E-Commerce, Shopback, and Takatack.
