In a curious case of coincidence, the top local e-shopping malls ? Lazada.com.ph and Zalora.com.ph — are gearing up for what is shaping up to be as the country?s Black Friday online equivalent.
Lazada has dubbed its sales extravaganza as ?12-12? as it will happen on Dec. 12. Zalora, meanwhile, is calling it ?12.12 Online Fever.? Both Internet firms, however, say they did not talk to each other to agree on the date and merely picked the date as an ideal time for Christmas shopping.
See story on: Dominant Lazada preparing for ?Black Friday? equivalent in PH
In the case of Zalora, the company is partnering with major e-commerce players and other brands across the Philippines for 12.12 Online Fever.
With over 100 partners across Southeast Asia and Hong Kong, 12.12 Online Fever is positioned as Southeast Asia?s answer to North America?s Cyber Monday and North Asia?s Singles Day.
Presented by Smart Communications, the online sale aims to energize the Philippine market to embrace e-commerce and the suite of services and products available during the event.
Zalora is owned by German e-commerce giant Rocket Internet, where Smart?s parent firm, PLDT, has a substantial stake.
Aside from Zalora, other top online retailers participating in the event include e-marketplace Takatack, gadget retailer Widget City, online food delivery FoodPanda, online service Travelbook, and low cost airline Jetstar.
Digital service firm like taxi booking app Easy Taxi and loyalty rewards program ZAP also will be offering exclusive incentives for using their services on the special day.
To enable a comprehensive view of all the shopping deals and discounts available on Dec. 12, participating partners will host joint landing-pages on their respective websites.
Asia-Pacific is set to become the next top e-commerce market slowly overtaking both America and Europe combined, and the Philippines is poised to be one of the most promising markets across South-East Asia.
With varied economies across a diverse region, payment infrastructures and misconceptions about online shopping continue to be a challenge.
However, a recent UBS study shows that more consumers all over the region are starting to flock to e-commerce sites in significant numbers ? showing that consumers are visiting online retailers 41 times2 for every single visit to traditional retailers.
While online shopping in Southeast Asia only accounts for 0.2 percent of all retail sales today, a rise to 5 percent in sales would give online shopping a value of around $21.8 billion.
