Eventually all brands will go into e-commerce, why not? Every brand is selling something, it will give you additional revenue and it is the channel of retail where you can get tons of data, more than you can even imagine. When inflection point for the ecommerce industry happens, you need to make sure you are there and know how to run it. Same with digital marketing, social media, and others,ecommerce is not question of “if” it is just a question of when.
First identify which type of ecommerce to build
By 2025 there will be 42M Filipino’s shopping online. In terms of value, PH e-commerce is set to grow from $5B in 2015 to $9.5B in 2025.The easiest way of entering into ecommerce is through marketplace. Locally we have Lazada, Zalora and Shoppee as one of the top marketplaces in the Philippines. Of course there is also an option of building your own online store (which requires development and logistic partners)
| Marketplace | Own eCommerce website |
|---|---|
| Access to Marketplace Audience | Access to data |
| When you run marketing campaigns, you promote the Marketplace website | Promote your own website |
| All you have to do is upload your products | Look for logistic/payment partners |
| Marketplace will get comission on every sale | You have expense with your hosting, payment processor, logistic, manpower, others |
It’s not bad to have on both platforms, at the end of the day it really won’t matter which platform made the sale. But in the long run, you would want to put that extra focus on building your own website
Common misconceptions
There is BIG REVENUE to be made IMMEDIATELY. When you look at the number of Lazada it is alluring to go ecommerce, but you also have to look at the operational/marketing expense they pour in to generate those revenues. First thing you need to remember with ecommerce is SURVIVAL. We have seen several online stores go down (ensogo, cashcashpinoy, happyfresh, etc). Before even thinking about your growth strategy, focus on making your online store survive.
Building an online store is easier and requires less manpower/expense vs a brick and mortar store. Most brands would wonder why their online store is not kicking off, but in reality the efforts they pour into their online store is not even half of their offline strategy. A brand cannot sustain an online store without a dedicated person/team to monitor (believe me, been there and done that)
See also: eCommerce formula template
So where do I start?
Go and start experimenting with your ecommerce, whether it will be on marketplace or your own website. There will be many challenges you will face later on. But the good thing is you get to learn now before it’s too late. Competition is still low, it is the perfect chance to be the first in the market and grow together with your users.
See also: Things I wish I knew before starting an online store
Share us your ecommerce experiences below and let’s exchange ideas. 🙂
