Multiply has been a haven for young budding entrepreneurs in the Philippines. The usual scenario is an entrepreneur posts pictures of the things he/she sells, gives her cellular phone number and the payment and delivery options. And voila, the online store is now ready. Next step would be the actual buying. Millions of subscribers in multiply browse through or just stumble upon online stores, negotiate and congratulations! He/She has bought an item from the online store. This just shows that in a minute you can have a business, in hours or even minutes you can buy something. But are we actually talking about Ecommerce here? By definition, ecommerce is the purchasing, selling, and exchanging of goods and services over computer networks (such as the Internet) through which transactions or terms of sale are performed electronically(http://www.digitsmith.com/ecommerce-definition.html). But I define Multiply as the Philippine version of Ecommerce.
As a fourth year student in Ateneo, I have Ecommerce as the major topic for our year long project. Our group actually aims to introduce ecommerce to BSO Network, an NGO with a greater vision of alleviating poverty through social entrepreneurship. As I journey through the Ecommerce jargons for months, I realized that we are way behind of an actual ecommerce. It is a business model that could actually make our lives easier and move at a faster pace. Imagine Robinsons and SM, accepting transactions online. Imagine Abenson, delivering your gadgets on your doorsteps. But what would be actually great is, Filipino entrepreneurs (MSMEs) selling and transacting real-time online and can reach the global market. We’ve got a wide opportunity out there. Multiply is actually a good start for Ecommerce! Kudos again to the Filipino ingenuity! But at the end of the day we still ask, why are we not dwelling to ecommerce? As we study ecommerce, everything is ready! There are a lot of ecommerce tools and instant builders of an ecommerce website. But what’s stopping us? Or let me rephrase the question, what’s stopping the Filipinos in selling and buying products online? Concern for Intellectual Property Rights was raised in one of our FGDs, especially for those who design jewelries and furniture wherein competitors can easily replicate their masterpieces. Selling wholesale was also a problem and the elimination of having an actual experience with the product poses setbacks for some consumers. But above all, years ago and up to until now, Filipinos were always bombarded by media of unsafe transactions using the web, security issues and the like. This fear was actually instilled to the Filipinos and makes the people lean on to the traditional and “safer” way. The challenge now for the advocates of ecommerce is to change that mindset of Filipinos. But the bottom line is, we ponder upon how this innovation can be of value to the entrepreneurs and if this can actually be of complimentary to them.
by: Kristine Claire Ongcangco
E-Commerce might be an emerging trend in the Philippine market at the present. It can provide opportunities to companies since it cut down costs that will be spend in renting stores and the like. However, as what was said in the article, there are security issues that some people are not ready to face. Some are even afraid to pay online since they do not have the actual product yet. People have this tendency that these online stores are actually not reliable in delivering their products.
ReplyDeleteAnd this is the challenge for those companies who wanted to enter E-Commerce. It is always easy making a website and placing the products online. The hard part is marketing this website well so that other online shoppers would have the idea that your site exists and you are actually doing business online. And when they already know about this, you have to convince them to buy whatever products you are selling. IT does not give your business a competitive advantage. IT that is linked with the strategies of the business does.
-Rachel Kristina Dimaculangan
Trivial Comment :: Did you know that it is infact illegal to post "ECommerce like stuff" in multiply? It is found on the terms of agreement. This means people selling through multiply are doing it illegally, aware or unaware of that fact.
ReplyDeleteThat aside, I think ECommerce is a really great opportunity for budding entrepreneurs. In fact, starting an shop that has a great business model that already considers ecommerce, I think it would work out. But proper planning of the business model is needed. Will they be selling products through the site only, or will they still sell traditionally + sell online. Ecommerce entreps should also consider competition, seeing as there are already a few sites that have established their niche in this market. Will they specialize on certain products? Will they take part of the bigger cake of already established ecommerce sites?
The major problem with ecommerce though, is making sure that your site is trustworthy enough to be transacted with. And that's critical for an ecommerce site.
Funny how fast was I able to stumble upon this blog.
ReplyDeleteImagine: me, waking up this morning and deciding to log on to my Yahoo! Messenger, reading my offline messages, clicking on the link that JC sent me that led me to this blog post, and, now, posting a comment - just 5 minutes after I woke up.
No shower. No changing clothes. No travel time. Probably a few seconds of gargling.
No hassle.
Funny how fast and easy one may be able to acquire information through web.
I bet that 50% of the world's population share the same lifestyle as I do when it comes to surfing the Internet - online at least 3 hours per day. Part of this lifestyle entails coming across millions of advertisements, hours of your time browsing over social network sites, and probably a couple minutes of it making money yourself. But no matter how sloth-ish this lifestyle may be, how pathetic it could be for others, and how unproductive it may seem for some, we still do it.
I believe that ECommerce exists because many people abuses/leverages on this grown dependency of man on the Internet. ECommerce works because we are so tied to the convenience of acquiring information at the comfort of just being in front of our computers. ECommerce would sell because I don't see any other emerging means that would appeal to such a wide range of people.
Funny how true it is that we are very dependent on technology.
i was once addicted to buying all sorts of stuff online, until i encountered one online store who said her dresses were all made from satin but to my surprise, it was far from satin. it was made from some cheap "feltpaper like" fabric. ok..bitterness aside. as much as i find online shopping fun, convenient and hassle free, i must admit that all those time that i was purchasing online, i was quite scared and paranoid, especially if i really didnt know the owner.
ReplyDeleteits quite hard to find an online store owner who you can really trust. some online stores have very nice photos of their clothes but the actual dress is of horrible material (more bitterness =P). some would even say that their items is this and that but the truth is, their items isnt any of what they say. i even know some who got robbed of their money by an online store owner.
anyway, after that horrible experience i had with one online store, i decided not to buy clothes from online stores again.
although i really find online shopping really convenient, i would now rather stick to the traditional way of shopping since it allows you to see the product in actual before you purchase it and you are sure you get your money's worth.
also i have come to realize that we should not abuse technology that much. simple things like shopping should really be done at the mall especially if we have the luxury of time to do so. too much dependency on technology surely makes us filipinos lazy.
-meg balajadia::friend of rachel dimaculangan
With the advent of technology, with the increase of internet users made possible by the declining costs of computers, it is inevitable for business to tap into an invaluable resource- the internet. Businesses have realized that this is the new and competitive means of communicating and reaching untapped markets. As such, both small and medium sized companies are quickly trying to create an online presence to be able to compete with the big guys. With the internet, it places everyone on an equal playing field as access is provided to everyone.
ReplyDeleteBut before businesses can enter into e-commerce, they must first take into consideration how this can affect their over-all operations and the organization at large. Besides their regular transactions, they must also add a completely different component into their business and this would include dealing with what types of technology to use, what modes of payment they will accept and the like. They must also be prepared to handle competitors not only from their immediate market, but also from other countries as well.
Going into this venture can indeed be risky and challenging, but with a thorough and carefully-thought-of business plans, companies can surely thrive in this promising venture.
In my opinion, it wouldn't be too difficult for Filipinos to buy online. What's the common type of transactions done online? It's retail sales. And Filipinos love buying products piece by piece (or in our language, "patingi-tingi).
ReplyDeleteFor a start-up company, I believe e-commerce is not the way to go as most are actually doing. Instead of wasting money on delivering small orders, concentrate on marketing, product development, and minimizing production costs. For a newbie company, you'll definitely have to differentiate your product line.
If a company really wants to venture into e-commerce websites, I'd recommend not building one. Why? First, websites (though cheap nowadays) becomes a recurring expense. As a start-up you'd want to minimize this type of expense. There are free hosting services which could be an alternative. Second, you'll need to hire an IT guy from time to time. Another expense added in your books. And third, e-commerce is actually an alternative means of purchasing products. People go online if they can't find the product in their neighborhood store. Without a good customer-base, people wouldn't see your e-commerce website as an alternative. As a start-up concentrate in building this customer-base and developing the products. Because of this, you'll have to invest in additional marketing (as mentioned by Rachel above). Lastly, delivery. It could be so expensive, it goes over the cost of the product being bought. I wouldn't want to pay delivery fees way greater than the price of the item I'm buying.
There are a lot of fairly popular local sites such as the Tipid websites (tipidpc.com and tipidcp.com). No hassle of maintaining a website. On top of that, customers flock to the website because they know they have a lot to choose from. This is actually a downside also since differentiating yourself from competitors in these free-for-all websites is a challenge but again, in my opinion e-commerce is not the way to go for start-up companies.
One thing that bothers me when I think about this topic is that people who use the internet are more often impatient people. There is a study that states the attention span of people on the net is really short. So why purchase online over a local store if the delivery will take days? Of course this question does not apply with products that are rare or completely not available in your area.
I bought an item in an online store once because online shopping looked fun. Haha. So I excitedly filled up the form and thought I could just easily follow directions for pick up. But when they gave me the address, I got cold feet and started worrying about what-ifs. From their Terms, I know that I couldn't back out once you send the form, so I asked them if I could just pay through G-Cash instead, although I wasn't even registered to G-Cash then (Hehe). So I registered and then texted my mom if she could drop by a Globe outlet to load my account. Apparently, the minimum amount for loading is Php1000 and the item I was buying from the online store only cost less than Php400. Not only did I totally not enjoy that shopping experience and spent more than what I should have, the item turned out to be not as good as the pictures make them look. Nothing beats going into the store, trying on items, messing up their display and not buying anything anyway. :)
ReplyDeleteInternet penetration in regions such as North America, Australia, and Europe, has made World Wide Web an important medium for e-commerce transactions. It is now possible to reach the target customer any where in the world with the help of an ecommerce website.http://www.infyecommercesolution.com/
ReplyDeleteI was introduced to online shopping by a friend. As stated from the comments above, one cannot fully guarantee the quality of the product that the seller is selling online and we cannot return the products once we have it or even when we already filled out the form. The buyers are at the mercy of these sellers hoping that the stuff we bought were really as good as they were in pictures. This is because these sellers aside from illegally posting their stuff in social networks such as multiply, they are not registered in SEC or DTI which protects the consumer's rights. And if ever we got to hold of a product that we didn't like or has damages, we do not care to sue. the worse we can do is to post a blog or something cursing the seller. But what will that do? it will let your friend know about your misfortune but at the end of the day, the seller can still sell her products. And to top it all, this person who earns from selling online is not paying tax simply because she is not registered. which is kind of unfair because almost everything here in the Philippines are subject to tax. and why can they get away with it?
ReplyDelete-Rhas Denilla (Friend of rach dimaculangan)
Can you cite several Multiply-based e-commerce sites that you find to be successful (and your basis for referring to them as successful) that formed your perspective here?
ReplyDeleteGenerally, it will take years to really embrace ecommerce in the Philippines. Unless we changed our attitudes - to be honest and reliable thru online transactions, then we can say that Pinoys are ready to do online purchases. Im not sure if Paypal is now fully available in the country. Two very good examples are Amazon and Ebay and I think they dont have a Philippine-based for their services. Im thinking of having this type of business (my own) in the future. There are now few Pinoys here in the UK that do online marketing especially for air travels and accommodations.
ReplyDeleteHow To Make money with affiliate programs Today. Affiliate marketing is the easier and probably the most effective method to make money from the internet. It is basically, a kind of selling technique where potential buyers from your website are directed to the websites of sellers. For every click, the website owner gets a small commission.
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