A growing cross-border
e-marketplace in Asia Pacific is a signal for Filipino SMEs to consider taking
their products and services abroad, according to PayPal.
The global leader in
digital payments and Ipsos recently released the 2018 PayPal Cross-Border
Consumer Research, which investigates the online shopping habits of
approximately 34,000 consumers in 31 countries
— including the Philippines. It reveals a growing cross-border
e-commerce scene, with the US and China being the biggest markets in terms of
online spend.
According to the study,
there is a healthy appetite for e-commerce in APAC, with 48 percent of
consumers shopping cross-border in the last 12 months. “This is a huge
opportunity for local entrepreneurs to expand their businesses beyond the
Philippines. China, in particular, shows significant promise as the Philippines
improves its bilateral relations with the world’s second largest economy,” said
Abhinav Kumar, Head of Strategic Partnerships for PayPal in Southeast Asia.
China, the largest market
for online purchases in the world, spent an estimated total of RMB 3.9 trillion
for online transactions in 2017. This is projected to increase to RMB 5.4
trillion in 2018. Cross-border trade (buying from a website not in their own
country) is increasing with 43 percent of Chinese consumers shopping
cross-border in the last 12 months compared to 26 percent the previous year.
APAC countries like
Australia, India and Japan are likewise growing fast. For 2018, the PayPal
study projects Japan to increase its total online spend by 26 percent, India by
53 percent, and Australia by 19 percent.
Cross-border opportunities
for Filipino merchants
The digital upheaval
brought about by social media and increased smartphone penetration translate to
increased opportunities for cross-border trade, as seen by the projected growth
in online spending. The world has become much smaller as platforms like PayPal
enable merchants to take advantage of opportunities by connecting them with
global consumers, allowing SMEs and micro enterprises more opportunities to
thrive.
According to the study, the
top few reasons for the growth in cross-border shopping can be attributed to
the novelty of accessing items that are not available in their own country (49
percent) or to discover new and interesting products (34 percent). Over 30
percent of consumers from China and Australia who shop online cite finding
items that are hard to find locally as a reason for making them more likely to
shop cross-border.
