The Philippines has been tagged as the country which has the most difficulty with returns in online purchases among its peers in Southeast Asia.
Results of the first-ever E-commerce Southeast Asia Barometer Report 2021- Uncovering SEA online shoppers & delivery preferences conducted among over 9,000 respondents in
Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam in July 2021 highlighted Southeast Asia’s online shoppers’ buying habits as well as their desired shopping experience from purchase to delivery.
Tech-enabled logistics company partnered with DPDgroup for the study.
In line with the difficulty experience of online shoppers in the Philippines, it is no surprise the country makes less returns to purchases.
The study said 85 percent of respondents consider return experience in the Philippines difficult; that is way above the regional average of 60 percent.
One in four of shoppers in the region return their purchases, with the Philippines registering 19 percent.
Since the pandemic started two years ago, Southeast Asia has seen an increase of approximately 70 million online shoppers, and the number is expected to grow to 380 million by 2026. In the last 12 months, Ninja Van Group has delivered around 2 million parcels per day across the region covered in this report, corroborating the wider observation of immense e-commerce growth.
As shoppers acclimatized to online shopping, they also engage in cross-border retail. More than half of the respondents have bought from foreign websites, and most have expressed doing so several times. Besides purchasing from within the immediate region, many shared that they have purchased from other Asian countries such as China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and/or South Korea. This consumer behavior is a strong signal for online retailers to look beyond their shores and expand their customer base regionally or even globally.
The online shopping experience ends only when the shopper is in possession of the desired purchase. Delivery, being the final stage of online shopping, contributes significantly to the overall experience.
About 89 percent of those surveyed shared that they would like to know the delivery company that delivers their parcels. The information provides a level of reassurance and some sense of service guarantee to them. Many also expressed a strong desire for real-time parcel tracking, reflecting the need for services and tools that enable shoppers to tailor delivery experiences to suit their needs. – Irma Isip
