Filipino Online Shopping: 6 Data Tips on Understanding Behavior

Recently, online shopping in the Philippines has grown tremendously, with over half of Filipino consumers (54%) purchasing online for the first time during the pandemic. Among new online shoppers, 73% planned to continue the habit even after lifting restrictions.

Seeing how regular online shopping has affected Filipinos’ buying behavior, brands must learn more about how these habits affect the success of modern businesses. Before diving into tips for using data to learn more about your customers, you should understand the benefits it brings to your business.

Why is Data Important in Understanding Online Shopping Behavior?

Data can clarify who your target audience is—their likes, dislikes, and motivations. Knowing these can help you create better-informed business strategies.

For example, suppose your brand sells linen clothing. Data on Filipino online shopping behavior provides insightful information, such as your store’s foot traffic, customer location, and how they access your site. With this data, you can personalize your offers to drive sales as you get to know your audience better.

Data Tips for Understanding Filipino Online Shopping Behavior

Given the popularity of online shopping in the Philippines, here are a few ways you can use data to understand Filipino shopping behavior more.

1. Collect and organize data 

Data collection allows you to gather information about your buyers and effectively target the right audience using appropriate methods. E-commerce platforms typically offer data collection features like feedback forms and customer surveys to measure traffic and revenue.

Utilizing these tools lets you learn more about your Filipino shoppers, their preferences, and their behavior.

2. Check the demographic profile

Not all Filipino online buyers are alike, which emphasizes the need for customer profiling. According to Statista, 53.4% of Facebook’s advertising reach was female. This data highlights the importance of tailoring your messaging to appeal to female customers if your business goal is to increase reach.

Customer age also significantly impacts purchasing behavior. For instance, SalesForce data reveals that 27% of Millennials opt for private-label products to save money, while only 13% of Gen Z do the same. Additionally, Millennials (26%) are more likely than Gen Z (22%) to shop at reasonably priced businesses.

These differences can be attributed to family responsibilities, as Millennials have families to support more than Gen Zers.

3. Analyze your channels or platforms for online shopping

When marketing your eCommerce business on various channels, it’s best to meet your customers where they already are. For Filipinos, it’s Facebook; the second-most visited website in the country behind Google.

By leveraging customer analytics services, you can closely monitor the online activities of Filipino shoppers and identify the platforms where they are most active. This valuable insight helps you decide where to invest your marketing efforts for maximum reach and engagement with your target audience.

4. Determine consumer attitudes and values

Data can reveal what your customers ultimately value. For instance, Mega Sale Days, as the year ends, tend to bring a considerable influx of customers, Meta reports. This data suggest that customers value holidays and are more open to spending more than in any other season.

5. Understand what’s trending 

Staying updated with current consumer trends allows capitalization on the increased sales it can often bring. Use your sales data to uncover trending items and potentially catch market trends early.

For instance, say you focused on TikTok as your primary platform. If you noticed a significant increase in sales of your skincare products, it could’ve been an early indicator of the #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt trend. By analyzing this sales surge, you can deduce that social media trends and influencers highly influence your customers.

6. Expand your payment options

Analyze how your customers prefer to pay for their orders. According to Statista, roughly eight in ten Filipino shoppers (86%) favor cash-on-delivery payment over online channels. You can use this information to determine whether you should expand your payment options to cater to Filipinos who may feel more secure paying in cash.

All this being said, data isn’t valuable in itself; how you incorporate it into your strategies determines its value.

How to Leverage Data Insights for Business Success

Whether you’re selling to Filipino online shoppers or customers in foreign customers, below are a few you can leverage your consumer data to propel your business forward.

1. Track the right metrics 

Not all data will be valuable for your business. The metrics you should pay attention to connect to your business’s goals. For example, suppose you run an email marketing campaign. Email open and click-through rates are the most relevant metrics to measure success.

2. Optimize the online shopping experience

When you learn more about your customers, you’ll start understanding what you can do to make their shopping experience seamless. For instance, if most of your customers access your site on their smartphones, you should focus on optimizing your mobile shopping experience.

3. Tailor marketing and advertising campaigns

Personalization paves the way for a more targeted customer approach, establishing a sense of connection to your brand. According to McKinsey & Company, businesses that could drive performance quickly generated 40% of their revenue from personalization.

To personalize your campaigns effectively, utilize targeting APIs to remind customers about abandoned carts and promote products similar to their recent purchases.

4. Find fresh ways to increase customer lifetime value (CLV)

If you want to have loyal customers, you must understand your customers well.

Achieve your goals effortlessly with 360º customer dashboards. Organize customer data using tools that facilitate data-driven initiatives like repeat purchase discounts and attractive loyalty programs.

5. Enhance your customer service

Nine in ten customers (94%) would buy from a business again if it provided excellent customer service. It underscores your customer service systems and agents’ impact on a buyer’s behavior. Use data to personalize customer contact to show them how you value each.

Drive Your Business to Success by Understanding Customer Behavior

The popularity of online shopping in the Philippines is an opportunity for you to gather valuable customer data. Learning their shopping motivations and preferences lets you launch data-driven, relevant, and enticing campaigns that propel your business forward.

Inquiro’s customer acquisition services allow you to profile, organize, and manage your customer data while finding similar audiences you can easily reach and learn more about. Contact us today to begin understanding more about your customer’s shopping behavior.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What factors affect the buying behavior of Filipinos?

Brand loyalty, value for their money, and media exposure are a few factors influencing Filipinos’ decision to buy. Celebrity endorsements and product promotions, and bundles sway most shoppers. Switching to another becomes difficult once they find a brand they’re satisfied with.

2. Are Filipinos impulsive buyers? 

It depends. In general, shopping is customary for Filipinos, and they are more likely to buy when an item is on sale with a discount. Businesses can tap into this trait to boost store traffic and sales.

3. What is the online shopping behavior in the Philippines?

Filipino online shopping behavior varies, but every detail is crucial for sellers to cater to the diverse population. For example, 86% of Filipino shoppers prefer cash payments for deliveries, necessitating businesses to expand their payment channels to accommodate different preferences.

Filipinos also tend to have high smartphone usage and brand loyalty through positive experiences.

Interested to uncover new insights about the market? Get in touch with us today and let’s see what we can discover together. Email us at info@inquiro.ph.