Post-pandemic social media have opened a lot of opportunities. Internet users and digital citizens have become more accustomed to social media to communicate, find news, entertainment, and even utilize social media as a way to buy and sell things online that resulted in the booming of social media commerce. Social media commerce has greatly influenced in boosting eCommerce in the Philippines. Businesses and brands were able to utilize social media as a way to expand their target audience, marketing strategies, and sales. In this article, we will discuss the opportunities and advantages of your business going online and how social media commerce was a key factor to eCommerce in the Philippines.
What is social media commerce
During the COVID-19 pandemic, shoppers weren’t able to shop physically due to the strict restrictions of the lockdowns. On another note, groceries and pharmacies were open since they are considered as essentials in stocking up necessities in a household but there wasn’t anything much to buy besides necessities.
But with social media commerce, there were a lot of ways to purchase products besides food, face masks, vitamins, medicines, and disinfectant alcohol. It has opened opportunities to purchase items and products from shoes, bags, to automotive, or anything available that could satisfy your shopping needs.
Social media commerce works just as how any commerce transaction would occur. A seller in the platform can upload products and services while a buyer can browse products or services in the social media platform (ex: Facebook Marketplace, TikTok Shop.)
Social media commerce in the Philippines have emerged as great opportunities for individuals, corporations, and businesses. Social media commerce was able to open opportunities for businesses to explore potential untapped markets to advertise their brands, products, and services.
Social media usage in the Philippines
Social media in the Philippines have become more and more popular over the past decade as the internet becomes more and more accessible to Filipino citizens. As kids as young as your 6-year old child surfing the internet, watching YouTube while eating at the family dinner or even your 85-year old grandma using social media to communicate with loved ones, it is evident more and more Filipinos have embraced social media as a part of their day-to-day lives.
According to statistics conducted by Meltwater, 85.2 million Filipinos are internet users as of January 2023, which is a 13.4% increase compared to January 2022. With a total population of 111.6 million in the Philippines, about 76% of the population are internet users.
The data 85.2 million Filipino internet users described above use different social media in various ways. 79.8% use social media for finding information, news, etc. 79.4% use social media as a way to keep in-touch with loved ones and family. 74.4% use social media to search for things to do. 70.8% use social media in finding new inspiration and 70.5% use social media to watch videos, tv shows, or movies.
The data has a lot more to say about the social media usage in the Philippines. But one thing is for certain, you came here how social media commerce boosted eCommerce and how it can help your business achieve more sales through untapped markets. But there are a few things that stand out the most out of this data, which is the usage of social media for commerce.
According to statistics conducted by Meltwater, 63.7% of Filipino social media users use social media as a way to research products and brands. Another 45% use social media as business-related research.
As technology, internet, and especially social media continues to adapt and evolve to everyday, netizens have explored different ways as a helpful use for social media besides entertainment and communication with loved ones.
Top 3 social media commerce platform in the Philippines
With the nature of social media being etched into the everyday lives of Filipinos, they spend most of their time on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or any other social media platforms available. In this section of the article, we will discuss the Top 3 social media platforms used in the Philippines and why Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok are the most optimized social media platforms to utilize for commerce.
- Facebook / Facebook Marketplace
Facebook is the most popular social media platform around the world. There are 2.598 billion users around the world and 80.3 million active users in the Philippines. One thing particularly makes Facebook a place for commerce is through its integrated marketplace platform, which is called Facebook Marketplace. Facebook Marketplace is a platform where individuals or even businesses can post their products or services where social media users can browse which has a special algorithm for buyers to find the right products and services from sellers.
Another way for your business to market their products in Facebook is using Facebook Ads through Meta Business Suite. Businesses can create a business profile where they can set up their profile and use platforms such as Facebook Ads Manager, post weekly content, or even manage data such as demographics, data analytics, and reports.
Another way to set up your business is through Commerce manager, where you can integrate your eCommerce platform when running Facebook ads in the meta business suite.
Instagram has 1.28 billion users around the world while 19 million users in the Philippines. Instagram is at the number two spot because it is owned by Facebook, but not for a simple reason. The reason why Instagram is great for social media commerce is because of the integration with Facebook and its platform. Technically, every post, ads, or anything you share on Facebook through your business profile, can be easily integrated with Instagram which allows you to gather more market, demographics, and buyers available on Instagram. When you set up your Facebook Ads, you can also set up to let your Facebook Ads show in Instagram.
- TikTok Shop
TikTok has an estimated 1 billion users in around 150 countries, while there are 42.7 million users in the Philippines that browse and watch 15-30 second videos every day. With huge numbers of daily active users on TikTok, it was an opportunity for commerce. Hence, the TikTok shop, a marketplace in TikTok was launched in August 2021. TikTok shop is where daily users can browse a variety of products that they can buy easily.
- YouTube
YouTube is a video streaming platform with over 57 million users in the Philippines. I assume you’ve encountered unskippable multiple 5-second YouTube ads you see when you’re trying to watch a video? Well, those ads are a way for businesses to market their products. If directed to the right target audience, chances are, users can be enticed to purchase your products or services. Users can also buy and sell products on the platform. One way is through YouTube’s merchandise feature, which enables creators to sell their branded merchandise directly on their YouTube channels. Additionally, businesses can create and promote product videos that showcase their products and include links to their website or e-commerce platform where viewers can make a purchase.
Twitter will have 11.80 million users in the Philippines in early 2023. Twitter users in the Philippines can also buy and sell products on Twitter through various means. One way is through Twitter’s Buy Button, which enables businesses to sell products directly on the platform. Users can also purchase products by clicking on links shared in tweets, which take them to the business’s website or e-commerce platform.
What’s in it for your business?
Social media commerce is great for businesses that are just starting out their brands. With the help of social media and millions of active users daily, you have a great foundation for building your business and brand that potentially appeals to customers. For starters, you can even curate content that can appeal to your target audience. Some social media users are more interacted and feel more connected with brands that post funny and witty social posts. Or some brands post something advocating for political correctness. It really is up to your business ecosystem on what types of products you sell, who is more likely to buy your products, and many factors to consider.
Social media commerce has a lot of advantages, especially for small businesses. But the only downside of social media commerce is it has its limitations. Certain limitations, such as brand registry tools, data analytics, no automated digital invoice, and much more that you can do compared to an eCommerce marketplace platform
Once you reach a certain peak where your business grows as you could ever imagine, there will be an expansion in your operations, more data analytics, more stocks adding up to your product inventory, more customers buying your products, and more sales.
So, What’s Next?
You’ve hit the big sales, orders stocking up for deliveries in your home garage or at your warehouse, yet there’s something missing. A platform that can help you achieve more. The thing is, social media commerce is made for buyers, not businesses. And with a platform not capable of handling online business tools such as brand registry and issuance of the digital invoice, it can limit your business from reaching its maximum potential.
This is where you utilize social media commerce as a stepping stone into moving into a much more streamlined business operation. One step into digital transformation is moving into an eCommerce marketplace platform.
A B2B eCommerce platform in the Philippines, Shoppable Business, can help your business grow with its carefully designed marketplace platform with everything a business needs to grow. Through its brand registry tools where you can simplify uploading your products and services, an integrated fulfillment service allowing your business to make deliveries in 1-2 days, and automated real-time analytics data that reports your sales, demographics, and incoming orders in a streamlined seller interface dashboard.
What makes Shoppable Business stand out in the eCommerce industry is that it allows buyers to buy in bulk with quantity discounts, allowing them to sell business-to-business transactions. Buyers can buy 100% authentic products guaranteed from thousands of vetted suppliers, brands, and products.
Why Become a Seller in Shoppable Business
- Access to a large customer base – giving businesses an opportunity to expand their reach and increase sales
- Increased visibility and brand awareness – a platform for businesses to showcase their products/services and potentially attract new customers
- BNPL (Buy now, Pay later) – grow your ASP; buyers/companies can apply for loans up to ₱150,000.00
Why Become a Buyer in Shoppable Business
- Wide product selection from different categories – a one-stop-shop solution for businesses’ procurement needs
- Save company time and money – Customized orders, RFQ for specific quantities, bundles, configuration, Track their orders, view purchase history
- Need it now but limited budget – BNPL apply and get up to ₱150,000.00
How Shoppable Business is Different from Other Marketplaces
✓ 100% Authentic branded products only; no fakes or non-branded products allowed
✓ All sellers must be legally registered businesses in the Philippines
✓ Financing available for both buyer and sellers
✓ Refer your existing customers to our platform and enjoy 0% marketplace fees on all of their orders!
✓ Sales Invoices are Provided for Every Sale
✓ 2307 forms for businesses that require it
✓ Same Day Shipping for select products
✓ Installation Services and scheduling within the platform for select products
✓ Product Cataloging – all products listed on our platform go through a Quality Assurance process to ensure product details are accurate such as technical specs, descriptions, images, and categories
✓ BuyBox Technology – Sellers with the best performance win the BuyBox, and customers can also buy from other sellers on the same listing, eliminating the problem of duplicate listings in the search results
✓ Sellers can provide tiered discounts to customers
✓ Recurring subscriptions for customers who need deliveries occasionally
✓ Procurement tools such as single purchase orders, buying policies per department, split order fulfillment, reporting, and multiple payment options
✓ All items sold must be located in the Philippines; no cross-border selling allowed
Takeaway
Social media commerce has paved the way for buyers and sellers to buy products and services online during the lockdown quarantine period. And it also paved the way for eCommerce to grow over the past few years. With eCommerce getting more and more utilized as a way for buyers, sellers, and businesses to buy and sell products conveniently, it has given businesses great opportunities to expand their market.
Join Shoppable Business as a buyer or a seller, and we’ll get our team started to onboard you in the Next-Gen B2B eCommerce platform in the Philippines for FREE!
