Avid online shoppers account for 45% of e-commerce purchases

By Roderick L. Abad

WHILE online trade continues to surge post-pandemic, only a small yet highly involved and savvy group of e-shoppers will propel the looming e-commerce uptrend, bared a study.

Based on the latest white paper released by Ninja Van Philippines and Geopost, titled “What’s next for the future of e-commerce in Southeast Asia,” avid online trade buyers or the so-called “e-shopaholics” comprise 15 percent of the region’s virtual shopper population, accounting for 45 percent of the total e-commerce purchases.

The study was conducted in six member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)—Indonesia, Malaysia, the

Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam—with more than 9,000 participants.

Majority of e-shopaholics are early adopters of online shopping, making them experts at navigating the e-commerce ecosystem and highly proficient in exploring omnichannel to buy what they want, per the report.

Because online shopping is their second nature, they purchase, more often than not, across multiple product categories and double their regular counterparts.

“Well-versed in the intricacies of online shopping, e-shopaholics have much higher standards than your average e-shoppers—from the initial browsing to receiving the parcel after the clicks and taps—each stage is essential to ensuring an e-shopaholic’s loyalty,” said Ninja Van Philippines Chief Commercial Officer Sabina LopezVergara.

Among those surveyed from the Philippines, 19 percent are considered e-shopaholics who partake nearly half or 47 percent of total ecommerce sales nationwide.

Four out of five, or 86 percent of Filipino e-shopaholics buy directly from social media—of which, 54 percent directly patronize brands they already follow, as 44 percent are swayed by influencers.

Product segment-wise, the research found out that beauty and health care, fashion, and small furniture and home decor are the top categories of choice for local eshopaholics.

“Through our white paper on eshopaholics, we hope to shed light on this group of avid e-shoppers to prepare SEA e-commerce sellers as we enter the next stage of e-commerce,” Vergara said.

The report, likewise, explores the buying behavior of e-shopaholics.

For online sellers, it recommends solutions to help them engage with customers at key stages of their shopping journey.

Ninja Van Group said it mounted the study to understand the everchanging e-commerce landscape so as to offer cyber merchants with hassle-free delivery solutions that drive the growth of their business.

Lording over the e-commerce logistics field in Asean, the Group keeps on nurturing an ecosystems that provides value-added services and tools to ensure a seamless experience for both shippers and shoppers.

The company generated a revenue of €15.6 billion and delivered 2.1 billion parcels globally in 2022.