Holiday e-commerce trends
The longest Christmas season in the world – spanning four and a half months – takes place in the Philippines. As early as Sept. 1 each year, Yuletide carols are heard over the radio and in malls or other public places across the archipelago, all the way to mid-January the following year.
Embodying this holiday spirit is singer-composer Jose Mari Chan, affectionately dubbed as the “Father of Philippine Christmas Music.” Last month, he was named the “Christmas Ambassador” of Shopee, the leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia.
Martin Yu, Shopee Head of Business Intelligence, said: “Christmas is the most celebrated holiday in the Philippines, and Filipino shoppers are known to start their holiday shopping earlier. We are honored
to have Jose Mari Chan, a household name in the country, join us as our first official Christmas ambassador. His positive and cheery personality reflects Shopee’s commitment to bringing more joy to shoppers this year-end season.”
Holiday sales are set to grow 13% worldwide in 2018 based on a report from Salesforce.com, an American cloud computing company headquartered in San Francisco’s Salesforce Tower, the tallest building in Northern California and the second tallest in the Western United States.
Salesforce projects that mobile devices will drive 68% of holiday e-commerce traffic and 46% of actual orders, while it estimates artificial intelligence-based product recommendations to account for 35% of revenue.
In the US, the latter part of this month is the peak of the shopping season, specifically the days just before and right after Thanksgiving, which always falls on the fourth Thursday of November.
According to Salesforce, the so-called “Cyber Week” from Nov. 20 up to Nov. 26 will generate 40% of all e-commerce sales this holiday season, up 8% from last year. The top digital shopping day would again be “Black Friday” (Nov. 23) with 10% of the season’s revenues, while “Cyber Monday “(Nov. 26) will add 8% of sales.
Shopee’s “11.11-12.12 Big Christmas Sale” from Nov. 11 to Dec. 12 is poised to become the ASEAN version of North America’s Cyber Week, with an expanded line-up of themed days and exciting deals from local and international brands.
As a mobile-driven online retailer, Shopee is spearheading the shift to digital shopping in the seven economies where it operates, namely: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Chief Operating Officer Terence Pang disclosed that with unbeatable promotions and features launched in response to users’ feedback and demand, the Christmas sale is a showcase of Shopee’s pledge to deliver the best shopping experience for consumers in the region, where it hopes to be the e-commerce destination of choice.
GIFT IDEA FOR BUSINESS LEADERS During this season of gift giving, books are ideal presents for those who have everything – founders, CEOs, top executives, entrepreneurs, and other business leaders.
A must-read is the latest book on business ethics published by the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (FINEX) titled Ethics: Black, White, or Grey? It was launched last month at the start of the 50th FINEX Week in the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) executive lounge.
Read about the experiences, thoughts, and insights on ethics from more than 60 personalities such as BSP Governor Nestor Espenilla as well as Deputy Governors Chuchi Fonacier and Diwa Guinigundo; former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairs Fe Barin and Teresita Herbosa; former Presidential Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma; BDO President Nestor Tan; Union Bank of the Philippines Chair Justo Ortiz; Philippine Stock Exchange Chair Jose Pardo; and Miriam College President Rosario Lapuz.
There’s a special section regarding “Ethical Views on Technology” compiled by Reynaldo Lugtu, Chair of the FINEX Information and Communications Technology Committee. I contributed an article on “Ethical Implications of Emerging Technologies” to this section.
FINEX’s prime movers of the ethics book project are Sherisa Nuesa, an independent Director of various corporations; Flor Gozon Tarriela, Chair of Philippine National Bank; and Consuelo Garcia, Senior Consultant of ING Bank Asia.
For orders, please get in touch with FINEX Executive Director Michael Vinluan at mbvinluan@finex.org.ph or contact number (02)8114188.