Cross-border trade to accelerate expansion opportunities for Filipino SMEs

A growing cross-border e-marketplace in Asia Pacific is a signal for Filipino SMEs to consider taking their products and services abroad, according to PayPal.

The global leader in digital payments and Ipsos recently released the 2018 PayPal Cross-Border Consumer Research, which investigates the online shopping habits of approximately 34,000 consumers in 31 countries —including the Philippines. Itreveals a growing cross-border e-commerce scene, with the US and China being the biggest markets in terms of online spend.

According to the study, there is a healthy appetite for e-commerce in APAC, with 48 percent of consumers shopping cross-border in the last 12 months.“This is a huge opportunity for local entrepreneurs to expand their businesses beyond the Philippines. China, in particular, shows significant promise as the Philippines improves its bilateral relations with the world’s second largest economy,” said Abhinav Kumar, Head of Strategic Partnerships for PayPal in Southeast Asia.

The digital upheaval brought about by social media and increased smartphone penetration translate to increased opportunities for cross-border trade, as seen by the projected growth in online spending. The world has become much smaller as platforms like PayPal enable merchants to take advantage of opportunities by connecting them with global consumers, allowing SMEs and micro enterprises more opportunities to thrive.

Over 30 percent of consumers from China and Australia who shop online cite finding items that are hard to find locally as a reason for making them more likely to shop cross-border.

Globally, fashion, such as clothing, footwear and accessories, remain the top category for online shopping, with 68 percent of cross-border online shoppers having spent on these items in the past 12 months.

Survey results showed that Chinese consumers are turning their attention to spending on things for health and beauty as well as their children, with online spending on cosmetics and baby supplies predicted to increase by 21 and 31 percent, respectively, in 2018.

In order for Filipino merchants to take full advantage of the expected increase in online spend, they need to address these barriers to encourage overseas purchases. With PayPal, they can connect to international consumers via asecure, seamless, and hassle-free network.

PayPal endeavours to bring a sense of security to online shoppers with Refunded Returns. PayPal offers Buyer Protection for eligible transactions to help provide a greater peace of mind for online shoppers. This goes both ways as merchants can be protected against eligible fraudulent transactions with Seller Protection.