Small and medium- size enterprises in the Philippines are adopting electronic commerce faster than their counterparts in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a study commissioned by Federal Express.
The study entitled ‘Global is the New Local: The Changing International Trade Patterns of Small Businesses in Asia Pacific and conducted by Harris Interactive shows that 96 percent of SMEs in the Philippines use e-commerce. About 52 percent of their total revenues are now through e-commerce, it says.
With eight out of 10 in the Philippines saying they use both mobile payments and software automation in managing their supply chains and distribution channels, it outpaces the 77 percent average for software automation and 73 percent for mobile payments in the Asia Pacific region.
“We see the global footprint of Philippine SME’s is moving further afield as they start to think bigger in this thriving digital economy,” said FedEx Express Philippines managing director John Peterson.
With exports accounting for 89 percent of total annual revenues of Philippine SMEs and a combined value of $1.4 billion, it is significantly higher than the average 71 percent of the rest of the APAC region.
Customs procedures and logistics issues remain as challenges when exporting and importing in the country. The local SMEs are also in need of faster internet to help them expand their e-commerce reach.
“The SME from the Philippines are now competing so you want to make sure that the platforms that they have are competitive,” said Peterson.
The study covered markets such as China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, with 500 respondents per market.
