Filipinos have totally adopted to shopping online that even if the government has eased mobility restrictions brought about by the pandemic, they continue to buy goods online.

According to the latest Seasonal Holidays Study by Meta, 67% of year-end shoppers surveyed said their purchases were made in-store, while 79% also did online purchases. Meta surveyed in December 2021 of almost 2,000 people aged over 18 in the Philippines and asked about their year-end shopping attitudes and behaviours.

Consumer shopping behaviors shift across different Mega Sale Days. In the Philippines, Mega Sale Days span across the calendar year. Among year-end shoppers surveyed, 90% bought something during Mega Sale Days in 2021. 12.12 and 11.11 are the most popular Mega Sale Days, with 24% and 44% of year-end shoppers surveyed participating respectively.

Tweets about online shopping sale influence purchase decisions
Hybrid shoppers are on the rise — IBM study

Mega Sale Days drive new product discovery and consideration. Ninety-four (94%) of year-end shoppers surveyed are likely to try a new brand particularly in the following categories: Food (55%), Apparel and Fashion (38%), and Electronics (36%). Seventy six percent (76%) of all year-end shoppers enjoyed discovering relevant items they were not actively looking for.

Social media is a strong discovery driver through personal connections and recommendations (78%), sponsored content (68%) and video content (64%). While 81% of social shoppers surveyed have watched or are open to a live shopping event online, with shoppers moving from awareness to purchase within one session. Augmented Reality (AR) technologies also have a strong influence on shoppers with 88% believing AR tools are influential in their purchase decisions.

Cross-border shoppers start shopping earlier, rely on instant business messaging and focus on brand value. APAC shoppers surveyed, 48% including Filipinos, made a cross-border purchase, with 43% of APAC cross-border shoppers starting their shopping earlier (by end November) than regular shoppers.Among APAC cross-border shoppers, 61% have messaged a business this past year-end. 

They said the convenience and instant responses from communicating with a person live were the top reasons for messaging a business. Brand values are particularly important to APAC cross-border shoppers with 41% looking at socially responsible brands, those that support local / small production and retail (40%) and have ethical/fair trade business practices (39%).