Despite increasing availability of online stores: Pinoys’ shopping habits remain traditional - survey

MANILA, Philippines - Most Filipinos prefer to maintain their  traditional shopping habits despite the rising availability of online stores, according to a recent survey conducted by Reader’s Digest.

“Filipinos might be among the most active netizens on social media, but when it comes to shopping it seems tradition remains a hard habit to break,” it said.

The Reader’s Digest Trusted Brand 2013 Survey showed that only 17 percent of the 1,000 Filipino respondents have significantly changed their shopping habits despite the rising number of online stores in the last two years.

The survey, carried out for the 15th consecutive year, covered a total of 7,000 respondents across Asia including the Philippines, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

Although online shopping has not had much influence on shoppers’ habits in the Philippines, the survey showed that the impact on Asian shoppers is even less with only 13 percent of the respondents having significant changes in their shopping habits.

Among the Asian countries, the Filipinos are the ones most likely to share their experiences on social media accounts such as Facebook, Twitter and other forums with eight percent to talk about their positive encounter with the brand and seven percent likely to mention their negative experience.

In comparison, only five percent of all the Asian respondents will often share their brand experiences online.

The survey notes that only four percent of the respondents will talk about their positive experiences and three percent will expose negative ones.

While Filipinos are active in online discussions, the survey revealed that only seven percent of respondents are very likely to trust comments regarding brands or products that they observe on social media platforms.

In terms of consumer product and service categories bought online, travel services was the most popular with respondents in the Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia.

Among Filipino respondents, travel services accounted for the major share or 33 percent of   total purchases online.

Consumer electronics came in second at 20 percent and vouchers and online coupons placed third at 17 percent.

Clothing and other apparels and books and media online both account for 15 percent.

The survey provides valuable insight into the decision making processes of consumers and seeks to give due recognition to outstanding market performers.

The Reader’s Digest Trusted Brand 2013 winners come from diverse industries such as food and beverage, personal products, finance, motoring related, consumer electronics, health and personal care, household products, retail, education, transport, travel and telecommunications.

The winning brands were chosen based on the following: Quality, value, understanding of customer needs, innovation, and corporate social responsibility.

Out of the 91 winners,  45 are local brands which include household names such as Jollibee, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT),Magnolia Chicken, Monterey, DMCI Homes, Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), Century Tuna, Argentina, Camella Homes, St. Lukes Medical Center, Condura, Banco De Oro and SM.