Cebu’s largest online store to expand beyond groceries

CEBU, Philippines — From offering basic and essential household necessities, Cebu’s largest eCommerce brand CloudKart aims to expand into a full-fledged “cloud department store.”

Born at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, CloudKart is one of the few eCommerce retail platforms in Cebu that has sustained its growth and is continuously gaining patronage among  Cebuanos, even after the full reopening of supermarkets and brick-and-mortar retail establishments.

Now majority-owned by AB Soberano Holdings, CloudKart aims to revolutionize the local eCommerce industry by introducing items “beyond grocery”.

CloudKart president Franco Soberano said that the Cebuano-developed eCommerce platform is undergoing a massive transformation, as it caters to the new breed of technology-savvy shoppers in Cebu.

Recently, the company formally unveiled the CloudKart 2.0, signaling its aggressive expansion of product lines available online.

According to Soberano, the CloudKart relaunching signifies more than just an expansion of product lines, “it’s a transformation into a comprehensive platform that caters to every imaginable consumer need.”

Today, CloudKart offers school and office suppliers, Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) approved medicines and supplements, electronics supplies, among others, to complement its wide array of grocery products.

John Lery Chik, CloudKart general manager emphasized the platform’s role in supporting the development of the eCommerce sector in Cebu.

CloudKart’s commitment to sustainable inventory management and direct supplier relationships ensure a wide variety of products are available on demand.

Soberano added that CloudKart’s relaunch four years after its inception, aims to make CloudKart into a strong household initially in Cebu.

With the introduction of CloudKart 2.0, the company is not just relaunching its website and app “it’s redefining what customers can expect from an e-commerce platform.”

As CloudKart enters this new phase, both Soberano and Chik expressed their gratitude to the loyal customers and partners who have supported them.

Soberano said more products will be added to the CloudKart inventories.

Meanwhile, data and analytics firm GlobalData expects that eCommerce sales in the Philippines are seen to continue to grow and hit P969 billion by 2026 amid increasing consumer preference for online channels.

Based on GlobalData’s 2022 Financial Services Consumer survey, close to 90 percent of Filipino consumers have reported shopping online in the past six months, while only six percent had never made online purchases.

The survey also revealed that card payments through debit, credit, and charge cards remain the most preferred payment option for e-commerce purchases in the Philippines, accounting for 51 percent of the total transactions last year.

GlobalData attributed the dominance of card payments for e-commerce purchases to value-added benefits including interest-free installment payments, reward programs, cashback, and discounts.