singapore hotel: Online market widens reach

E-commerce is steadily gaining ground across Asia Pacific, Central Europe and Africa—this was recently revealed by a study conducted by Visa in collaboration with TNS research firm.

According to the Visa e-Commerce Consumer Monitor Research 2012 study, 97 percent of respondents had browsed online for products and services over the last 12 months, and 71 percent successfully made an online transaction.

The online survey, which showed online payment attitudes and behavior, involved 8,000 consumers in eight locations including Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Singapore,Vietnam, Russia, Philippines and South Africa. The respondents were Internet users, who logged online at least once a week, with ages from 18 to 55 years old.

Recognized by Visa as a developing market in the digital space, only 49 percent of Filipino respondents said that they have had made online transactions for over a year while 86 percent of respondents indicated that they are likely to make more purchases this year.

“While eCommerce is still in its early stages in the Philippines, we expect to see rapid growth across all purchase categories in the next year. However, there are still barriers to overcome for the eCommerce ecosystem in the Philippines to fulfill its potential. Besides increasing consumer trust in online merchants when it comes to product delivery, online payment security concerns also have to be addressed,” said Iain Jamieson, Visa country manager for the Philippines and Guam.

“As we have seen in the survey, as important as it is to develop innovative solutions to improve security online, it is also crucial to communicate these measures

frequently and effectively to the Filipino consumer, from both the banks and the merchants,” Jamieson said.

The study also revealed that online browsing is an essential part of both the online and offline purchase cycle. Respondents resorted to online browsing to increase one’s understanding of a product, explore and select product options and decide on a store location before making the actual purchase.

From browsing to payment, products that were purchased include movie tickets (52 percent), holiday and travel tickets (50 percent) and bill payments (48 percent).

Over the past 12 months, remarkable growth of online purchases were seen on groceries (172 percent growth), movie tickets (147 percent growth) and fashion (131 percent growth). Purchases for movie tickets also grew 113 percent from the previous year.

The increase in online transactions is largely attributed to the availability of new and varied internet access devices.

In countries with higher mobile phone and tablet penetration, the trend is shifting towards device-based purchases. Most respondents surveyed (32 percent) browsed online for products or services via a mobile phone or tablet device last year.

Digital content was the most browsed item on mobile phones at 40 percent, followed by personal electronics (33 percent) and household electronics (30 percent).

“The prevalence of smartphones and tablets translates to easier online access for consumers to retailers anytime, anywhere, and we expect to see more people browsing and shopping on-the- go as a result.” Jamieson said.

“As more consumers shop on the internet, there is a greater need to make the online shopping experience more secure. Visa strives to continually deliver next-

generation solutions that allow consumers to enjoy the same convenient, reliable and secure experience they have come to expect from us – both offline and online.” Jamieson said.

Revealed by the study another primary factor that drove the increase in online shopping activity is the improved consumer perception of online security. 6 out of 10 respondents said that their frequency of online shopping increased due to significant improvements in security as compared to two years ago. This was attributed to the protection of personal and financial data by their bank, as well as online security features like Verified by Visa and regular communication from banks on added security features.

Payment cards were cited as the top method for online payments by (68 percent) of respondents, with credit cards (42 percent) being used more than debit cards (34 percent). The use of payment cards allow cardholders to enjoy simple transactions, especially when making overseas purchases online, particularly in the United States. The added security measures by banks and online payment security features, such as Verified by Visa, increased consumers’ trust in making online transactions and a heightened acceptance of the developing digital market.

In the Philippines, Jamieson said Visa will soon be introducing the new applications of the debit cards as well as pre-paid cards. to widen online shopping experience.

Jamieson also mentioned of the possibility of innovative card devices making an appearance in the country in the coming years – cards with radio frequency identification technology wherein user can simply hold or wave their cards to process a transaction, and an electronic payment service fitted in a detachable device that will allow users to accept credit card transactions through their mobile phones. tech.mst.ph

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