MARK ZUCKERBERG-LED Facebook (FB) urged local businesses to start planning now on how they could leverage on the power of mobile—the new “shopping cart” for the current breed of Filipino consumers—in preparation for the so-called Ber months, when “screen shopping” usually picks up in time for the holiday season.
“Christmas is culturally important for the Filipino people. What’s interesting is that shopping and consumer spending increase during this time of the year,” Facebook Managing Director for Southeast Asia Kenneth Bishop told reporters during a media briefing for new insights on mobile-first shoppers held recently at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.
Given this trend, he said, businesses are paying attention and focus sharply on winning over the online buyers during this period.
Based on the “Facebook 2016 Holiday Study” conducted by Ipsos Marketing and commissioned by FB that was released in January, the Philippines saw the highest growth of 83 percent on average in mobile-first shoppers. This is more than double the 30 percent average figure across the globe.
Proof that the holiday season is celebrated the longest in the country, Filipinos start their shopping binge as early as September, with half of them continuing on past Christmas and New Year to benefit from January sales.
“So the holiday consumption period starts in September, it peaks in late November, and also it’s very high in December. So you can see that consumption and shopping online significantly increase throughout Q4 [fourth quarter],” the executive said.
The research, likewise, showed that mobile now plays a pivotal role in the Filipino consumer’s shopping journey, as three of five shoppers utilize their phones to discover what to buy for their family members, friends and loved ones, and even for themselves.
In fact, two of three Filipinos use FB, where they could get inspiration on next purchases, and 63 percent use FB to research for gift ideas. About 91 percent admitted FB has influenced their holiday shopping. One in two buyers, on the other hand, said they turn to Instagram when purchasing during the period.
Bishop said many people in their platform are buying products after engaging them with the business. To wit, three of five Filipinos buy online after they discover a product or brand posted on FB.
Of the conversions from this social-networking site, 70 percent use their mobile gadget. What’s more, FB users made 17 percent more online conversions on FB than the average in September 2016, and 18 percent more in January versus 2016 pre-holiday average.
Beyond online, mobile is also complementing Filipinos’ on-ground shopping experience. Per the study, 50 percent of Filipino purchasers, or 1.27 times more than the global shopper average, tap their smartphones when shopping in-store to take advantage of the best deals during the holiday period.
Around 53 percent of those surveyed agreed that smartphones enabled them to make more-informed buying decisions. Respondents who use their smartphones in-store said they do it to compare prices (70 percent), compare products (61 percent), read product reviews (60 percent) and take photos (53 percent).
But for the majority, it’s all about convenience, as 42 percent of those who use mobile prefer it over going to the brick-and-mortar store on the busiest time of the year. Three of five order online, then pick up their purchases in-store.
“So with mobile, it means that they can avoid a lot of line, and this is more convenient, and it’s easier to sort of order online than in the store,” the managing director said.
‘Screen shopping’ with mobile device
MORE and more people are spending a lot of time online across various mobile gadgets, thus, making “screen shopping” as the new “window shopping”, according to Bishop.
Based on the “PACE Study 2015: Philippines” that was done by Starcom in October last year, Filipinos spend more time (2.9 hours) on their smartphones than any other types of media, including television or TV (1.40 hours), radio (1.15 hours) and newspapers (0.47 hours).
When they’re connected on their mobile phones, they consume close to 96 minutes viewing videos, or 1.46 times compared to global average.
“This is super common in Southeast Asia, where we see the video time spend, [or] video consumption, is higher than the rest of the world,” he said, adding that the locals are glued more on the screen of their mobile devices even while watching TV.
Per the Millward Brown AdReaction research in October 2015, nearly 70 percent of Filipinos on FB multiscreen while watching TV. On the other hand, a study of 1,304 Filipino social-media users aged 18 plus on FB conducted by TNS in January last year bared that one in three minutes spent watching TV is done via the social network.
Meanwhile, the “Analytic Partners, 2016; Analysis based on over 3,200 campaigns from 2010-2016” research of the Advertising Research Foundation revealed that pairing digital with TV campaigns drives stronger return on investment (ROI). In fact, 60 percent more in ROI is achieved when combining FB with TV.
Shifting ad spend to digital, mobile
AS mobile technology becomes more pivotal in the Filipinos’ shopping experience, businesses and brands in the Philippines are moving some of their ad budget to digital and mobile platforms, based on “Total Media, Digital and Mobile Internet Ad Spending in the Philippines”, 2015-2020 report of eMarketer in December 2016.
The study found out that digital advertising is at 16 percent of the total ad expenditures in the Philippines for 2016. While ad spend on mobile was only at 3.6 percent by the end of last year, it reflected over 150-percent growth from the previous year. Mobile-advertising spend is expected to double in 2017 to make up 7 percent of overall advertising allocation.
With this is mind, Bishop advised enterprises and advertisers to utilize mobile as their second shopfront, while creating campaigns that suit mobile-viewing behavior, both online and in-store.
“That should lead them to re-think how they organize their advertising campaigns and media plans to win the mobile-first shoppers during the holiday period,” he said.
One example of a mobile-first campaign is Magnolia’s debut of its innovative new Avocado Macchiato ice-cream flavor on FB, with the aim of reaching millennials through creative video and mobile-optimized ads. The monthlong campaign featuring popular “Alden and Maine” celebrity love team that ran between November and December last year achieved impressive results on all major brand metrics, including ad recall that increased by 16 points.
“Mobile-savvy millennials spend the majority of their time discovering and consuming content on their mobile media feeds. Facebook has put us front and center with our target demographic, mainly through the use of effective video to increase reach and sales,” Elmer Villasanta, group product manager, Magnolia Ice Cream San Miguel Purefoods.
To help companies better connect with the online market and eventually achieve very real tangible results, FB offers them its platform to reach out to more consumers.
“Mobile is influencing the shopping behavior of Filipino consumers during the busy holiday season where people are discovering brands and products,” Bishop said. “We are committed to helping businesses win consumers during the holiday season by connecting them with the more than 63 million mobile-first Filipinos on Facebook.”
FB continues to grow, with 2 billion people added to its network each month worldwide and 316 million across Southeast Asia. It hosts 70 million business pages globally, 8 million business profiles and 5 million active advertisers.
“This is growing significantly over the past few years, and the big part of that has been growing in Southeast Asia. So these mobile-first consumers are becoming mobile-first businesses, as well,” Bishop stressed.
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