MANILA – Filipino e-commerce practitioners gathered at the DCOM Summit 2014, learning from speakers from companies like telcos Globe and Smart, payment solutions like PayPal, and startups like Idea Space Foundation and Proudcloud.
With the theme ‘Future-Proof: The Road Ahead for e-Commerce in the Philippines’, the two-day summit tackled topics such as innovative payment solutions, e-commerce fraud, and the state of digital startups in the Philippines.
Senator Bam Aquino began the first day’s session with his talk on ‘The PH E-Commerce Blueprint’. Saying it is time to update the existing e-commerce law, Aquino said e-commerce is a great equalizer for MSMEs, and a way toward inclusive growth. “We’re no. 1 in ASEAN and no. 2 in Asia in terms of economic growth, but for many Filipinos, this progress is not really felt,” Aquino said.
He said the government and private sector should work together, but noted that the former should give the latter space to grow. “Government should get out of the way and allow the private sector to grow. Government should make it easy for people to transact be clear about the boundaries but within that sandbox allow the private sector to innovate. The private sector is always two or three steps ahead when it comes to innovation. government is always trying to catch up,” he said.
Aquino’s talk was followed by a panel on ‘Paying it Forward: Payment Solutions’ with G-Xchange Pres. Paolo Baltao, SMART Enterprise Head of Marketing John Eric Alviz, Ron Hose, founder, Innovation Endeavors and founder, CEO of Coins.ph, VMoney founder Ralph Santos, and San Miguel Corp. Sweep Project Head Cecile Ang.
Baltao observed that while credit card penetration is very low in the Philippines, there is a budding debit card business in the country. Still, Philippine SMEs, which only accept cash, account for 32 percent of the country’s GDP. Considering these factors, along with the fact that the Philippines is considered the fastest moving market for smartphones, Baltao said the company has come up with Globe Charge, which allows businesses to convert a smartphone into a point-of-sale (POS) unit.
Similarly, Alviz said the goal is to bring connected devices to the grassroots. “Commerce and trade really run on the internet. If you stay stagnant, if you stay with paper money, it’s not going to go well for you in the future,” he said.
Following the panel session was Dhruv Mehrotra, regional director, Business Dev’t & Strategy, Singapore Post on ‘The State of E-Commerce Logistics in Asia Pacific’. Saying that an e-commerce logistic space is very different from an offline logistic space, Mehrotra stressed that consumers want three things: cost, convenience and choice. He emphasised the importance of establishing an online presence. “Even if they’re not buying online,a lot of their purchase decisions are influenced online. So you better be there,” he said.
Next was eCommerce CEO Ray Alimurung with ‘Tech Talks: What CEOs Need to Know About E-Commerce’. Alimurung explained the many activities required for e-commerce, from web & mobile design to delivery, recommending outsourcing for companies who do not have the necessary expertise. “Now is the time to research, test, and learn,” he said.
Commenting on Alimurung’s talk, DCOM (Digital Commerce Association of the Philippines, Inc.) President Robertson Chiang said, “E-commerce is a lot more complicated than what most companies believe it to be. And unfortunately a lot of the local companies sees it as ‘I’ll put a little budget and see if it works. We’ll try it out. But the problem is, if you go into it half-heartedly it doesn’t work.”
SM Lifestyle Entertainment Pres. Edgar Tejerero shared some ‘Insights and Lessons Learned from Philippine Entertainment Sector’, while AsiaPay Limited CEO Joseph Chan on ‘Managing E-Commerce Fraud from Every Angle’. “eCommerce fraud is real and it is inevitable. It cannot be controlled completely, but it can be managed,” said Chan, who shared some tips for prevention, detection, and resolution of e-commerce fraud.
Next was Ensogo operations manager Tina Bautista who gave ‘Insights from Top Brands in Digital Commerce’. “Consumer tastes online have been evolving very very fast. You can’t just always be doing the same thing,” Bautista said. Of Filipinos with internet access, she said 61 percent searched for online deals; 34 percent bought online in the past month; and 72 percent research grocery shopping online. “eCommerce in the Philippines is really on the rise. It’s just a matter of time before it explodes,” she said.
Next, Jon Santico of AyosDito.ph and RJ David of OLX Philippines presented ‘Classified: The Secrets of Success’. According to Santico, the key is to put the customer first. “Whatever business model you have, if it’s a good user experience, it will work,” he said.
In her talk on ‘Online Payments – Your Passport to the World’, PayPal’s Audrey Ottevanger shared some figures for the Philippines. According to PayPal data, the top markets the Philippines is selling to are: USA (23%), Australia (22%), Canada (20%), UK (15%), Singapore (25%).
In his talk ‘Innovative payment solutions in emerging markets’, Smart eMoney’s Mar Lazaro shared top learnings from his 15 years in the technology business. 1. Make a difference 2. Break the rules 3. No boundaries
The day ended with a lively discussion from Idea Space Foundation’s Earl Valencia and Proudcloud’s Jay Fajardo on ‘The State of Philippine Startups’. “It takes a village to raise a startup,” noted Valencia, adding that the likelihood of success for startups is higher for those founded by those with experience.
Fajardo said some painful mistakes of startups are getting the wrong co-founder, wasting too much time with the wrong team, and premature expansion. “Sometimes startups tend to save money on things you really need to spend a lot on,” he also said. Both stressed the importance of discussing share equity early on. “There are certain policies you can adopt. Put certain levels of protection for all parties,” Fajardo said.
Chiang observed that the takeaway for startups is similar to those planning to enter e-Commerce. “Whatever you do in life, give it your 100 percent. Otherwise don’t bother doing it,” he said.
DCOM Summit 2014 was held on August 19 and 20 at the smx Convention Center, SM Aura, Taguig City.
