Greater smartphone penetration in PHL seen to boost e-commerce

Greater use of smartphones by Filipinos may lead to a big boost to e-commerce in the Philippines, online vehicle marketplace Carmudi said.

 

Carmudi country manager Subir Lohani noted the expansion of the e-commerce industry is limited by the number of smartphone users in the country.

 

But he noted a mobile centric-browsing Philippines faces roadblocks such as Internet speed at 4 Mbps, a far cry, from Singapore's 16 Mbps.

 

“Improvements in the country’s Internet structure and a better service from telephone companies can easily bridge this gap, in time for the Philippines transition to mobile browsing,” he said.

 

Also, he said the local e-commerce industry can change drastically on how telcos can address the issue of mobile data cap.

 

Meanwhile, Lohani said they had rolled out Android and iOS apps last year, and made their website mobile-responsive.

 

In Carmudi's case, he said almost half of the 700,000-plus monthly page views came from mobile sources such as smartphones and tablets. — Joel Locsin/TJD, GMA News