● MANILA — SYDNEY
ECOMMERCE PHILIPPINES · SHOPIFY PARTNER · EST. 2017
Ecommerce Philippines — Total Visibility
Sell
wherever
they buy
We help brands capture more demand across Shopify, Shopee, Lazada, TikTok Shop and branded search.
Shoppers discover on TikTok, compare on Shopee, read reviews on Lazada, Google your name, and decide where to buy. Every step is a chance to leak. We run Awareness, Discover, and Direct across Shopify, marketplaces, social and AI as one connected system so your brand captures more demand and keeps more margin.
98%
SATISFACTION ON CLIENT SURVEY
The operating model
Ecommerce is not a store. It is a visibility system.
Total Visibility is LOKAL's operating system for ecommerce growth. It runs three jobs together: create demand, capture demand, and keep demand. Awareness builds consideration on TikTok, Reels, creators and category search. Discover wins the compare-shop across Shopee, Lazada, TikTok Shop and Google Shopping. Direct pulls branded demand back to your Shopify store where margin is higher and first-party data compounds.
The value is not in any one channel. The value is in running the whole journey together.
Awareness — create demand
Awareness creates qualified demand upstream. It is how your brand earns consideration before a shopper searches your name. We measure it by downstream lift — branded search, marketplace branded queries, and AI mention share — not vanity reach.
Discover — capture demand
Discover is where ecommerce brands win or lose most revenue. This is the compare-shop: Shopee, Lazada, TikTok Shop, Google Shopping, reviews, and AI-assisted research. Strong Discover performance turns visibility into add-to-carts.
Direct — keep demand
Direct does not replace marketplaces. It improves the economics of demand your brand has already earned. We strengthen branded search capture, improve Shopify conversion, defend against reseller listings, and grow margin where direct makes commercial sense.
What usually breaks
Most ecommerce brands do not have a traffic problem. They have a leakage problem.
Demand is created on TikTok, compared on Shopee, validated on Lazada, searched on Google, and often lost before the checkout is won. Marketplaces take commission. Resellers steal branded clicks. AI answer engines cite competitors. When those surfaces are managed separately, revenue leaks and margin erodes.
01 / Commission
The marketplace tax.
Brands pay 5–8% commission to Shopee and Lazada on every order, plus ad spend inside the platform. For a ₱1M monthly brand, that is ₱60,000–₱120,000 in marketplace costs alone — before Shopify fees, creative, or agency retainer. Most brands accept it as the cost of doing business. It doesn't have to be.
02 / Branded
The branded demand leak.
A shopper sees your TikTok ad, searches your brand name on Google — and the top result is a Shopee store from a reseller listing your product at ‒20%. You paid for the demand. The marketplace kept it. Branded SERP defence is the single fastest margin recovery in Philippine ecommerce.
03 / AI
The AI citation gap.
Shoppers now ask ChatGPT "best skincare brand in the Philippines" or "where to buy organic beauty products Manila." Most Philippine brands do not appear because their structured data, review velocity, and third-party mentions are not aligned to how LLMs retrieve citations. The channel is growing 20%+ month-over-month.
How Total Visibility runs
The operating parts of Total Visibility.
Each one exists to grow revenue, reduce leakage, or improve margin across Awareness, Discover, and Direct. This is not a menu of disconnected tactics. It is one system, run weekly, across the full shopper journey.
AWARENESS · 01
Category SEO & content
Brands pay 5–8% commission to Shopee and Lazada on every order, plus ad spend inside the platform. For a ₱1M monthly brand, that is ₱60,000–₱120,000 in marketplace costs alone — before Shopify fees, creative, or agency retainer. Most brands accept it as the cost of doing business. It doesn't have to be.
AWARENESS · 02
Creator, TikTok & community
TikTok-first creative, creator seeding across beauty, fashion, wellness and FMCG micro-creators (5K–200K), plus Reels, podcast and Philippine lifestyle PR placements that match your category.
DISCOVER · 03
Marketplace visibility
Shopee, Lazada, TikTok Shop — listing completeness, image hierarchy, description SEO, review velocity, sponsored product placement, and seller-rating hygiene. Better marketplace performance grows revenue. Better integration improves blended margin.
DISCOVER · 04
Shopify store optimisation
Shopify Partner-grade store design, Philippine payment and shipping integration (GCash, Maya, PayMongo, J&T, LBC, Ninja Van), Core Web Vitals, product schema, and subscription architecture.
DISCOVER · 05
Branded SERP defence
Owning the first page of Google for your brand name — the step where most ecommerce revenue leaks to reseller marketplace listings. Includes Google Ads branded-intent, schema, and reputation work.
DISCOVER · 06
AI visibility for ecommerce
ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews cite brands from structured data, review ecosystems, and third-party authority signals. We build those signals and monitor citation accuracy monthly.
THE PAYOFF
What changes when ecommerce visibility is run as one system.
Most ecommerce brands run Shopify, Shopee, Lazada, TikTok Shop, SEO, paid media, reviews, AI visibility, and branded search as separate decisions. That is where revenue leaks. We run them together — one operating cadence, one measurement layer, one commercial goal.
More revenue — captured across the full shopper journey, not just one platform.
Lower wasted spend — by cutting overlap and fixing channels that are compensating for each other.
Better branded capture — on the demand your brand has already earned.
Stronger margin — on orders that would otherwise default to the highest-commission marketplace.
Faster diagnosis — and correction when performance drops, because one team owns the whole picture.
What the team actually looks like
Your account is led by a senior strategist and backed by the full discipline: SEO, paid media, CRO, creative, marketplace commercial, AI visibility, and analytics. Every pillar has an owner. One of those owners is the account lead — they are the single point of accountability for every commercial KPI. No hand-offs, no "that is the marketplace team's number," no disconnected dashboards.
What we do not do
We do not run generic creator barters, discount-only campaigns, or agency-of-record retainers that invoice 40% against passed-through media. We do not take on brands unwilling to measure against revenue, blended margin, and leakage across marketplaces, AI and branded search. If a brand is looking for a vendor to post on Instagram three times a week, we are not the agency for them.
Proof · LOKAL Ecommerce Portfolio · 2024
When Ecommerce is run with an undestanding of where people are shopping, the gains show up in
revenue and margin.
In early 2023, LOKAL was tasked to help a small online-first store to build their online sales. With LOKAL's Shopify services together with shop management, we were able to generate Php 15m of annual revenue from scratch, while firmly establishing the client's online sales channel.
₱15M+
Annual revenue generated from 0 for portfolio store
3+
Marketplaces managed to engage audience
100+
Page-one keywords per brand across category queries
100%
Shopify Partner verified — build, migrate, optimise
LOKAL ecommerce portfolio — DTC and marketplace brands across beauty, fashion, FMCG and wellness. Audited 2024–2026. Methodology available on request.
LOKAL is the only team I have worked with that can actually run Shopify, Shopee, Lazada, and TikTok Shop as one campaign. Every other agency made me pick a surface. LOKAL made them all work together — and the brand compounded for the first time.
founder · LOKAL ecommerce portfolio brand · Manila
Trusted by Philippine ecommerce brands
Why brands choose LOKAL
Built to grow revenue and margin, not to run disconnected channels.
Most ecommerce agencies in the Philippines sell one platform: Shopify only, Shopee only, Lazada only, or media only without a store strategy. Each optimises its silo and hopes the other channels do the same. They rarely do. LOKAL runs demand creation, demand capture, and margin improvement together because that is where ecommerce economics actually move.
LOKAL is a Shopify Partner agency built for brands that already have demand in market but are losing revenue across the shopper journey. We work where orders are won or lost: marketplaces, Google, AI, branded search, reviews, and the Shopify checkout itself.
The team was built in 2017 by operators who had shipped thousands of campaigns across Australia, the US and Europe. Product lines designed. Commercial and delivery systems built at scale — and then narrowed, deliberately, to the verticals where Total Visibility compounds most: Philippine ecommerce and hospitality.
CJ Masungsong, our Marketing Director, leads search and Discover strategy across the portfolio. Ramon King, co-founder, leads marketplace commercial via Alveo Commerce — enterprise-scale execution across Shopee, Lazada and TikTok Shop for Coca-Cola partner brands and the Great Deals E-Commerce portfolio. Joshua Pielago, founder, is based in Sydney and is a member of the OpenAI Champions Network; he leads AI visibility across LOKAL's client book.
Where our methodology is strongest
Mid-funnel DTC brands doing ₱1M–₱5M monthly that need every pillar working in concert. Beauty, skincare, wellness, FMCG, fashion, premium home goods. Brands whose marketplace revenue is healthy but branded SERP is leaking to resellers. Brands with a beautiful Shopify store that nobody discovers. Brands that have outgrown a single-platform agency and need a partner who runs the whole system.
Clients stay. 100% Philippine client retention in 2025. Brands that switch to Total Visibility stop needing to switch agencies every 18 months to chase the next channel.
THE OPERATORS
Run by people who've scaled DTC, marketplaces and enterprise retail — not a sales layer.
LOKAL's ecommerce practice is run by named operators with operating scar tissue on Shopify, Shopee, Lazada and TikTok Shop. Every brand engagement has a founder-level accountable owner. No offshore handoff. No "senior strategist" who disappears after kickoff. The people pictured here are the people who run your brand.
Joshua Pielago
FOUNDER
Ramon King
CO-FOUNDER, MANAGING DIRECTOR
CJ Masungsong
MARKETING DIRECTOR
What this team has operated in ecommerce.
3,000+ campaigns
shipped across search, social, marketplace and AI channels for PH, ANZ and APAC brands.
Coca-Cola partner brands
enterprise retail and marketplace execution at scale via Alveo Commerce across FMCG, beverage and DTC.
Shopify, Shopee, Lazada, TikTok
live operator experience across every major Philippine ecommerce platform.
50+ years combined
Philippine and APAC digital, search and marketplace operating experience.
OpenAI Champions
network member — AI visibility methodology applied directly to DTC and marketplace brands.
Multi-industry recognition
award-winning digital marketing leadership across ecommerce, hospitality, FMCG and real estate verticals.
Every ecommerce engagement has a named human owner. You meet them in the pitch, they run your weekly, and they sign every monthly report. If the relationship is going to work, it works human-to-human.
ORIGINAL RESEARCH · LOKAL ECOMMERCE VISIBILITY INDEX
What we're seeing across Philippine ecommerce AI search, marketplace rank and branded SERPs.
We track visibility across AI answer engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Gemini), OTA marketplaces (Booking.com, Agoda, Expedia), and branded SERPs for the clients we run. Below are preliminary findings from the LOKAL Visibility Index — an ongoing study of Philippine hospitality and APAC ecommerce brands tracked from Q4 2025.
58%
of Philippine DTC brands in our sample have zero AI citation footprint on category queries ("best skincare Philippines," "best Shopee fashion brand").
4.1×
branded search lift for brands running combined TikTok Shop + Shopee + owned content vs. single-marketplace within 90 days.
2.8×
marketplace conversion lift when Shopee + Lazada listings are optimised with schema-backed FAQ + review velocity targets.
52%
of Philippine ecommerce branded SERPs we audit have at least one visibility leak — outdated product info, rogue reseller listings, or missing Knowledge Panel.
Preliminary findings. Sample: 22 Philippine ecommerce brands across beauty, fashion, FMCG and wellness, tracked Oct 2025 – Mar 2026. Full Q2 2026 Ecommerce Index publishes May 2026. Cite as "LOKAL Ecommerce Visibility Index, 2026."
WHY LOKAL VS. THE ALTERNATIVES
Most enterprises try three options before they come to us. Here's the honest comparison.
| What Ecom Brands Need | In-House Team | Marketplace-Only Agency | Traditional SEO Agency | LOKAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awareness, Discover, Direct as one system | Channel silos | Marketplace only | Site only | Native three-pillar operating model |
| Shopify store build + optimisation | Usually outsourced | Not in scope | Still needs client steering | Shopify Partner — build, migrate, optimise |
| Shopee + Lazada + TikTok Shop depth | Varies widely | Yes, their specialty | Weak / not in scope | Alveo Commerce operates at enterprise scale |
| AI SEO / AEO / GEO for product discovery | Rarely specialised | Not in scope | Still catching up | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity citation engineering |
| Enterprise scale proof | One brand | Seller-scale | SMB-shaped | Coca-Cola distribution + Great Deals E-Commerce portfolio |
| Named operator accountability | Yes | Account manager layer | Often boutique-senior | Founder and GM on every engagement |
This table reflects common patterns we see in Philippine ecommerce briefs. Individual in-house teams and agencies vary. If you want an honest read on what a specific alternative would give you vs. what we'd run, we'll tell you — including when in-house or a specialist is the right call.
Common questions
Ecommerce in the Philippines —answered.
What is ecommerce in the Philippines?
Ecommerce in the Philippines is the sale of products and services through digital channels — Shopify, WooCommerce, or custom-owned stores alongside marketplaces like Shopee, Lazada, TikTok Shop, Zalora, and Facebook Shops. Philippine ecommerce is a growing multi-billion dollar category, with marketplace-driven discovery dominating buyer behaviour outside premium and wellness verticals.
Which ecommerce platform is best for Philippine brands — Shopify, Shopee, or Lazada?
No single platform is best — the right mix depends on price point, margin, and brand maturity. Shopify is the best owned-store platform for brands that need control of data, margin, and customer relationship. Shopee drives mass-market discovery and trial, especially under ₱500. Lazada wins on premium and regional. TikTok Shop is now the fastest-growing channel for fashion, beauty, and FMCG. Most ₱1M+ monthly Philippine ecommerce brands run all three marketplaces plus Shopify — one of each job, not one of each.
How much does ecommerce marketing cost in the Philippines?
Ecommerce brands in the Philippines spend between ₱80,000 and ₱600,000 per month across media, SEO, content, creative, marketplace ads, and influencer activation — scaled to revenue and margin. Mid-funnel brands (₱1M–₱5M monthly) typically invest 15–22% of revenue in marketing. The larger question is platform-mix efficiency: whether every peso of paid discovery is being recaptured as direct-to-site revenue on the branded search that follows.
Is LOKAL a Shopify Partner in the Philippines?
Yes. LOKAL is a Shopify Partner agency based in Manila. We build and optimise Shopify stores, migrate from WooCommerce and Magento, integrate with Philippine payment gateways (GCash, Maya, PayMongo, Xendit, BDO, BPI) and local couriers (J&T, LBC, Ninja Van, Lalamove, Grab Express), and run the marketing layer that makes those stores visible and profitable.
How do Philippine ecommerce brands show up in ChatGPT and AI search?
Philippine ecommerce brands appear in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews when their owned site has Product schema, Organization schema, and clear brand-attribute FAQ content, when they earn mentions in Philippine ecommerce publications (Spot.ph, Rappler, Preen, Esquire, Mega), and when their reviews on Shopee, Lazada, and Google are frequent, recent, and topically specific. Most Philippine DTC brands under-invest in this layer.
What is the difference between ecommerce SEO and marketplace optimisation?
Ecommerce SEO is organic visibility on Google — category pages, product pages, branded search, and schema. Marketplace optimisation is discoverability inside Shopee, Lazada, or TikTok Shop — listing completeness, image hierarchy, keyword density in titles and descriptions, ad positioning, review velocity, and seller rating. Both matter. Brands that run only one leak either on discovery (marketplace only) or on branded search (SEO only).
How do I reduce dependency on Shopee and Lazada for my ecommerce brand?
Marketplaces are the best discovery engines in Philippine ecommerce — the goal is not to abandon them, but to recover branded demand to your own Shopify store where margin is higher. Do this by winning your branded SERP, earning AI citations, running branded-intent campaigns, collecting first-party data through email and SMS, and making your Shopify store the definitive brand experience. LOKAL's Total Visibility system is built for exactly this shift.
What is Total Visibility and how is it different from "just marketing"?
Total Visibility is LOKAL's operating system for running ecommerce as one integrated system rather than a collection of separate services. It combines Awareness (TikTok, creator, category SEO), Discover (Shopee, Lazada, TikTok Shop, Google Shopping), and Direct (branded SERP, Shopify conversion, AI citations). Traditional ecommerce agencies treat those as three different decisions with three different vendors — and the gaps between them are where revenue leaks. Total Visibility runs them on one weekly cadence, with one measurement layer, against one commercial goal: grow revenue and improve margin.
Let's make your brand the obvious choice.
Tell us about the brand and we will scope exactly where Total Visibility applies first — the pillar that is leaking, the pillar that is under-built, and the fastest win between now and your next peak season.
We reply within 48 hours. Every inquiry is reviewed by the senior team, not routed through a sales queue.
Or email hello@lkl.ai · +63 917 529 5464 · +61 2 9145 8605
