Were you one of those who stayed up late at night to be the first in line for great deals offered by Lazada and Shopee during 6.6, 7.7, or 11.11 sale festivals? How much have you saved from online shopping instead of going to physical stores?
If you are a Filipino with access to the internet, you probably recognise yourself in those questions. To you, it has become a tradition to sit in front of your laptop or go through your phone to scour the e-commerce sites for the best deals there are.
If you are a business owner who has unlocked the potential of social media for your brand, congratulations are in order.
Just like Geraldine Villaver-Salvane who started her venture at the age of 14 and now, even Pinoy celebrities are wearing her creations from the Lady N clothing line. She started with ₱2,000 in capital when she was still in high school but through perseverance and the use of social media platforms, her clothing brand is now seen worn by some celebrities like Alex Gonzaga, Kim Chiu, and Sarah Geronimo.
How Filipinos shop online now
The Covid-19 pandemic halted movement around the world, but online traffic only grew.
Work from home, online school, streaming, TikTok and online games kept people occupied through the lockdowns.
The limits on movement turned out to be a boost for businesses online, especially in the Philippines. With malls and physical stores closed, businesses turned to e-commerce, and shoppers kept the habit after the lockdowns ended.
Data reflects this sustained shift; for instance, reports from CloudEcommerce estimated the Philippine e-commerce market reached approximately PHP 2.1 trillion (around USD 37.5 billion) in 2026. The sector continues to show strong growth, with projections anticipating significant expansion in the coming years, supported by evolving consumer preferences and government initiatives.
Online shopping behavior of Filipinos
Shopee remains the leading Philippine ecommerce marketplace. CloudEcommerce estimates its 2026 share at 42%, followed by Lazada at 28% and TikTok Shop at 15%.
In terms of web traffic, Lazada recorded approximately 23.02 million visits in December 2025, according to Semrush data. Shopee continues to command the dominant share of marketplace traffic, with TikTok Shop also emerging as a major third force, reaching 15 million monthly active users in the Philippines by 2026.
Shopee's dominance is reinforced by its strategy of leveraging popular local endorsers, including P-Pop group BINI, who remain prominently featured in 2025-2026 campaigns. Meanwhile, Lazada's 11.11 sale continues to be a landmark event, its 2024 edition achieved a record-breaking performance with nearly a 300% sales uplift compared to regular days. Lazada was the most talked-about e-commerce site on Philippine social media during 11.11 season, capturing 65.8% of mentions, while Shopee held 30.2%.
While Shopee seems to be the undisputed go-to online store in the Southeast Asian country, Filipinos are still meticulous with their online shopping as if they are strolling and scanning through every store in SM Malls.
Why do Filipinos prefer online shopping?
The Philippines has a young, tech-savvy population and a fast-growing ecommerce market.
Many shoppers keep looking for strong deals as household budgets shape buying decisions.
Many people in the country prefer online shopping because of convenience, something augmented by the Covid-19 pandemic that started in March 2020 when the government imposed lockdowns and restricted public transportation.
A Visa survey found that convenience is among the top reasons for Filipino online shoppers why they shop online. They said they prefer sites like Shopee, Lazada, and even Facebook Marketplace rather than brick-and-mortar stores that will require them to drive or commute and then fall in line to get their items.
Pricing is another reason for 47 percent of the respondents as they find items in online stores cheaper than their physical store counterparts. There are also exclusive/better deals (46 percent) that pull them to e-commerce sites.
The information above is paramount for any e-commerce site to achieve successful e-commerce marketing and management.
Customization of e-commerce sites for Pinoy buyers
The e-commerce architecture in the Philippines is composed of online sellers, payment systems, online customers, and logistics.
The platform ecosystem covers users (online sellers, online buyers and service seekers), access or digital platforms (marketplaces, social media, service platforms, payment platforms and logistics platforms). It also includes motorists and riders, jobbers, staff and professional freelancers. An e-commerce business must also follow government regulations on policy, security, taxation and IT infrastructure.
These platforms are strategic actors to keep your site’s activities running smoothly. Then, you must employ e-commerce management and marketing strategies to make your website stand out from the rest.
This includes social media marketing, which can be one of the most important parts of your business success.
An average Filipino spends approximately 7.7 hours a day (54 hours per week) on connected media, according to Digital 2026 report by Meltwater and We Are Social. Of this, approximately 4 hours and 50 minutes daily are spent on social media, the second-highest in the world, behind only Kenya. The Philippines held the global #1 spot in social media time from 2018 to 2023.
The most used platforms remain YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok. Facebook maintains a dominant 91.59% traffic share in the Philippines as of early 2026, while YouTube had approximately 59.6 million users in the Philippines as of late 2025. TikTok engagement continues to surge, with Filipino users spending an average of 40 hours and 39 minutes monthly on the platform.
Social media users engage more with useful content. Therefore, content marketing is another key strategy to get your products to reach more users. A single post can drive up a brand’s online visibility. Many users now prefer short videos or reels. A post about the benefits of the product may go viral when done neatly.
Government agencies for different products in e-commerce
For internet retail, start with the Department of Trade and Industry and the National Telecommunications Commission.
If you sell agricultural products, you will also deal with the Department of Agriculture and its sub-agencies. Depending on your products, these include the Bureau of Animal Industry, Forest Management Bureau, Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority, National Dairy Authority, Bureau of Plant Industry, and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
For travel-related products, it is the Department of Tourism, Department of Transportation, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, and the Civil Aeronautics Board.
Digital Media: Movie and Television Review and Classification Board, Optical Media Board, National Commission for Culture and the Arts, Design Center of the Philippines, and Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines.
Ride hailing: Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, Department of Information and Communications Technology, Department of Labor and Employment, Land Transportation Office.
Digital Financial Services: Securities and Exchange Commission, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Department of Finance.
Trend to continue through to 2026 and beyond
These numbers will have a snowball effect on other industries, according to an official of the research firm Global Data.
The Philippine e-commerce sector continues its strong momentum. Mordor Intelligence (January 2026) forecasts double-digit annual growth through 2031, driven by mobile wallet expansion, provincial logistics hub rollouts, Buy-Now-Pay-Later adoption, and continued SME digitalization by the Department of Trade and Industry.
Local shipping companies continued significant activity. As reported by J&T Express in a January 2026 press release, the company hit a record 30.13 billion total global parcels in full-year 2025, a 22.2% year-over-year surge, with average daily parcel volume reaching 82.5 million. It has also deployed Southeast Asia’s first industrial-grade automated sorting equipment in the Philippines. Meanwhile, Mordor Intelligence notes that the broader Philippine courier, express, and parcel market is projected to grow from USD 1.33 billion in 2025 to USD 1.42 billion in 2026, and is forecast to reach USD 1.98 billion by 2031 at a 6.81% CAGR.
Some individuals also found a new source of livelihood through online selling. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) reported that the number of online sellers increased massively, from 1,700 in March 2020 to 93,318 in January 2021. Since that initial boom, the number of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) participating in e-commerce has grown significantly, becoming a vital part of the economy supported by government initiatives like the E-Commerce Philippines Roadmap 2022–2027.
All this could set up more active and busier e-commerce transactions in the years to come.
PH throws support for E-commerce
The Philippines backed an extension of the e-commerce duty moratorium in 2022.
At the 12th World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference, Department of Trade and Industry Assistant Secretary Allan Gepty announced that the moratorium on customs duties imposed on media goods ordered via electronic commerce will be extended.
“The Philippines has a robust e-commerce industry and to boost the same, the government has released the e-commerce roadmap 2022 to create an integrated ecosystem that would become the foundation of all industries’ developments, long-term employment, and inclusive growth throughout the country,” the DTI said.
The e-commerce roadmap is not the only area where businesses can see themselves flourish, as the government has also taken steps to boost connectivity in the country. In September 2025, as covered by Vocal Media / Trader in their Philippines E-Commerce Market 2026 report, the Philippine government advanced digital infrastructure reforms through the “Konektadong Pinoy” law, aimed at improving internet access and boosting competition in telecom services, indirectly supporting e-commerce expansion.
The four rapidly emerging technology growth engines for the massive digital growth remain: 1) the future of connectivity (5G and the Internet of Things or IoT), 2) applied artificial intelligence (AI), 3) distributed infrastructure (cloud computing), and 4) automation. As noted by IMARC Group in their 2026 Philippines E-commerce Market report, in 2024, the World Bank Board of Directors approved a USD 750 million second digital transformation development policy loan for the Philippines to improve trust in e-commerce and build advanced payments infrastructure.
The realization of these growth engines could prove beneficial to many e-commerce sites and online-based ventures.
The big platforms have kept investing in their services.
In 2022, at the “Lazada Talks” marking Lazada’s 10th anniversary, Lazada Philippines Deputy CEO Carlos Barrera said the company was focusing on improvements in logistics and payments system. He also said he expected to integrate artificial intelligence or make more virtual reality adjustments to provide better service.
Shopee for its part has started reaching out to more customers in the provinces by establishing Shopee Xpress hubs in Cebu City, Bogo, Moalboal, and other areas in Visayas.
“We have always believed in the transformative power of technology to connect buyers and sellers within the community, no matter where they are. By expanding our serviceable areas within the Visayas region, we aim to give our Visayan shoppers a seamless online shopping experience at Shopee, as we go through every step of this exciting e-commerce journey together,” said Shopee Philippines Director Martin Yu.
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