Filipino online shoppers have the second highest minimum spending in Southeast Asia despite few of them purchase through mobile phone and desktop computers, according to a regional e-commerce report of iPrice Group.

In the SEA state of e-commerce report 2017, the e-commerce aggregator found that the average minimum spending of Filipinos is $56 or P 2,887, second only to Singaporeans whose basket value in online shopping is $91 or P 4,736.

The report also found that the Philippines has the third highest share of mobile traffic in SEA with 71.25 percent, but its purchase rate is only 0.8 percent in mobile and 2 percent in desktop.

“The purchase rate in mobile as compared to desktop is relatively low in all SEA markets, the Philippines is consistently one of the lowest in all 6 markets analysed in both mobile and desktop,” the report said.

“While the results could indicate a lagging factor in terms of consumer penetration, the country’s average total amount spent suggests that Filipinos’ confidence in online shopping is high compared to other SEA markets,” it added.

The findings were based on iPrice Group’s analysis of more than 1,300 merchants in the Philippines as well as SEA, including some of the biggest players in the region like Lazada, Shopee and Zalora.

Meanwhile, iPrice’s Path to Purchase report 2017 finds that Filipino consumers first do a series of searches particularly from price comparison, product reviews and videos before purchasing a product while their mode of payment is through credit card.

“Filipino consumers in general have small purchasing power. However, trusted product reviews and comparison platforms could encourage their willingness to spend online,” said iPrice Group.

It added, “As most online shoppers are increasingly millennials, credit card is now the most common payment method in the country. Based on our SEA State of E-commerce report, 95 percent of e-commerce merchants in the Philippines offers credit card payment method while the next most common mode of payment is cash on delivery with 80 percent.” WJG