Shopping habits of Pinoys remain traditional – survey

MANILA, Philippines - A recent survey conducted by the Reader’s Digest showed that shopping habits of Filipinos remain traditional despite the increasing availability of online stores.

The Reader’s Digest Trusted Brand Survey 2013 found only 17 percent of Filipino respondents have significantly changed their shopping habits in the face of the rising number of online stores in the last two years.

Only seven percent of Filipino shoppers trust online comments regarding brands or products, while less than 10 percent of Filipino respondents actively shared their brand experiences online.

The survey used interviews of 7,000 respondents across Asia including India, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the Philippines.

Although online shopping has not had much influence on shoppers’ habits in the Philippines, the impact of online shopping on Asian shoppers is even less, the Reader’s Digest poll said.

According to the survey, only 13 percent of Asian respondents have seen significant changes in their shopping habits owing to online options.

Online travel services appear to be the most popular with the respondents in the Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia, while those surveyed in Taiwan, Hong Kong, India and Thailand ranked clothing and apparel purchases as their top online shopping choices.

Among Filipino respondents, travel services accounted for 33 percent of the total purchases online, followed by consumer electronics at 20 percent and vouchers and online coupons at 17 percent.

Clothing and other apparel and books and media online both account for 15 percent.