What’s the latest on eCommerce in the Philippines?
By the way, you might want to learn FREE Internet Marketing Basics (You know, so you can sell stuff online)
I’m glad I went to the eServices conference. I was updated on the latest eCommerce applications and technologies around. The particular talk I attended was the E-Commerce Track. The speakers in this track are DigitalFilipino.com Club members who volunteered their knowledge on e-Business.
While a couple of the talks seemed more like marketing presentations, others like the overview on IPv6 were genuinely informative. I also liked the live demo on Mobile Commerce applications. There were brief showcases on the various online payment systems available for Filipinos. MyUSMailBox showed how you could order items from the states and have it delivered to a US address.
Briefly, let me give you an idea and my comments of what went on:
- E-Business Revisited: from E-commerce to Service Digitization (by Jan Pabellon) - The talk by Jan showed us a brief history of the Internet, the DOTCOM Crash, and what the Internet trends are. Essentially he discussed the transition of the web from static html pages into some more dynamic and social. He claimed that the web has transformed from ‘being a channel of communication’ into a ‘Digital Services Platform’ where users no longer need just a web browser (like Netscape, Internet Explorer and Mozilla). This new Internet was called Web 2.0. Instead of just having big companies with servers that publish information, the Internet has become a source of ‘Collective Intelligence.’ Some examples of Web 2.0 website are blogging websites (like this one), and WikiPedia.
- E-Commerce Case Study: TitikPilipino (Jay Frank De Jesus) - A case study on the website TitikPilipino was given. Previously, TitikPilipino was Original Pilipino Music (OPM) lyrics database. It soon evolved into an online resource for Filipino songs. Jay briefly game us some numbers - he gets around 40 thousand-page views per day with around 7,000 unique visits. This meant that a visitor stayed and browsed around for an average of 5-10 pages before leaving his site. He gets revenue from CD/music sheet sales, Promotes, and AdSense.I did some mental computations based on my experience with Adsense. At 7000 hits a day with 2% clickthrough rate and 10 US$ cents per click, That’s around 14 dollars (700 pesos) a day. Then I realized, my computation was wrong! They were getting 40 thousand hits per day (7000 was only the unique visits). That would mean (40000 x 2% x 10cents per click) that TitikPilipino was averaging at least US$80 (4,000+ pesos) a day! That’s US$2400 a month!
- E-Commerce Case Study : MyUSMailBox (Randy Manaloto) - Randy basically talked about having a US lifestyle by having an virtual address there were items purchased from Amazon, eBay and others could be delivered. This was particularly useful for ordering hard to find items. I wish I had them when I ordered for a magazine from the States.
- E-Commerce Payment Solutions: YesPayments (by Paul Hubbard, YesPayments.com) - Paul Hubbard’s presentation was rather funny at first, but he soon discussed his latest experience with online payment ‘fraud.’ Apparently, their online payment system was involved in the latest news about a Foreigner being duped by a Philippine Travel Agency. (You might have read about it, I think it was People’s tonight tabloid that put it as a headline). It turned out that this was a
simple clerical error and that the travel agent was unable to record the transaction. He also talked about the security of online transactions and how more people are starting to use it.
- E-Commerce Payment Solutions: PayFree (by Erick Kalugdan, PayFree.com.ph) - PayFree is an eWallet service by Load.com.ph. Essentially, users can freely create an online wallet which they could use to purchase items from the website. They provided this for cell phones users to purchase prepaid load credits at a discount. This was done online and automatically. Now, the service has been expanded to allow even Sellers to use the eWallet. Sellers can opt to use the online credit to purchase other items online or have it cashed out at an 8% charge. This meant that if you have 100 pesos on the credit, you could have it deposited in your bank, but only get 92 pesos. The 8 pesos go to load.com.ph and their partners. Erick said that 2% only actually goes to them and the 6% are for discounts and referral bonuses that they give out.
- Best Practices in Generating Online/Website Traffic (by Gerry Diwa) - I liked this talk. He briefly game statics about the Internet and gave tips on how to increase website traffic. He indicated that having a clear marketing plan really helps. He said that the usual sources of traffic included current events, other websites, Email, word of Mouth and search engines. People generally clicked on a link to address a specific need and that information, at this age, is power. Regular visitors can be achieved by having a brand image, community and providing genuine value.
- High-Tech Loyalty Marketing (by Yayu Javier) - Ms. Yayu from is a Marketing Expert from AVANSA. She talked bout Relationship Marketing and Loyalty Marketing. Loyaly marketing, she explains, involves rewarding customers so that they buy more and at longer periods. The target, of course, should be the profitable customer.
- E-Commerce and IPV6 (by Lawrence Hughes, InfoWeapons) - I found this talk as the most informative among those presented. I’ve been unaware of the transformation of the Internet. IPv6 stands for Intenet Protocol Version 6. It turns out that the technology behind the Internet is being updated and the domain name system is being expanded.Did you know that each of our connected computers uses an IP address to hook up to the net? This usually goes something like 192.168.0.1 and such. Well, apparently the world is running out of IP addresses. Mr. Hughes explained that U.S. controlled nearly 70% of all IP addresses and the rest of the globe is scrambling for the remaining 30%. IPv6 aims to remedy this by providing a whole lot more. The Asian countries, like Japan, China, Korea, and now, the Philippines are spearheading this effort.
This is an exciting technology since it aims to also address the flicker effect of streaming online videos. The Internet we have today (IPv4) was not built for audio-video. IPv6 is. Lawrence says watching online movies with IPv6 feels like watching a DVD movie.
- M-Commerce (by Mike Valerio) - Mike gave a demo on Remote Sensor technology. He gave us a scenario — Say you are walking around the mall and see a Movie poster. You want to buy a ticket. Just place your cell phone in front of the poster and you automatically get one. You could check the ticket on the phone and even transfer it to someone else. Later, as you watch enter to watch the move, you just wave your phone on a detector and the ticket is automatically accepted. You are later billed for it. This amazing technology uses chips that emit radio frequencies and automatically connect to the Internet. Personally, I thought the concept looks really great, but it remains to be seen whether this could be practically applied.
Some speakers, like attorney Disini, were not able to present because they had to leave early. I also had to leave early for a previous com
mitment I had and was unable to finish the entire program.
Expect me to talk more about these topics in the following weeks.
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