On-line Shopping Pinoy Style (Mau Padilla)

Since its development, the Internet has revolutionized our lives and shopping is no exception. You can shop for almost anything on-line nowadays. It unquestionably saves a lot of your time and effort and sometimes, it is even cheaper to buy on the net. However, like everything else, having pros, its also has its cons such as questions of credibility, unreliability of the online store. Moreover, people had/still have doubts about paying using their credit cards online, as with regards to safety.

For the longest time, the Philippines’ online shopping industry has been very inactive as compared to those of other countries, especially those in America ands Europe. It is only recently that a lot of Pinoys actually do regular online shopping. However, contrary to the usual form of online shopping- accessing online shopping websites or official company websites, here in the country, a social network website is used. Who would have thought that this using this as a platform for all the firm’s transactions would actually work.

The mentioned website is Multiply. A lot of social-networking websites are mushrooming nowadays, but what makes this site so special that it has become the country’s online shopping center?

Being familiar with it since I’m a multiply user myself, I was able to point out the features that made it “the one.” First and foremost, I think it’s because of its convenience in terms of uploading photos. The albums are also very organized and this is exactly what an online retailer needs as it is almost impossible to sell something online without photos! Second, the retailer can customize its own website design. Third, the calendar and blog helps make announcement and promotions easier. Lastly and most importantly, contacts are easily added since a hefty number of Filipinos already use Multiply and updates are hassle-free!

Online shopping somewhat works like conventional online stores wherein the shopper looks at the product, checks the price and orders it. The big difference however, lies in the payment method. Usually, we are required to pay via our credit cards when we purchase from online stores but with multiply, your transactions does not have to involve a credit card. This can be both a good and bad thing. It is inconvenient to those who rely on their credit cards but for those who do not have credit cards, this is definitely a good thing. The payment methods accepted by most online stores in Multiply right now are direct bank deposits and G-cash money-transfer service provided by Globe Telecom. G-cash of course is the more convenient alternative as transactions take less than a minute and queuing in banks are unnecessary. Another point to be taken note of is that it is unusual that the sellers throws in shipping costs so you have to pay extra for that but nonetheless, it arrives pretty fast within the next day or two.

Some of the usual risks still exist in Multiply but the availability and utilization of this technology has definitely made more opportunities for traders and offered more convenience and choices for the consumers. The lesson learned is that in competitive markets, it is about having an edge and exploring business possibilities utilizing the technology offered by the internet and Multiply is no exception.