Over 2,000 Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) gathered online in the recently concluded Amazon Global Selling Philippines Seller Summit following the theme “Go Global, Sell on Amazon”. The event was designed to equip Philippine businesses with the information, skills and tools needed to capture the opportunities in the burgeoning cross-border e-commerce sector.
Amazon Global Selling introduced Philippine seller performance in 2021 and shared that the number of new Philippine sellers launching their cross-border eCommerce business with Amazon increased by more than 50% year on year.
Attendees at the virtual event learned about the latest eCommerce trends and heard directly from Philippine businesses, such as Argon40, who had great success exporting their products utilising Amazon’s global websites. Participants also had the opportunity to consult directly with Amazon Global selling team virtually as well as participate in workshops and other training sessions on how to develop online business.
The Opportunity to Go Global
The changes in global businesses brought by the pandemic is here to stay. Worldwide, retail eCommerce sales continue to grow. Cross-border eCommerce is growing at 2.3 times the rate of total eCommerce in the next 5 years and the Philippines is riding the same wave.
According to a research study done by (Alphabeta) in 2021, B2C eCommerce export revenue earned by sellers in the Philippines is estimated at PHP8.7B (US$179M) in 2021, of this 25% of them goes to MSMEs. Based on current eCommerce adoption and export trends, eCommerce export revenues could grow at 9% per year to reach PHP13.4B (US$276M) in 5 years. If MSMEs were to accelerate the rate at which they export via eCommerce, the annual B2C eCommerce export revenue could reach PHP26.9B (US$555M) in 2026.
Worldwide Resources to Support the Global Journey
Amazon’s global footprint covers 21 stores, delivers products to over 200 countries, and supports 27 languages. Sellers can reach over 300 million active customers, more than 200 million prime members, and leverage the world-class customer service network to manage customer inquiries, refunds, and returns for FBA orders.
During the Philippine Sellers Summit, Amazon also introduced some of its recently-launched products to help Philippine businesses to go global. This includes Search Analytics Dashboard to help sellers better understand customers’ interests and shopping choices, and Global Listing page, which allows sellers to list their products in multiple international stores with a few simple clicks.
Amazon Global Selling will also strengthen support for Philippine sellers looking to sell globally and will double down efforts to set sellers up for success — by scaling up on seller education and making educational tools and resources more easily accessible online, and support in developing a robust service provider network to further support sellers in areas like logistics and storage, account management and advertising optimization.
Joint Success with Sellers
Today, there are about two million Amazon third-party sellers worldwide and products from sellers account for more than half of all product sales on Amazon. There is also significant progress among Philippine sellers — particularly in the categories of Home, Kitchen, and Automotive.
“In 2016, we opened our first Amazon store and now, Argon 40 designs, develops, and manufactures our own products. We have sold thousands of items globally. The best feature from Amazon would be its scalability. As a start-up company, we were able to try things out with little investment. Amazon has lowered the entry barriers to new markets, which is very helpful for small businesses and entrepreneurs. By fulfilling our orders through FBA, we worry less about the delivery of goods and warehouse management. This has allowed us to focus on designing good products and provide better service to customers,” according to Joseph Zapanta, Co-founder of Argon40.
In 2021 Amazon Global Selling launched Seller Ambassadors program — an initiative to connect and bring together sellers from the Philippines with the aim of building a learning community where experienced sellers can share their Amazon journeys and success stories. During the Seller Summit, Amazon Global Selling also launched its inaugural “Community Driver” awards, created to recognize the effort of Philippine businesses and sellers who have contributed to the Seller Ambassadors program and supported Philippine selling community, encouraging more sellers to start their own cross-border eCommerce journey.
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