Exploring the Growth of E-Commerce in the Philippines

Latest update: November 2024

The Philippines’ e-commerce market saw significant growth in 2024, reaching US$28 billion, with projections indicating it will expand to US$40.5 billion by 2027.¹ This article explores the latest data on the Philippines’ e-commerce landscape, including market size, online consumer behavior, the most used payment methods for e-commerce purchases, top online stores, best-selling products, and more. The information is sourced from our Asia-Pacific Data Library, and is enriched with external references curated by the PCMI team.

You can explore this content as an infographic report, available for download below.

Current State of E-commerce in the Philippines

The Philippines has established itself as a key player in the Asia-Pacific e-commerce market, with rapid growth driven by increasing digital adoption and cross-border transactions. However, financial inclusion remains a challenge, as only 57% of the population is banked.² Despite this, the sector continues to expand at a strong pace.

Profile of the Filipino Online Shopper

E-Commerce Payment Methods and Devices in the Philippines

According to the PCMI’s E-commerce Data Library, the primary payment methods for e-commerce in the Philippines, by share of volume, are:

1. Digital wallets – 34%
2. Credit cards – 20%
3. Bank transfers – 16%
4. Cash on delivery – 13%
5. Debit cards – 11%
6. Cash payments – 3%
7. Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) – 1%

As for devices used for purchasing online, PCMI observed that:

• 57% of e-commerce volume in the Philippines in 2024 came from purchases on mobile devices
• 43% of e-commerce volume in the Philippines in 2024 came from desktop

Top-Selling Categories and Leading Online Stores in the Philippines

Based on the percentage of consumers who prefer to buy these products online, the following categories ranked as the most popular among Filipino online shoppers:⁹

1. Fashion (clothes, footwear) – 69%
2. Beauty and personal care products – 50.5%
3. Food and beverages – 36%
4. Consumer electronics (phones, laptops, etc.) – 36%
5. Furniture and home appliances – 26%

As for the top online stores in the Philippines, based on traffic data from the past three months,¹⁰ the ranking is as follows:

1. Shopee
2. Lazada
3. Amazon
4. Carousell
5. Temu

Key Data on the Philippine E-Commerce Market

Lastly, here are some key insights about e-commerce in the Philippines:

Challenges in the Market:

Next Step:

The PCMI E-Commerce Data Library

While the data shared here can be helpful, both payments companies and ecommerce companies may benefit from a deeper dive into the Philippines’ e-commerce data, which they can obtain by acquiring the PCMI E-commerce Data Library for Asia Pacific.

The Library covers not only Philippines but also 12 other countries in Asia Pacific, featuring e-commerce market data such as:

• Historical volume of the e-commerce market in the Philippines

• Projected e-commerce market volume in the Philippines for 2024-2027

• Breakdowns by merchant vertical for e-commerce in the Philippines: retail, travel, ride-hailing, digital goods and services like streaming

• Data on both cross-border and domestic e-commerce purchases in the Philippines for 2024 and projections for 2025 and beyond

• Breakdown and projections of payment methods in the Philippines’ e-commerce (international/domestic credit cards, Buy Now Pay Later, digital wallets, and others)

And much more.

Other key advantages make the PCMI E-commerce Data Library for Asia Pacific a uniquely powerful tool for companies that seek a fuller understanding of e-commerce in the region:

• It’s customizable to client needs: you can obtain additional data you need for your company’s specific business concerns, beyond what the Library offers

• It’s budget-friendly: while detailed reports are available for 12+ countries, you can just buy data on just 1 or save money by purchasing a country bundle

• It includes personalized guidance: every purchase of the Library entitles you to a free 1-hour consultation about the data with one of PCMI’s industry experts

• It offers unlimited sharing: there is no single-user license with the PCMI E-commerce Data Library for Asia Pacific, so you can share it freely with your organization

Sources:

1. PCMI E-commerce Data Library ↩︎
2. Global E-Commerce Report, Boku & Juniper Research, 2024 ↩︎
3. PPRO, 2023 ↩︎
4. Global E-Commerce Report, Boku & Juniper Research, 2024 ↩︎
5. “What’s Driving eCommerce In the Philippines: Market Analysis and Consumer Trends,” Standard
   Insights, 2023 ↩︎
6. “What’s Driving eCommerce In the Philippines: Market Analysis and Consumer Trends,” Standard
   Insights, 2023 ↩︎
7. “What’s Driving eCommerce In the Philippines: Market Analysis and Consumer Trends,” Standard
   Insights, 2023 ↩︎
8. “Online Shopping – What’s changed?”, Rakuten Insight, 2022 ↩︎
9. “What’s Driving eCommerce In the Philippines: Market Analysis and Consumer Trends,” Standard
   Insights, 2023 ↩︎
10. SimilarWeb. Traffic to e-commerce and shopping websites from June 2024 to August 2024 ↩︎
11. E-Commerce in Philippines: Outlook & Retail Trends in 2023, OOSGA ↩︎
12. Philippines: Payment and e-commerce report, PPRO, n. d. Retrieved July 2024. ↩︎
13. PCMI E-commerce Data Library ↩︎
14. “Online Shopping – What’s changed?”, Rakuten Insight, 2022 ↩︎
15. “Online Shopping – What’s changed?”, Rakuten Insight, 2022 ↩︎
16. “Online Shopping – What’s changed?”, Rakuten Insight, 2022 ↩︎
17. “Online Shopping – What’s changed?”, Rakuten Insight, 2022 ↩︎