THE Philippines is known for having a mall-centric culture not just giving urban leisure for Filipinos for decades but also providing an avenue for various commercial activities and employing thousands of Filipinos. We are also famous for having thriving malls exceeding expectations even for tourists from first world countries. Some of our shopping malls (i.e., SM Mall of Aisa, SM Megamall, SM North EDSA, etc.) are included in the list of biggest malls not just in Asia but in the whole world. But as online shopping platforms continue to rise, is it apt to say that shopping malls are already losing its spark and glory these days?
It began during the COVID-19 pandemic, when restrictions left people with no choice but to adapt their shopping habits and turn to online platforms. In the pre-pandemic years, Shopee and Lazada has been the go-to online shopping platform for Filipinos. But since more and more companies wanted to ride along with the popularity of online shopping platforms and take advantage of the situation, even Meta (thru FB Marketplace) and Tiktok (thru Tiktok Shop) have also took the chance and also became the major players (more especially Tiktok Shop) in the Philippine e-market scene. Not to mention other companies like Temu, Amazon Philippines, etc. At first, I was so sure that these online shopping platforms could only work for shopping and other low-involvement (those which are routinely purchased) goods. But to the surprise of many, even high-involvement products (high-priced items like mobile phones, laptops, etc) have also become staple goods at these online shops.
Shoppers now enjoy the convenience of online shopping, where they can fill their digital carts with ease—and even abandon or revisit items—without ever having to walk through store aisles. The rise of financial technology platforms like GCash and Paymaya has also contributed to the popularity of online shopping. With just few taps on their phones, customers can easily check out the transaction. And the best part is, these online shopping platforms has already found a solution to address the once biggest issues faced by online shopping in the past years—sluggish delivery. Online shopping platforms has been implementing the concept of “economies of scale” in shipping fees wherein they can significantly lower it down by focusing on large volume of orders. Lastly, online orders can be now delivered at the doorsteps of consumers in as early as one day. Really, convenience and economy play a role in this significant shift which has been causing dwindling sales to brick-and-mortar or physical stores.
This trend mirrors what has already been transpiring in countries like China and the United States. I have seen a news that some of the shopping malls there have already ceased to operate due to measly mall goers. Here in our country, there are numerous malls which also fell victims of the popularity of online shopping platforms. Really, businesses should be aware and be prepared for a massive shift of customer preference like this. And the real culprit is the ever-intensifying digital era which has also shut down (in its inception) popular brands like Kodak and Nokia which failed to adopt to this significant change in the market environment.
