As the two-year pandemic has forced everyone to isolate themselves in their own homes, the country’s biggest contributors to the economy have taken a massive hit. Losses, layoffs and closures were among the many devastating effects, but as the Philippines and the world begin to open up and ease border restrictions, the economy has also…
Sustaining an enterprise in today’s volatile and unpredictable environment is not an easy feat. In the past, businesses tended just to focus on ensuring economic sustainability. With today’s more demanding stakeholders however, business owners and managers have to balance revenue growth along with environmental issues and social responsibility, among other sustainability concerns. We asked Mr…
The “social commerce” industry in the Philippines is tipped to surge by 30 percent in 2022 with gross merchandise value (GMV) estimated at $682 million and, from then on , according to Research and Markets. GMV refers not only to the value of the goods sold online, but also includes any fees that may be…
Eager to move on from the pandemic, Filipino consumers were raring to spend more on retail shopping and “large” items such as cars and appliances on expectations they would earn more over the next year, a new survey showed. Data from the Q1 2022 Consumer Pulse Study by insights company TransUnion revealed a shift in…
The rate of increase in the prices of basic goods and services in the Philippines settled at 3 percent year-on-year in January, slowing down for the fifth month in a row from 4.4 percent last August through 3.2 percent in December, based on 2018 prices of consumer goods. Reckoned with the previous base year of…
We asked two top market research practitioners—NielsenIQ managing director for Myanmar, Vietnam and Philippines Patrick Cua and Kantar Philippines president Gary de Ocampo—to share about consumer behaviors which they have uncovered in 2021 and their implications in 2022. Here are their views: Q: What key changes in consumer behavior have you decoded during the pandemic…
The opening of “low-cost, no-frills” bank accounts in the Philippines has risen substantially with the help of the central bank’s aggressive campaign to draw more Filipinos into the formal financial system, according to the agency. In a statement, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ said that the number of basic deposit accounts in the first quarter…
Lending by banks to small businesses has skyrocketed since the central bank approved a measure to count these loans as an alternative form of compliance with the reserve levels required of financial institutions. According to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno, the banking system allocated an average of as alternative compliance with the reserve…
Filipino entrepreneurs who have adopted electronic payment systems are now even more productive, efficient and competitive, thanks to the new quick response (QR) code system that makes person-to-merchant transactions easier. In a statement, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) further urged consumers, payment service providers and merchants, including micro, small and medium enterprises, to avail…
October is also known for another beverage. We have been celebrating Philippine coffee since President Fidel Ramos declared October as coffee month in 1997. In malls, promotional activities include free coffee every day for two to three weeks. The nonprofit Philippine Coffee Board Inc. (PCBI) was established in 2002 by then Agriculture Secretary Cito Lorenzo…