Lazada to hold first mobile power sale on Feb 25

MANILA, Philippines – Lazada, the Philippines’ largest e-commerce website, is holding its first Mobile Power Sale on Wednesday, February 25.

The Mobile Power Sale will be a one-day-only event only through the Lazada Mobile App and will feature steep discounts for customers.

Highlights of the flash sale include an iPhone 6 available for P27,999 ($632), the Cherry Mobile Me Vibe at P 2,999 ($67), the Meizu MX4 at P12,000 ($271) and its own best-selling powerbanks at P499 ($11).

Lazada also said it will be giving away prizes on the day itself to shoppers.

Mobile commerce has been booming in the country for the past few years driven by the widepread adoption of smartphones.

According to a recent survey done by research firm TNC, 53% of all respondents from Metro Manila own a smartphone.

For 2015, it is estimated that the country will  see a 22% year-on-year increase in smartphone adoption, according to a recent report by market intelligence firm International Data Center (IDC). 

The rise of smartphone use in the country has led to a further shift in retail habits, with Lazada reporting that mobile traffic constitutes more than 50% of daily traffic on its website.

E-commerce as a whole though is still dwarfed by traditional retail through Southeast Asia but it is expected to grow exponentially.

The ASEAN e-commerce market is $500 million to $1 billion in size, or 0.2% of total retail sales, and is expected to increase 5-fold to as high as $35 billion by 2020, according to a securities report released last year by Investment Bank UBS.

This expected rise has led traditional retail giants to set up similar services, with the country’s largest retailer, SM, being the latest to do so late last year. – Rappler.com