E-commerce boom seen to continue with 1M merchants by 2022 - DTI

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 22) — The Philippine government expects the local e-commerce sector to further grow with one million merchants by 2022, as more businesses go online amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"E-commerce comes to our rescue amid the pandemic... adoption in the Philippines grew," Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez said during the Digital Pilipinas launch on Thursday.

He said the number of online businesses involved in retail trade climbed from 70% in 2019 to 80.2% in 2021.

Strong traction was witnessed across the sector—from online retail, delivery services, online entertainment, to telehealth services.

As the pandemic accelerated the adoption of e-commerce, the Trade chief said the government targets to register one million e-commerce enterprises by 2022.

Once its momentum is sustained, the sector's contribution to the country's gross domestic product will subsequently increase, Lopez said.

By end-2021, the number of registered online businesses is expected to reach 750,000.

To hit the target, Lopez said there's a need to develop digitally skilled workers and build confidence between merchants and consumers to support the growth of the industry.

These should also be coupled by reliable telco services and logistic systems, he added.