Consolidating Your Technology Stack  for Your Available E-commerce Store in the Philippines

Today the global retail framework is revamped, and e-commerce is an indispensable part of it. A report shows that in the market of e-commerce Philippines sales reached around $17 billion in 2021. With easy access to the internet and digitalisation due to the modern lifestyle, e-commerce companies have excelled greatly in such a short period. 

What is a Tech Stack?

Tech stack refers to the combination of digital tools, software, and platforms, required to run and administer an e-commerce store. The tech stack handles seamless optimization of day-to-day tasks, including sales, customer service, payment processing, and many other key areas.

Importance of a Tech Stack for E-commerce Business

The importance of tech stack in e-commerce business has become the key machinery that helps both the consumer and business operations. Some key points include:

1. Customer Handling

Technological advancement has evolved customers’ tastes and provided them with many options. A proper tech stack can help this magnificently by making navigation easy, boosting responsiveness, handling complex situations, and increasing load speed. 

2. Data Analytics

The purchasing behavior of customers has become highly random. Data analytics will help you understand the buying trends by providing deep insights. With this, you can serve the customers’ needs and expand your customer base. 

3. Operational Efficiency

Automation has become a standard business procedure and is one of the key elements of the tech stack. The accuracy and efficiency of robotic process automation (RPA) have greatly aided e-commerce. 

Best E-commerce Website Platforms

Some of the best e-commerce website platforms that have become people’s favorite globally are:

1. Shopify

Shopify is one of the best e-commerce website platforms known for its simplicity and ability to handle large sales volumes. It offers more than 6000 apps and plugins, among which several are free of cost. The platform offers dynamic, advanced tools which can easily connect with social media, merchandise products, and fulfill orders. 

2. Lazada

Owned by the Alibaba Group, Lazada is extremely popular in the Asian belt. In the e-commerce Philippines scenario alone, it became the second highest downloaded shopping app in Google Play Store in 2022. In Lazada, you can effortlessly buy and sell things ranging from daily essentials like groceries to sports equipment.

3. eBay

eBay is probably one of the unique e-commerce website platforms that provide the option of online shopping and auction items. It offers a business-to-consumer (B2C) marketplace, where retailers can sell different brands along with businesses selling their products.

Best Add-ons for E-commerce Site

To amplify your customer engagement, it is important to provide a sublime customer experience. To achieve that, some helpful add-ons for e-commerce sites include:

1. Provide special offers

With the rise of multiple communication channels, e-commerce companies often introduce special offers to their customers via WhatsApp, email, social sites, and many such mediums. Interested customers often follow up and check for the best deals. Add a few perks such as free shipping, discounts, or cashback to make the customers spend more. 

2. User-friendliness

A report by Hubspot shows that 76% of users want websites with user-friendly interfaces. This allows them to find exactly the things they are looking for without wasting any time. Also, implement the autocomplete option so the customer can get the right product without wasting valuable time typing the product names. 

3. Chatbot implementation

The implementation of AI-powered chatbots has taken customer experience to another level. This add-on can provide 24/7 assistance to customers and can handle repetitive procedures effortlessly.    

4. Product recommendations

Displaying product recommendations and related items is a great way to upsell and cross-sell in e-commerce. 54% of retailers have claimed that their average order value(AOV) has increased after implementing recommendations.

Best Bundling Add-on

Product bundling is kind of a win-win situation for both the customers and the e-commerce store owners. The best bundling add-on ideas include:

1. Combine low-selling items with fast-selling ones

Some products often do not get sold due to positioning, pricing, or packaging. Bundling can be a great method to make these products move from your inventory. You can motivate customers to pay more for one-time purchase products and multipart sets with a pure bundling strategy. 

2. Reward discounts

Discount bundling is probably one of the best ways to create an appropriate brand image. This can help you to win customers over your competitors. A popular way of discount bundling is buy-one-get-one (BOGO) bundles. Pure and mixed BOGO bundles are both popular among customers and a great way to increase AOV. Free shipping is often added with BOGO, which is advantageous for the seller and buyer.

3. Subscription

A smart bundling add-on is subscription bundling which keeps the ball rolling. It not only increases the revenue in the long run but also creates a loyal customer base. The shipping and operating costs get lower for the seller while the buyer gets facilitated with discounts, flexibility in selecting items, and doorstep delivery. 

Payment Add-on

A payment add-on with a simple interface and the ability to handle large volumes of sales is vital to e-commerce. Some of the popular apps include:

1. Paypal

Founded in 1998, Paypal has now become one of the trusted payment getaway apps globally. Paypal is extremely straightforward to set up and offers varied customization. Furthermore, e-commerce entities prefer using Paypal for their acceptance of credit cards, including Visa and Amex. Customer service and high chargeback fees are some downsides of this app. 

2. Xendit

Launched in Jakarta in 2015, Xendit is quite popular in the southeast Asian belt. Its simple and easy layout can process transactions, run a marketplace, detect fraud, disburse payroll and loans, and help e-commerce businesses grow very easily. Xendit offers payment methods like over-the-counter, e-wallets, debit, and credit cards. But the app does not offer a free trial period and has no global outreach. 

3. Dragonpay

Dragonpay became one of the pioneers of the Philippines’ e-commerce industry and is slowly making a market in many Asian countries. It has several features like low and fixed transaction fees, cash on delivery, e-wallets, mass payout service, and many more that help it to keep on growing. Lack of brand recognition and global outreach are its drawbacks.

Security Apps

With a plethora of options available, if customers are not convinced by your website security, they will eventually leave. The following security solutions can help prevent that:

1. Sucuri

Sucuri is quite a popular choice for website security and takes care of both software and hardware assets, network, services, and information. It offers Intrusion Prevention System(IPS) that detects security breaches. It also works with big e-commerce platforms like Shopify, Magneto, Zencart, and many more.

2. Astra

Astra is the one-stop solution for e-commerce businesses, offering all services and security tools. It guarantees safe checkouts and prevents your website from bad traffic and malware. With updated technology and state-of-the-art security, you can set up Astra within a short time without any hassle.

3. SiteLock

With a real-time security dashboard and automated email alerts, it protects websites from any imminent threat. On seeing the SiteLock Trust seal on the website, customers feel safe to browse and shop from that particular website. 

Marketing Solution

Generating traffic and attracting the right customers can be quite challenging in e-commerce. Here are some tested e-commerce marketing solutions to give you a head start:

1. Personalisation

Understanding your customers’ needs and catering to them with the relevant products makes the purchasing journey quick and easy. You can do this by notifying them with emails and recommendations and showing similar content based on their choices and behavior.

2. Loyalty program

It can be quite time-consuming to build a loyal customer base. But it is worth investing time in as it offers user-generated content(UGC), repeat businesses, retentions, and referrals. To build a solid customer base and show their value to your e-commerce business, offer discount coupons, exclusive perks, or cashback points. 

3. Referrals

If customers are absolutely satisfied with your products, it is quite natural that they will refer them to family members, friends, and co-workers. But to ensure that referral occurs frequently, you can use some tactics. Provide discounts, little monetary rewards, or gift coupons with each referral to either the customer or both the customer and the referred one.

Customer Rating and Review

A report by Inc. suggests that 84% of people trust ratings and reviews and 91% rely on them while making a purchase. As customers cannot experience the products physically, reviews are their only way of understanding the product quality. 

Customer review and rating is an effective word-of-mouth marketing scheme that can increase your revenue and build a loyal customer base. You must also understand that the absence of ratings or negative reviews can hurt your sales. It may give the impression that your product is new and unreliable.

Plugins

Choosing the ideal plugin is extremely crucial for running an e-commerce store smoothly. To avoid losing money and customers, here are some useful plugin options:

1. Easy Digital Downloads(EDD)

EDD can be best used for selling and managing digital products. The plugin is free and has an extremely clean interface. Setting it up on the website is quick and offers features like file access control, activity tracking, and discount codes. Upgradation needs an annual fee payment but brings in some unique features like a site license, customer support, data reporting, and many more.

2. Ninja Van

Ninja Van has become quite a popular express delivery company in Southeast Asian nations. The plugin is free and compatible with Shopify, WooCommerce, EasyStore, and other e-commerce platforms. Ninja Van APIs use OAuth 2.0 protocols for authorization and authentication. This not only increases safety but provides a seamless customer experience.  

3. FedEx

A brand recognized globally, FedEx has the largest express courier service covering several countries on different continents. With guaranteed delivery time and using its air and ground network, it delivers items in one or two business days. From printing shipping labels to tracking shipments can be seamlessly done using this plugin.

Best AI Powered Chatbots For Ecommerce Businesses 

The best AI-powered chatbots for e-commerce businesses are the ones that can provide a seamless and personalized customer experience. They should be able to answer customer questions, resolve issues, and help customers find the products and services they are looking for.

Here are a few of the best AI-powered chatbots for e-commerce businesses:

Drift: Drift is a popular AI-powered chatbot that is used by many e-commerce businesses. It is known for its ability to personalize the customer experience and to provide real-time support.

LiveChat: LiveChat is another popular AI-powered chatbot that is used by many e-commerce businesses. It is known for its ease of use and its ability to integrate with a variety of e-commerce platforms.

Tidio: Tidio is a versatile AI-powered chatbot that can be used for a variety of purposes, including customer support, sales, and lead generation. It is known for its affordability and its wide range of features.

Giosg: Giosg is an AI-powered chatbot that is specifically designed for e-commerce businesses. It is known for its ability to automate customer support tasks and to generate leads.

Netomi: Netomi is a powerful AI-powered chatbot that is used by large e-commerce businesses. It is known for its ability to handle complex customer inquiries and to provide a personalized customer experience.

Conclusion

Revenue in the Philippines e-commerce is growing at an annual growth rate of 17.46%, and by 2025, the projected market volume will be US 32.70 billion dollars. If you want to be a part of this growth surge, using the right technology stack for your e-commerce business can pay off big time.