One of the country’s top online selling platforms, Shopee Philippines, assured that no fake products can enter their site, tripling their incentive—the money-back guarantee—if customers purchase counterfeit items from their Shopee Mall.

“We have a huge team in terms of calibrating our products. Our sellers go through an investigation first if shoppers get fake items. We have a rigorous system. And right now, we will triple the purchase value of the alleged counterfeit products if they were bought on our platform,” assured Erin Tagudin, the head of PR and Events, Corporate Affairs, Data Privacy, Community, and Social Media at Shopee Philippines.

Last August, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) announced that 40 groups and companies had joined its notice-and-takedown initiative aimed at resolving counterfeit and pirated goods in the online marketplace.

IPOPHL said that among the signatories are major online platforms such as Lazada, Shopee, Zalora, and TikTok Shop, along with 29 global and local brand owners and seven business associations.

Phl as an emerging e-commerce market

Tagudin said they remain optimistic that the Philippines, particularly micro, small, and medium enterprises, has a great opportunity with the boom of e-commerce.

“We do think that there is a great e-commerce opportunity now, especially that the government is looking at it. It’s a booming industry right now because we saw how our consumers utilize online selling and buying. It’s a thriving industry because our population continues to balloon, just like Indonesia,” she said.

According to global data, the e-commerce industry is expected to grow by 19.6 percent in 2024, projecting a compound annual growth rate of 13.2 percent beginning this year to 2028, or over $39 billion.

She said Shopee is the leading e-commerce platform in terms of market share, meaning more people are using the platform to buy items such as lifestyle, home improvement, and cosmetics, among others.

“We are looking forward to a good sale toward the end of the year,” she said.

In 2023, Shopee reported a remarkable revenue of $9 billion, reflecting a 23.5 percent increase from the previous year.

On the other hand, based on the data published by AppMagic, the Shopee shopping app was downloaded about 11.83 million times in the Philippines in 2023, a significant increase from 0.57 million in 2017.

Shopee was the most downloaded shopping app in the country, according to Statista.