Shoppers Prefer Malls Over Mobile in the Philippines, Facebook Says

(Bloomberg) -- Holiday shoppers in the Philippines -- which has some of Asia’s biggest malls -- prefer to buy products in stores over mobile shopping, according to a study commissioned by Facebook Inc.

Almost four in 10 Filipinos said in-store shopping is their first choice for the holidays, according to a study conducted by Ipsos Marketing and released by Facebook last week. That compares to 22% who prefer mobile shopping.

Philippine shoppers bucked other Southeast Asian countries’ preference for smartphone commerce, with half of respondents in Indonesia and Thailand saying they prefer their holiday shopping via mobile phones rather than in brick-and-mortar stores.

More Filipinos however get their holiday gift ideas through their phones, with 94% of respondents saying they use Facebook to decide what they will buy for Christmas.

The study, which involved 1,501 Filipino respondents, also said that holiday shopping in the Philippines starts in November and extends until January. Nine out of 10 shoppers also said they are more likely to buy from businesses with an online messaging service, which they use mainly to get more details about the product.

To contact the reporter on this story: Andreo Calonzo in Manila at acalonzo1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Cecilia Yap at cyap19@bloomberg.net, Edwin Chan

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