Growing Beyond Shopee and Lazada: A Guide For Filipino Businesses

Filipino businesses face a common trap: massive success on Shopee and Lazada followed by stagnant growth and shrinking margins. If you’re one of many entrepreneurs who rely on those platforms, you’re building a business on rented land; and the landlords can change the rules anytime.

The solution isn’t abandoning these platforms. It’s using them as stepping stones to build something you actually own.

Why Shopee and Lazada Work (For Now)

These platforms solve real problems for Filipino businesses. Shopee pulls 44.5 million monthly visitors, while Lazada sees 22.5 million. That’s instant access to audiences that would take years to build independently.

The infrastructure is already there. Payment methods Filipinos actually use—COD, GCash, Spay Later—are built in. Logistics partners like J&T, Ninja Van, and LBC handle the shipping headaches. You can start selling with just a bank account on Shopee.

The marketing tools are powerful. Shopee’s gamified features, live streaming, and mega-sales events (9.9, 11.11, 12.12) drive serious traffic. Sellers report getting their highest sales volumes during these promotional periods.

Temu, on the other hand, offers free standard shipping across the Philippines, and supports local payment options including GCash and GrabPay. Moreover, Temu lets businesses operate via a “semi-hosted model” that allows local sellers to handle their own listings, pricing, and fulfillment. This model has been shown to reduce seller costs by 20–30% while achieving order fulfillment rates of 95%.

It only makes sense that many Filipino businesses rely on those platforms to drive most and probably all of their sales.

The Hidden Costs of Platform Dependence

Platform success comes with a price that many businesses discover too late.

Your margins shrink over time

Commission fees can climb to 17-18%, especially when platforms absorb shipping costs. Lazada sellers report getting charged nearly 6% on shipping fees even when customers didn’t use free shipping vouchers. You’re forced into promotional programs that eat profits.

Logistics become a nightmare

Lazada Express won’t pickup unless you have 10 orders, and drop-off points are often too far. SPX can misroute packages. It’s common to hear of deliveries that take 14 days due to routing errors. These delays hurt your reputation and customer satisfaction.

You don’t own your customers

Every sale, every interaction, every piece of customer data belongs to the platform. You can’t build an email list, can’t retarget buyers, can’t create the personal relationships that drive repeat business.

Competition intensifies constantly

International sellers avoid taxes local businesses pay, creating unfair pricing pressure. Ranking visibility requires heavy marketing investment.

Platform control is absolute

Algorithm changes, policy updates, account suspensions: any of these can devastate a business overnight. Many large Shopee sellers have been banned with huge funds still in their Seller Wallets that they couldn’t withdraw.

Fake products damage trust

Both platforms struggle with counterfeit listings, even in their “Mall” sections. Sellers complain about obvious fakes being advertised as “100% authentic” with no consequences. This erodes buyer confidence across the entire marketplace.

The Multi-Channel Solution

Smart Filipino businesses use Shopee and Lazada as traffic generators while building their own assets.

Start With Your Own Website

Building a website isn’t just about having an online presence. It’s about owning your business relationships. Platforms like Shopify or WooCommerce integrate with Philippine payment methods and logistics providers. You control the customer experience, pricing, and data. Even better: integrate a method like GiyaPay that works for almost all of the local payment methods, along with Mastercard and Visa.

The credibility boost is real. A professional website positions your business as established and trustworthy in ways social media alone cannot.

Leverage Social Commerce

TikTok Shop, Facebook, and Instagram enable direct sales within apps Filipinos use daily. Live selling has become particularly powerful. 74% of local businesses now see it as core to customer acquisition.

Build Omnichannel Experiences

Combine online and offline touchpoints. Offer click-and-collect services. Sell at local markets while driving traffic to your website. Partner with complementary businesses for cross-promotion.

Focus on Filipino Market Niches

Target products with cultural resonance: eco-friendly goods, artisanal coffee, handcrafted Filipiniana, nostalgia items for OFWs. These niches often have less competition and higher margins because they connect emotionally with Filipino consumers.

Use local values like “Support Local” and family-oriented messaging in your marketing. Time product launches around Filipino festivals and seasons when spending increases.

This approach creates multiple revenue streams that don’t depend on any single platform’s policies or algorithms.

When Building a Website Makes Sense (And When It Doesn’t)

Not every Filipino MSME needs a website immediately. If your target market lives primarily on Facebook and Instagram, and your resources are limited, starting with social media might be smarter.

The key is knowing when to transition. Many successful Filipino businesses start with Facebook pages, then build websites once they’ve proven demand and have resources to invest properly.

Your Website Growth Plan

Building a sustainable online presence takes time, but the timeline is manageable with focused execution.

Foundation Phase

Choose your platform (Shopify for e-commerce, WordPress for content-rich sites). Set up payment integration with GiyaPay and other local methods. Design your site structure with clear navigation and mobile optimization.

Development and Integration

Build your website with essential pages: Home, Shop, About, Contact. Integrate analytics (Google Analytics, Tag Manager) and prepare SEO foundations. Set up logistics partnerships or use integrated solutions.

Launch and Initial Marketing

Soft launch with test orders to verify all systems work. Begin small social media ad campaigns (₱100-200/day on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok). Leverage government programs like DigiCities for training and support.

Optimization

Implement SEO with keyword-rich content and blog posts. Launch email marketing to capture leads and drive repeat business. Analyze traffic, sales, and user behavior to refine your approach.

Expansion

Scale successful marketing campaigns. Explore partnerships and cross-selling opportunities. Consider listing on government platforms like DTI’s Philippine E-Commerce Platform for additional visibility.

Making the Transition

Start lean but think strategically. Use social media to drive traffic to your website. Test what works before investing heavily in any single channel.

The goal isn’t to abandon Shopee and Lazada immediately. Use them for their massive reach while building your own customer relationships and brand assets. Many successful businesses maintain 60-70% marketplace sales while growing their owned channels.

Filipino MSMEs that diversify their channels create resilience against platform changes, improve their margins, and build genuine business value they can control and scale.