Although e-commerce in the Philippines still pales in comparison to that of Singapore or China, it is growing massively. Forecasts even believe that the industry's growth will double by 2025. By then, it will be worth a whopping $12 billion!

There's no better time to join the business than today, but if you want to run an online business in the country, you better make sure that you have everything you need ready:

1. Website

In the Philippines, having a separate online store or website isn't necessary. You can always create a shop on platforms like Shopee and Lazada.

However, if you want more control over what goes into your store and avoid paying a lot of fees, you need a website from which your customers can purchase.

Content management systems like WordPress allow you to build a site without any coding knowledge for free. But at some point, you need to upgrade that as your business scales up, and you want your customers to be able to buy and process their payments on the site.

Shopify, a popular e-commerce platform, offers a free 14-day trial that does not include any extra features, but it will allow you to get up and running quickly so you can start selling right away. After that, you can choose from any of its plans, the prices of which range from $79 to $299 a month plus 30 cents per transaction.

2. Separate Bank Account

In the country, you also don't have to open a separate bank account to start selling. But opening a business account-particularly, checking-comes with several benefits:

3. Business Laptop

What is the difference between a business laptop and other types of laptops? A good business laptop needs to have the following:

One of the best options is the Lenovo business laptop. It is portable and flexible in design and comes with an excellent processing power to handle different tasks and applications simultaneously.

3. Business Smartphone

In the Philippines, mobile penetration is already over 70 percent. In other words, more than half of the population uses mobile devices, such as a smartphone, actively.

As an e-commerce seller, one of the convenient ways to communicate with your customers, track orders, and even receive payments is through a business phone.

What is a business smartphone? First, this should be different from your personal phone. Otherwise, you will find it difficult to monitor customer inquiries and concerns. It is also safer to have a separate number for your business.

Second, it should have excellent specifications in terms of processing power, cameras, and build. All these will come in handy when running your operations.

Lastly, a good business phone must have unlimited calls and texts to ensure you can always reply to your customers or suppliers quickly. For this reason, think about getting a postpaid plan that will also include a phone.

4. Social Media

The social media scene in the Philippines is big. Filipinos spend over four hours a day on sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. It would be unwise not to use these platforms for e-commerce. Besides, these offer the following benefits:

These things don't guarantee you won't experience challenges building your e-commerce business in the Philippines, but they will help you prepare better.