Ready your wallets and mobile devices as the anticipated sale of the year is finally happening.

Shopee, the leading eCommerce platform in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, will hold its annual shopping event “Shopee 9.9 Mobile Shopping Day” tomorrow September 9.

During the sale run, Shopee will offer a wide range of promotions, including discounts of up to 99 percent off, top picks under P99, and flash sales.

The popular e-Commerce platform accessible through mobile app in both Android and iOS devices has partnered with more than 1,000 sellers, including leading brands such as Johnson & Johnson, Oppo, Lysol, Sandisk, Mustela, and Makeup World—making the “9.9 Mobile Shopping Day” the biggest online event of the year.

Shopee was launched in the Philippines in 2015. Every year since then, it has been conducting these annual big sales to encourage more Filipino consumers to buy online. Sales has since grown significantly as consumers find more value and advantages in getting stuff online.

Last year, total sale posted by Shopee achieved a five-fold increase in orders and three-fold increase in traffic within 24 hours, according to Macy Castillo, head of commercial business at Shopee.

“This year, with over P50 million worth of marketing activities, we aim to increase traffic by five times and triple our sales. We look forward to having all users across the Philippines to join us in the biggest sale of the year.”

The Singapore-based eCommerce platform has been posting significant traction and growth across the region. Shopee has surpassed $3-billion annualized GMV (gross merchandized value) with over 50 million downloads and more than 100 active million listings.

In the Philippines, Shopee has garnered more than 4 million downloads.

Based on a 2017 study by Google and Temasek, the Philippines’ e-commerce market is projected to reach $9.7-billion (P498 billion) in 2025 and 34% annual growth rate.

“The Philippines is an important market for us given its immense potential. As we scale up our product selection to cater to a wider audience, we are pleased to have leading brands such as Johnson & Johnson and Lysol joining our 9.9 Mobile Shopping Day this year. This is a major milestone for us in establishing Shopee as a one-stop shopping destination for users to enjoy a wide variety of products. Together with our 9.9 Mobile Shopping Day partners, including PLDT and Coke, we are confident that this will be a record-breaking year for Shopee in the Philippines,” says Castillo.

In a market that is increasingly getting crowded,Shopee manages to stand out and gain consumer loyalty and more users because of a number of features that make online purchase and online selling very convenient and social to consumers.

With the mobile trend explosion, Shopee has successfully leveraged on the trend to provide shoppers with a convenient platform and marketplace that is authentic and offers logistical support.

Key features of Shopee include a highly intuitive and user-centric platform that integrates social, business, and logistical functionalities.

The live chat feature that allows buyers and sellers to communicate directly. This said feature allows Filipino buyers to haggle or get more discounts from the seller.

Shopee also provide multiple forms of payment including cash on delivery.

“We realized early on that payments and logistics was a big barrier for a lot of users wanting to shop online, and we addressed this by giving all our buyers and sellers access to Free Shipping and Cash on Delivery nationwide,” says Castillo.

Filipinos spend over three hours per day online using their mobile devices and are heavy social media users. Shopee users spend 25 minutes daily browsing the app and are highly social, with over 86% of buyers chatting first with the seller before making a purchase, according to Castillo.

The behavior is a reflection of Filipinos wanting to feel more secure about their transactions by speaking personally with sellers, according to Castillo.

“We take these and other user behavior into consideration when improving the platform, prompting us to develop features such as user ratings and reviews, live chat, and Shopee Guarantee, where sellers only receive payments when their buyers have received their orders,” adds Castillo.

Shopee provides over 3 million brands and sellers with direct access to more than 40 million users across the region in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

The company is strongly supported by Sea (formerly known as Garena), Southeast Asia’s largest internet platform provider. For more information, please visit www.shopee.ph