In its continuous efforts to bring value and convenience to Filipino shoppers, the Philippines’ largest department store chain now comes right to your doorsteps. Aside from dropping by any of the 64 locations of The SM Store, you can now enjoy shopping at your favorite department store anytime, anywhere through its online shopping platform, ShopSM.
Launched in June 2019, ShopSM facilitates the most convenient, fastest, and most secure online shopping experience. If you are among those who would rather skip the usual long queues at the store counters, this online store can be your perfect shopping platform. Just like your reliable The SM Store, ShopSM got you covered, with a vast range of items available across major categories: Men, Women, Kids, Home, and Beauty. Its online catalog even includes items that are currently on Sale, giving you more value for your hard-earned money.
Tech and Lifestyle Journal tried the service to find out how convenient, fast, and safe it is. This author was still out of town for the holidays when the order was placed on January 1, 2020, at around 5:50 p.m. In line with constant New Year’s resolution, which is to get in shape, a pair of running shoes was definitely the first item the author had to purchase to open the year. It was quite difficult to make up my mind which pair to order as there were numerous options available in the SM Men’s Shoes sub-category—ranging from the high-end brands to the more practical choices.
Purchase transaction
Upon registration for an account at ShopSM (a fast task using my Gmail account), the chosen pair of running shoes was put into ‘My Bag’ before proceeding to the Checkout procedure.
The Secure Checkout page is where the shipping details shall be provided—the billing address, email, and phone digits. This also the page where the shopper can decide whether to have the item delivered to the billing address or have it picked up in a chosen The SM Store location, an option dubbed as Click and Collect.
Click & Collect is a free in-store option available in select branches. If a shopper chooses this mode, a One-Time Pincode (OTP) will be sent to him/her via SMS when the package is ready for pick-up at the selected branch. Drop by the store to pick up the item using the OTP for verification. A customer is given 5 days from the date of notification to pick up the order. Take note that only branches that can serve the item will appear in the store options during the checkout process, so there is no need to worry that you won’t be able to pick up your order during the pick-up period.
For the Delivery Option, shoppers can choose between facilitating payment using a credit/debit card or paying for it in cash during delivery (Cash on Delivery or COD).
For our Review, the author opted to have the order delivered on a COD basis to the specified delivery address. A minimal shipping fee of P99 was charged. As indicated in the Order Confirmation, the estimated delivery date was within 2 to 6 days. An Order Confirmation email was also instantly sent to the registered email address.
At the dawn of January 4, 2020 (2.5 days or exactly 60 hours from the purchase date and time), 2Go Express sent an SMS advising about the delivery of the item within the day.
At around 10 a.m. the friendly and courteous delivery guy from 2Go Express knocked at my condo unit and delivered the purchased item. The shoebox came packed with plastic and bubble wrap. Unboxing it instantly gave the feels of unboxing an item you actually purchased from the department store. That completed the convenient purchase transaction from ShopSM.
The verdict
So how do we assess the ShopSM experience? Obviously, it was a very convenient way of shopping for the item needed. The author found it very handy as the order was completed amid the New Year holiday out of town. The payment mode is very secure, leaving more space for peace of mind, thanks to the freedom to choose between paying through credit/debit card and paying in cash during delivery.
The delivery was quite fast, considering the transaction was carried out during the busy holiday shopping season when all other online stores commit a delivery period of about 10 days to 30 days (this is normal before and after the Christmas). ShopSM also facilitated easier tracking of the ordered item for delivery through the series of emails (they sent three during the period) providing updates. The sales invoice was also sent a day after the delivery (it can serve as the receipt in case the shopper needs to have the item replaced, adhering to the 7-day return/exchange policy at The SM Store).
It was also surprising that ShopSM provides SM Advantage rewards points for the purchase transactions, just like when you are buying items from The SM Store.
Tech and Lifestyle Journal recommends ShopSM. Overall, this online shopping experience was a satisfying one.