ABAPI eCommerce Pledge Initiative

With eCommerce sales of alcohol having seen significant growth between 2019 and 2021, due to quarantine restrictions and reduced operations of bars and restaurants caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, it was essential to put in place self-regulatory codes of conduct to protect minors.

Local trade association Alcoholic Beverages Alliance of the Philippines (ABAPI), together with leading online retailers and eCommerce platforms in the Philippines, pledged to enhance safeguards to prevent minors from purchasing alcohol online. The pledge aims to promote responsible practices in the online sale of alcohol and includes producers and e-retailers and third-party logistics and delivery companies.

As part of this pledge, signatories have also committed to sharing best practices and providing e-retailers with the necessary support, training, and capacity-building for the safe selling and delivery of alcohol. Online platforms, on their part, have pledged to promote responsible drinking by including warning messages or prompts, adopting age-screening processes and other safeguards to reduce the risk of minors accessing alcohol online.

”ABAPI, together with leading online retailers and eCommerce platforms in the Philippines, pledged to enhance safeguards to prevent minors from purchasing alcohol online.

Industry estimates have shown a surge in web traffic across e-commerce sites, on the back of a shift in consumer behavior. Research from the IWSR, the leading global source of data and intelligence on the alcoholic beverage market, showed that alcohol e-commerce in the Philippines has rapidly increased in 2020, with online sales of spirits, in particular, growing by almost 50%. Some alcohol e-commerce sites in the Philippines have seen orders grow by about 150% versus pre-pandemic levels in 2019.