Make your SHOPSM experience more beneficial and more rewarding with these tips and tricks

When the internet became commercialized, it also gave birth to e-commerce or what we popularly known nowadays as online shopping. It has become a massive hit because of the obvious benefits such as convenience. When customers shop online, it allows them to search faster for their desired products. Online shopping which is done with just a few clicks of the mouse or just a few taps of the fingertips, is indeed a practical way to purchase things nowadays - be it fashion, home essentials, beauty products, groceries, and even services - because people can avoid long lines and crowds and they can spend more time on things that are of better importance.

The SM Store, the largest department store chain in the Philippines; made a brilliant move to join e-commerce as it launched its online shopping platform SHOPSM a few months ago. But just like any platform that is still at its early stages of development, SHOPSM has its own limitations; so let me give you a few tips and tricks on how to shop at SHOPSM with better experience and avoid being pissed-off by unforeseen circumstances that usually arise when shopping via the web.

1. Search with ease.

SHOPSM has 6 major categories - Women, Men, Kids, Home, Beauty, Sale and New. After registration, make specific searches to avoid wasting your time online. When I first used this platform, I was looking particularly for SM shoes for women so I first checked out for products under Women then Shoes.

On the left side of the platform, be more specific by choosing the Brand, Categories, and Price or you may further sort the products by choosing Just In, On Sale, Most Popular, Top Rated or according to the Price on the right side.






The products are just too many and overwhelming and the range seems endless just like what you see in the physical SM department store, so using the search and be more specific and more particular with the items you are looking for will help you avoid "digital stress."

2. Which is better - pick-up or delivery?

Since SM has now more or less 75 malls all over the country, you may choose to pick-up your order at your nearest SM branch, but not all branches can accommodate this service. As of the moment, there are only 26 branches where you may use the Free Click and Collect feature in the shopping site and most are Metro Manila branches or the major SM malls in selected cities in the country.

What is the advantage of picking up your order at the SM branch? First, you save on delivery fees/charges. There is a delivery fee of more or less P99.00 whether you are from the province or from Metro Manila, so if you are just nearby SM mall and the branch is available for the Free Click and Collect service, then that would be a better choice. Second, you get to see and inspect your items immediately after receiving, so if in case there is a discrepancy or any problem with your order, you can easily direct your concern to the staff and you get real-time feedback.

If you are from the province, chances of using the Free Click and Collect service are very limited so you have to choose a door to door delivery. Also if you really are a very busy bee, of course your only choice is to have your order delivered at your doorsteps. But take note of these : not all areas are serviceable at the moment, especially provincial addresses; so you have to have an address that is nearby or within a city. Don't worry, the system prompts you whenever your area is not reachable.

Another reminder if you choose delivery at your desired address, don't expect speedy delivery in provinces. I ordered January 3, 2020 and according to the email sent by the system, my order might arrive in between Jan. 07 to 09, 2020 but it was already Jan. 10, 2020 and my order is still nowhere in sight. According to the tracking details, my items are coming from Cubao Quezon City. They will be shipped in Cabuyao City which is some 2 - 3 hrs away from Cubao; but I'm afraid it would take a week before the courier could deliver the items to my residence address. So if you are needing the items immediately, don't use the delivery service. If Free Click and Collect service is not available in your area, then go somewhere else to buy your item, so you will not get disappointed.

By the way, SHOPSM's logistics partner is 2Go. 2Go has a tracking service that allows you to easily check where your items are.

3. Avoid Low on Stock items

I ordered black school shoes and a pair of rubber shoes from the SHOPSM site. Both of them are low on stock with 1 pair each on the inventory, I guess because when I checked them out, both went "out of stock." After a day, I received a confirmation email about my order, then after another day, I received another email saying my order cannot be completed because some of the item/items are no longer available. Of course, it was disappointing. I was not in a hurry but I was excited to receive the products because that was my first time to shop via the site. What's even more disappointing is that the email did not specify which particular products are out of stock.

I checked the items I ordered and I found out that both shoes are low on stock, so I replaced them with items that have enough stocks left and there, it was successful. This is just a tip, it may not always be the case that your order might get canceled if you included items that are low on stock, but just to avoid disappointments and delays, choose other products. But if you are ready to face the consequences and you really like that "low on stock" item then do as you may.

4. Payment choice WAIS tip

You can choose whether to pay via a Credit or Debit card or COD. Since this is a new site, I won't recommend paying via a credit or a debit card because this site seems like it is on a beta stage. We don't know yet how vulnerable it is and how secure are the data being gathered and stored there. But no one's keeping you from using credit and debit cards if that is the most convenient way for you to pay.

By the way, I tried using debit card, I have 4 debit cards but none of them were accepted. Those debit cards are the ones I am using for online purchases, like the Unionbank which I used to subscribe to Netflix; but even the Unionbank debit card was not accepted although it has enough balance to make a purchase.


The safest and wisest choice is to pay COD. Whatever happens, whether your order arrives early of late or it never comes anymore, your fund is safe and secure.

5. Rewarding experience

Probably, most of us are familiar with SM Advantage card - the rewards card owned by SM wherein a customer gets to earn a point with every P200 purchase. You want to earn more without spending long lines in SM malls? Then get your SM Advantage card ready and save its details before checking out in SHOPSM. Yes, you get to earn same points as in the physical SM store, without the hassle. If ever there is one thing I'd love about SHOPSM, it would be this feature because I am a very frugal woman and I enjoy savings and rewards even if they are of a single centavo.

Apart from the points that you can earn with every purchase using the SM Advantage card, you may also enter voucher codes, if you have any. I am not yet familiar with this feature but, I once saw SHOPSM Facebook page shared a discount code. Maybe there would be more in the coming days, so we better keep our social media accounts connected with that of SHOPSM's.

As of this writing, Jan. 10, 2020; 8 in the evening, I still haven't received my order yet. So to those who are interested to know more about my experience in shopping via SHOPSM, for the first time please bookmark this page because I will update this as soon as my order arrives.

How about you, have you already checked out shopsm.com? There are lapses which I am sure the team is looking into and that they doing the best they can to improve the site, but I would still recommend you to try this online shopping platform because you can always count on the authenticity of their products, which is a very important factor to gain the customer trust.