The Philippine brand giant, Bench, has recently launched its online retail store – shop.bench.com. I saw the announcement one day as I passed by one of their mall outlets.

It was odd, though, because the store ad displays – benchtm.com/shop, not the same domain as bench.com.ph. In any case, these links all fall to shop.bench.com.ph.

I have yet to do a test purchase, but judging from their FAQ section, the site has some really flexible payment options, which includes credit card (duh), cash on delivery (COD), Globe Gcash, Smart Money, Paypal, Bitcoin (whoa), PayCash and the old-fashioned bank deposit.

Shipping fee is also simplified at P100 for metro manila, P200 for provincial, or free for purchases over P1000.

Other outlets have also launched their own online stores. At first, it seems that these are actual Philippine versions, but if you look at the fine print, you’ll realize that it’s not really what it is.

For example, Roxy/Quiksilver/DCshoe dot-com-dot-ph sites all look like they’re locally-managed because of the “ph” domain extension. But the orders will actually come all the way from their Australia warehouse.

Knowing Philippine customs, your package would probably be slapped with import taxes.

Similar thing in Adidas.com.ph, where products seem to come all the way from Singapore.

Metro manila residents probably wouldn’t have a lot of use for this online store since there’s practically a Bench outlet in every big mall (which is also everywhere in the city). Provincial buyers would get the most benefit out of this. For example, those living in Bukidnon would have to travel for hours if they need to get to a mall in Cagayan de Oro.

So there you go. Another physical retail store expanding online!

*This is not a sponsored post.