Every business, regardless of its size, hires employees or outsources the work to others. Outsourcing work to others helps business owners and entrepreneurs manage other aspects of the business that require the attention of a specialist. For example, one can hire a VA to outsource tasks, such as eCommerce support services, to a skilled virtual assistant. One may find VA from anywhere worldwide to outsource the work, but not all the locations are the same.
This leads us to a question that comes to the mind of every business owner and entrepreneur: Should I look for a VA from the same country or outsource the task overseas to let a professional work on the job? While outsourcing the work overseas, you may have a few doubts in mind regarding different time zones and language barriers.
The most important benefit of outsourcing your tasks overseas is cost-saving, and it is hard to ignore this fact. Asia has been the most sought-after outsourcing destination for the past few years because of its highly skilled workforce, cost-effectiveness, and English language proficiency. The outsourcing industry in Asia sees fierce competition between the two giants – India and the Philippines. As a result, these two countries are often among the top picks of most global outsourcing organizations.
Suppose you are a business owner or entrepreneur managing a full-service eCommerce agency and looking to outsource various tasks. In that case, you may be confused about which of the two countries you should choose for eCommerce outsourcing. Here is a comparison between the two countries based on factors like language, manpower, service quality, eCommerce solutions, and technological services to know where you can find better eCommerce VAs:
Language
For smooth outsourcing, you need your eCommerce outsourcing agency to have good communication skills and language proficiency. And if you want to hire a VA for eCommerce support services, excellent English language proficiency becomes even more critical. Poor communication skills may result in difficulty in conversations and poor customer experience. This may result in the loss of a customer for the business.
Virtual assistants from both countries are proficient in the English language, and while choosing the eCommerce outsourcing services company, you should check the proficiency of VA before hiring. VAs from both countries can easily understand American terminologies.
Manpower
Here, India leads the race as the country has an employable population of over 484 million people between the ages of 25-54 years compared to the Philippines, which only has a 38 million employable population in this age group. The wider talent pool of India makes it easier for business owners and entrepreneurs to find a better match for their business needs. Moreover, with such huge manpower, businesses can receive better cost-effectiveness when hiring an eCommerce and BPO outsourcing company from India.
While the Philippines can be a better option for hiring a VA for administrative tasks, the Indian workforce is better suited for more strategic and technical work. Moreover, Indian freelancers will also have a better infrastructure and internet connectivity (without prolonged breakouts of connectivity) than the Philippines.
Quality of Services
Both the Philippines and India offer a range of outsourcing services to clients across the world. Sixty per cent of all the BPO services in the Philippines account for pure voice-based services. However, the country is making efforts to expand its service offerings to match the growing competition. On the contrary, Indian outsourcing companies are better at providing upselling services. Moreover, India is better equipped to offer sales-integrated support services. Hence, companies looking to turn their support centres into profit centres find India a preferable option for hiring a virtual assistant.
Ecommerce Solutions
The Philippines primarily offers BPO centric services, and the country doesn’t have sufficient manpower and infrastructure to provide eCommerce outsourcing services to eCommerce businesses. On the other hand, India is amongst the most preferred destinations for outsourcing eCommerce-related tasks. Moreover, the eCommerce giant Amazon has already set up its biggest centre outside the US in India.
India has become the most suited destination for eCommerce companies to outsource services, such as logistics, storage, customer support, and software services. The country has a highly stable setup to offer comprehensive eCommerce outsourcing services to eCommerce business owners and entrepreneurs.
Technology-based Services
Even though the Philippines is amongst the preferred destinations for outsourcing voice-based services, the country still lacks software development and technology-based services. The Philippines is far behind India in this segment. The primary reason behind this can be the shortage of skilled software professionals in the country.
On the contrary, India is well-equipped with a talented pool of professionals that can provide quality software solutions to businesses worldwide. The country has many highly skilled developers and software engineers, making it the most preferred destination for outsourcing software solutions and services.
Cost
Cost-saving is one of the primary reasons businesses look toward India or the Philippines to outsource different tasks. This is because people living in India or the Philippines have a lower cost of living than someone living in the United States. Hence, the labor cost would also be low in these countries.
When you look for a full-service eCommerce agency from India, you can find agencies that can offer cost-effective rates, and the pricing usually starts from $5-$15 per hour. On the other, you may find VAs from the Philippines that offer their services starting from $15-$20 per hour. Hence, you may prefer an outsourcing company based in India when looking for a cost-effective option with quality services.
Conclusion
It is clear from the comparison that both countries are equally good for outsourcing your voice-based services. However, India should be your preferred destination if you want to outsource eCommerce support services or other technical services. The Philippines will need another few years to evolve as a competition to India in eCommerce outsourcing.
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