MANILA, Philippines – Coming from a micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs)-focused Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, Ayala-led Globe Telecom on Wednesday, December 9 launched a new online bazaar for the sector called DigiMall.
Making the region MSME-friendly is one of the major initiatives agreed on by the 21 APEC member-economies during the summit in Manila last November 18 and 19. Globe Chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala is part of the 3-member APEC Business Advisory Council.
"The only way for the MSMEs to compete is through digitization come ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) integration,” Globe myBusiness Head of Marketing Barbie Dapul said during the DigiMall launch in Taguig City.
Thus this Christmas season, Globe myBusiness, in partnership with e-commerce platform Shopify, introduced online bazaar DigiMall for MSMEs. (READ: Is Nanay Tess' bagoong ready for ASEAN integration?)
From December 18 to December 20, around 26 Shopify merchants will be able to sell their products on www.DigiMall.com.ph.
Online bazaar
From the popularity of bazaars during the holiday season, sellers now have another way to reach their customers.
MSMEs can start their online business using Shopify for P429 a month.
Users of DigiMall will be led to links of the different participating "virtual booths." Some of the Shopify-powered merchants include Cake Shots, YouPoundIt, Renegade Folk, and the Globe Gen3 Store.
With DigiMall, Globe myBusiness aims to shift the focus from the weekend bazaars and shops to the online stores, Globe myBusiness Senior Vice President Martha Sazon said.
"This is why we have also solidified our partnership with Shopify so that more and more merchants can expand their business and digital footprint. The holidays is the perfect season to demonstrate this as shopping now happens on-demand with the rise of mobile access," Sazon added.
Although Globe has no data yet for the Philippines, "there are about 175,000 e-commerce stores around the world," according to Dapul.
Asked how Globe will benefit from the online bazaar, Dapul said, "It will benefit broadband business because if you have an online store you need connectivity."
She added that Shopify’s technology and Globe myBusiness’ portfolio of services "can give MSMEs a reliable package that will allow them to build their own online store, showcase their brand, and at the same time, efficiently manage the back-end processes through capabilities such as tracking orders and customer data, managing inventory, monitoring sales, viewing analytics information, and much more." – Rappler.com