There are few things certain in life: death, taxes, and… a Pinoy sari-sari store, perhaps?
Ever ubiquitous, the sari-sari store has been a staple in practically every community in the Philippines — one thing that didn’t escape motorbike buddies and business partners Bing Tan, Hubert Yap, and Ibba Bernardo when they were riding around cities and provinces.
“No matter how remote a community was, there was a sari-sari store,” said Bernardo. “We took notice of that and wondered how such an ever-present part of these communities could be uplifted through technology.”
“There, in our constant road trips and interactions with nanays (mothers), Packworks was born,” he added.
Founded in 2018, Packworks is a startup company that provides a business-to-business (B2B) platform to help sari-sari store owners become more efficient in their operations with the aid of technology and data.
“After we got our heads together, we said ‘why don’t we get a digital company that supports the digitization for sari-sari stores?” said Tan, Packworks’ chief executive officer.
Through its app, Packworks enables sari-sari owners to process their inventory, do bookkeeping and data collection, and utilize other valuable management tools.
Their network has grown to over 300,000 sari-sari store owners in the Philippines
“For big stores, we are their CRM (customer relationship management) and bookkeeper. For the small stores, we are inventory management. For brands, we are data, and advertisement company,” said Bernardo, Packworks’ chief marketing officer.
Leader in store trends
In its six-year existence, Packworks has seen numerous trends in the sari-sari store market. While some remain seasonal, others signaled a shift of demand among Filipino buyers.
One such trend — a healthier shift in sold goods. According to Tan, their data saw a sales dip of cigarettes in recent years.
“We saw that cigarette selling is going down nationwide. That is very insightful for us,” Tan said.
Other discoveries include the rise of mix-and-match commodities, such as diapers and beers — both of which, surprisingly, are frequently bought together — in some parts of the country, according to Bernardo.
There are also clear trends during special occasions. Last February, for instance, the app’s business intelligence tool Sari IQ noted significant sales of premium chocolates, specifically Swiss brand Toblerone and British confectionary brand Cadbury (yes, some sari-sari stores sell them!) from February 1-17, or just around Valentine’s Day.
Region IV-A (Calabarzon) recorded the highest sales for these chocolate brands, with almost a quarter of total sales, followed by Region II (Cagayan Valley) and Region III (Central Luzon).
Packworks’ data are also used in studies, including a research published by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) which reveals that sari-sari stores are “not just a primary source of daily essentials for around 94% of Filipinos.”
It’s also a “vital source of empowerment among women entrepreneurs,” since notably, 75% of sari-sari store owners are women.
These trends are results of Packworks’ penetration into small communities, their livelihoods and everyday needs, based on over one million sari-sari store transactions every month, according to the company.
“I believe that we have the widest and largest network of closest-to-home stores. The stores that we have serve their neighbors in the streets. Nobody has that type of data in the Philippines,” Tan said.
“The amount of data that we get can help sari-sari stores with projections, inventory, and with actually buying products with higher margins,” said Bernardo.
Bernardo noted he’s also impressed with how the neighborhood stores were able to adapt against bigger competitions, and be agile in their selling approach through data and analytics from the app.
“It’s the fact that [these sari-sari stores] are incredibly nimble. They are able to adapt with what their market needs and the real-time demands of the community,” Bernardo said.
“A perfect example is the pandemic, how long did it take for your friendly neighborhood grocery stores to sell face masks as opposed to the sari-sari stores? If there is an outbreak of flu, they would be the first to have,” he continued.
“That is why it’s crucial to empower them with information and perhaps enough technology to continue serving communities.”
In the future, Packworks hopes to turn sari-sari stores into an all-in-one hub for services, not just in the metro but also in far-flung areas of the Philippines.
“Imagine if the sari-sari store is the hub for renewable energy, or the all-in-one microtelecommunications of a community,” Bernardo said. “That is the dream as of now.”
