As the world economy recovers from the Pandemic, the Filipino entrepreneurial spirit is doing its part, pushing ecommerce to new levels — and there's free help available now for small and medium businesses! Are you ready to transform with the changing times?
TL;DR
- The Department of Trade and Industry Philippines Ecommerce Roadmap 2022 is offering upskilling/reskilling and/or subsidies for onboarding, starter kits and wage support for new online businesses.
- Get in touch to find out how to start and grow your business and there’s a detailed handbook for financing programs.
- Rosetta AI has entered the Philippines’ ecommerce space and is offering free personalization tools to generate more sales for fashion-related websites selling apparel, cosmetics and accessories.
The ecommerce surge
When physical stores were unable to operate due to lockdowns, ecommerce surged. Small and medium businesses, many of which were home-based, rose to the occasion of filling the needs for essential goods typically found in supermarkets and mall chains.
In 2020, ecommerce contributed 3.4% (USD12 billion or PHP599 billion) to the country’s GDP, according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
(handmade soaps and outsourced lip products) and , Espie (Maker & Seller of Cosmetics, hair & skin care products, home cleaning products) and Bheng (reseller of branded bags). The pandemic gave us time to work on these side projects and as time went on, DTI recognized that entrepreneurs like us were helping the economy a lot and they began making it easier for Filipinos everywhere to start up and succeed.
Government intervention: MADALI
Now, in late 2022, ecommerce is still on the rise and projected to contribute 5.5% (PHP 1.2 trillion) to the economy.
In response, the Philippine government is making it easier and faster for every Filipino to engage in ecommerce enterprises with its launch of the Philippine Ecommerce Roadmap 2022.
In fact, the name of the Roadmap, “madali,” says it all: “easy” and “fast!”
The big goal of this roadmap is to provide consumers with convenient ways to transact while promoting opportunities for small and medium businesses to grow and innovate.
According to DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez,
“this Roadmap provides not only a general plan, but concrete and comprehensive strategies to help us shape the future of Philippine ecommerce because we see a future where ecommerce will become easy commerce and commerce will be indistinguishable from ecommerce.”
How to ride the MADALI wave
There are a number of programs set up to help SMBs with training and/or subsidies for onboarding, starter kits, wage support for new online enterprises, upskilling/reskilling and other activities as may be defined by the DTI, Cooperative Development Authority (CDA), DICT, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and Commission on Higher Education.
Get in touch to find out how to start and grow your business and there’s a detailed handbook for financing programs.
With the Filipinos’ innate drive for growth and innovation, and rapid advancements in technology and increasing digitalization, the Philippines is more than ready for an era of ecommerce revolution and digital transformation. With this in mind, DTI Philippines has 20 strategies and 22 agendas for boosting ecommerce adoption.
Need an edge? 1-to-1 website personalization sets you apart
In the digital era, where thousands of choices compete for buyers’ attention, a branded website with personalized recommenders is a huge advantage, and it legitimizes your image amongst a sea of faceless ecommerce marketplace vendors.
But not all personalization solutions are the same. While most SMBs are stuck with generic website solutions that recommend almost the same thing to everyone, 1-to-1 personalization widgets on your website show individual shoppers exactly what they want as they shop just like Shopee, Lazada or Amazon.
At Rosetta AI we put people at the heart of the ecommerce experience and help SMBs grow business faster. We specialize in helping websites in the fashion-related niches of apparel, cosmetics and accessories.
Final thoughts
Digital transformation is happening in the Philippines and ecommerce is playing a key role. Ecommerce businesses contributed much to the Philippine economy at the height of the pandemic, and they will continue to flourish post-pandemic.
Thanks to government initiatives, ecommerce is becoming easier to engage in. Do you want to dive into setting up an online business? With the Filipino entrepreneurial spirit, a lot of guts, wise preparations, and the will to succeed, you can make it! MADALI!