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There have been several e-commerce platforms operating in and outside the country, but none so far has chosen to advocate purely for the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Thus, the launch of the Philippine Ecommerce Platform (PEP) is a welcome development.
The PEP launched by the Department of Trade and Industry at the National MSME Summit 2023 with the theme “Upgrade, Upskill, and Upsize MSMEs” is the country’s first government-owned platform solely for Philippine businesses, particularly the MSMEs.
Having a dedicated e-commerce platform that is government-owned provides assurance especially for MSMEs that they are in good hands. It also provides another layer of consumer protection.
The PEP is funded by state-owned National Development Company (NDC), the government investment arm under the DTI, in partnership with food business incubator Mercato Centrale Group.
With the PEP, buyers are given access to a wider range of locally-made products by tapping public sector initiatives, such as Go Lokal.
As the government’s investment arm, NDC serves as a catalyst through its investments in diverse industries. Mercato Centrale is the country’s No. 1 Food and Lifestyle Night Market and the leading food business incubator in the Philippines. It is a destination lifestyle food market that delivers a wide variety of food, organic, pastry, and beverage products that are one-of-a-kind.
NDC, as owner of PEP, connects the platform thru the Department of Information and Communications Technology’s e-Gov superapp, the platform for all Philippine government services. Mercato Centrale Group donated the technology to NDC.
The platform is aligned with the President’s eight-point agenda, particularly bureaucratic efficiency, focusing on digitalization and modernization of all government processes and operations. This project also supports the Strategic Development Plan of Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure under the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028.
Having a dedicated omnichannel platform is based on the fact that studies quoted by the DTI have shown that the global e-commerce growth rate for 2023 is forecasted at +8.9 percent, estimated to hit $5.9 trillion in sales. The Covid-19 pandemic drove online retail growth rates to historic highs (+16.8 percent in 2021 year-on-year).As almost all countries’ economies have reopened and consumers have returned to brick-and-mortar stores, online retail growth rates have understandably slowed — but are still expected to grow although at a slower rate. E-commerce share of retail sales is still expected to increase to 23.3 percent by 2026.
In the Philippines, the DTI said that e-commerce growth is forecasted by as much as +22.9 percent in 2023 – already the 20th largest market for e-commerce globally and projected to hit at least $16 billion in 2023. Although the Philippines parallels a similar slowdown in online retail growth globally due to a reopening of brick-and mortar stores in the country, it is still one of the fastest-growing e-commerce markets in Southeast Asia, supported by high smartphone and internet penetration rates.
With PEP, Filipino MSMEs now have the chance to push their products beyond their localities and into a nationwide presence. The platform would be able to bring more of our MSMEs to overseas markets.
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Credit belongs to : www.mb.com.ph
