December 7, 2020
XTREME Appliances launches its X-Series line and first-ever Android
December 6, 2020
Rediscover Homepreneurship through Diskarte: PLDT Home’s latest video tackles digital opportunities for home-based businesses
Homebased businesses are booming
as a movement, led mostly by resourceful mothers who are taking opportunities
to earn extra income while they take care of their families.
As more people stay at home to keep safe, ordering online has become the norm. Having an online presence helps move goods to more people and a growing community of online sellers enjoy the ease of transactions through many digital platforms that are already available. All it takes is a strong connection via a reliable provider such as PLDT Home and a willingness to work hard at building a business from home.
The power of connections
Two inventive, yet practical or madiskarte moms who are harnessing the
power of strong connections are Vanna Reyes, an entrepreneur and online
influencer who also helps other businesses boost their sales, and Vania
Edralin, a talent manager who launched her baking business during the community
quarantine. Both are moms who are
balancing home life and their side hustles that are supported by the strong
connections provided by PLDT at Home.
Vanna Reyes, Home-based entrepreneur
“The pandemic has had a big impact on mommies,” Vanna notes. Aside from the fact that they now have to contend with their children’s online classes on top of managing the household, there is also an uncertainty over the future as many households are affected by loss of income. This is why Vanna supports many moms in the community that she joins, not only by highlighting the products that she likes but also through giving moral support.
Vanna describes herself as an “accidental seller”, with her business starting out as a way to help entrepreneur friends. “I just promote things that I personally use, and moms who watch my videos start asking where they can buy the product as well,” she says.
For her part, Vania was doing
baking as a hobby before the pandemic hit. “My sister was the one who was
really into baking, using our mom’s recipe for cinnamon buns. I tweaked that
recipe to make smaller Cinnabites, and gave it away to family and friends,
until I realized that there was no one doing the same thing. I offered it on an
online selling group and it really took off,” she shares. From an initial
capital of P10,000 that went to bulk procurement of ingredients, she was able
to recover her investment within two months from baking only three times a
week.
Online advantages
There are many opportunities to earn from a side hustle even through the pandemic, both Vanna and Vania attest. “There may be other sellers out there, offering the same thing or something similar to what you have, but there are also so many customers out there,” Vanna encourages. “The main differentiation would be how you reach your market. Some moms will have live selling programs, some will offer their products on different platforms. What is important is that you find your niche.”
Mommy Vania turned her passion into a profit-making
business as she now sells home-baked mini cinnamon buns through her own shop,
Cinnabites.
Vania, who tried selling clothes at a bazaar notes the difference. “You don’t need to spend so much on a space, and there is no need to transport all your goods to a certain location. It is easier to do business online. You can even target your audience by choosing a location for your ads or by simply joining a neighborhood group.” She likewise encourages budding homepreneurs to learn new skills such as taking videos or editing photos, and making ad layouts that would attract more customers.
To support all these transactions, one should have a stable internet connection such as PLDT Home. Both moms say this is crucial and enables businesses to provide good customer service, responding to queries and making transactions easy for customers, and having reliable payment and delivery options. “If you don’t answer inquiries right away, that would mean loss of business,” Vanna advises.
It all boils down to “sipag at tiyaga” (diligence and perseverance), both moms say. There many side hustles that are available to home-based moms, from creating your own products, to drop shipping or being a reseller. “Diskarte ng mga Pinoy, walang katulad (there’s nothing like the resourcefulness and strategy of Pinoys),” Vanna says. Vania agrees and adds, “If you’re a mom, you’ll do anything and everything for your family. That is the driving force of madiskarte moms, love for their family.”
With a reliable and powerful internet connection at home, homepreneurs can take their business goals to the next level.
To know more about
how you can rediscover opportunities in-home business, watch this video
from PLDT Home.
LG PH Aids Typhoon Rolly and Ulysses Victims
Even as the
storms have passed, a lot of Filipinos are still reeling from being ravaged by
typhoon Rolly and Ulysses. Communities have been displaced with people losing
their homes, leaving them with no shelter and no place to go. In the spirit of makabayan, government agencies, together
with private individuals, groups, and corporations have stepped up to the
plate to assist fellow countrymen in their time of need.
LG also visited different communities and evacuation centers in Marikina to help out. They staged their widely popular Laundry Love program in order to help residents and evacuees get access to clean clothing. Over a span of 3 weeks, LG lent washing machines to the evacuation centers in Nangka Elementary School, Parang Elementary School, Bulelak Covered Court- Brgy Malanday, Homeowners drive Brgy Sto Nino, giving over 1,000 households access to washing machines to clean and sterilize their clothes. LG also gave free repair and check-up services to the affected households.
Speaking with
regard to the company’s humanitarian initiatives, LGEPH Managing Director
Inkwun Heo says “We are in awe of Filipinos’ sense of community, especially in
great adversity. There is always a natural inclination to want to help. As long
as we’re here, we share the same sense of community. We’re always ready to lend
a hand, wherever we’re needed”.
DOT and Mystery Manila Launch Gamified Virtual Tours featuring local tour guides
The Department of Tourism (DOT) partners with Mystery Manila for an online mystery tour of the Philippines titled, “Where in the Philippines is Sam San Mateo?” The gamified virtual tour employs actual tour guides, stationed in select destinations across the country, to lead the game through video streaming.
This virtual tour offers a fun and safe way to discover the beauty and charm of the Philippines’ 7,641 islands: the historic cities, enchanting sunsets, picture-perfect beaches with crystal clear waters, or extraordinary mountain views all from the comfort of their computers.
The highly interactive 60 to 90-minute tour will allow players to see and remember just why #ItsMoreFunInThePhilippines by immersing themselves in the next best thing to physical travel. Players can interact with locals through the live tour guides, participate in local activities, and contribute to choices that will affect the tour’s outcome for a unique and entertaining experience.
The game will be free to the public and open to all players on all Sundays of December, beginning on the 6th. Players may join the following game schedules: 10:00 am, 12:00 nn, 2:00 pm, and 4:00 pm. Interested participants may register through this link: https://forms.gle/ZEs6potqSLf47BJY9.
You may also book a private game, just for your family and friends. Interested participants can book via https://booknow.mysterymanila.com.
For more information about the Philippines, visit philippines.travel/safetrip, or download the DOT’s official app at app.philippines.travel.
December 5, 2020
Shopee Launches 12.12 Big Christmas Sale, Celebrates 5 Years of Digital Acceleration in the Region
Shopee wraps up the year-end sales season and marks its fifth birthday by launching its annual 12.12 Big Christmas Sale. Its recent 9.9, 10.10, and 11.11 shopping events set new records and signified the changing landscape and potential of e-commerce in the region. This 12.12, Shopee celebrates five years of digital acceleration in the region and highlights three key trends that have shaped and will continue to drive the growth of e-commerce: Social, Personalization, and Integration.
Martin Yu, Director at Shopee Philippines, said, “Shopee was born with the vision of making online shopping accessible, easy, and enjoyable. We built Shopee from the ground up, listening to people’s specific needs in each of our markets and turning our understanding into well-executed localized strategies that make Shopee what it is today. This year’s 12.12 Big Christmas Sale has added significance as we celebrate our fifth birthday and come together with our brand partners, sellers, and shoppers to support one another through a challenging year. As we look back on our journey, we are proud to have adapted quickly to serve the needs of our local communities.”
This 12.12, Shopee highlights three key trends that will continue to power the growth of e-commerce in 2021 and beyond.
- Social: Bringing the human touch to online shopping
Advancements in technology, coupled with changing shopper habits, have resulted in online shopping evolving from a transactional experience. Today’s users are more social than ever, and they demand a more engaging online shopping experience with rich and unique content. In 2016, Shopee was one of the first e-commerce platforms in the region to launch a live chat function, Shopee Live Chat, enabling direct conversations between buyers and sellers. Today, an average of 30 million messages are exchanged daily on Shopee Live Chat.
Through the years, Shopee has continuously improved on and
introduced new in-app engagement features such as Shopee Games, Shopee Feed,
and Shopee Live to make the online shopping experience more social. Shopee
anticipates that this trend will stay, with e-commerce increasingly becoming a
platform through which people can connect and enjoy shared experiences. Shopee
will continue to drive this trend through unique initiatives like Shopee Mom’s
Club, which provides like-minded consumers with one-stop exclusive access to
baby product deals and parenting content. There’s also a Book Club for a new
generation of digital readers in Vietnam and a “Pawrents” club to meet the
growing online demand for pet products in Singapore.
- Personalization: Catering to the ‘Me’ economy[1]
Personalization is critical in e-commerce today. A highly personalized experience makes online shopping more efficient, enjoyable, and unique for consumers, while also helping brands and sellers drive traffic and growth. Shopee takes a hyper-localized approach by running seven different apps in each of its markets and localizing in-app features. Shopee also continually refines its recommendation engines to offer more customized and relevant shopping suggestions to fit consumers’ needs.
For brands and sellers, offering personalized recommendations to shoppers helps increase overall awareness and conversions. Businesses that use Shopee's in-app advertisements generate 65% more sales activity than those that do not.[2] This is powered by Shopee's own AI capabilities, which ensure that advertisements are delivered to the right users.
As
the industry progresses further into the ‘me’ economy, businesses need to
innovate in order to improve the online customer journey. In the coming year,
Shopee also expects to see the rise of smart shoppers, a new demographic of
young, tech-savvy individuals who expect a highly personalized online shopping
experience.
- Integration: Creating a seamless customer journey
As retailers adapt to the new normal, they must deliver a seamless customer journey across all touchpoints. Shopee helps brands and sellers of all sizes by providing fundamental operational support through integrated payments and logistics, while creating innovative experiences that value-add to the overall customer journey.
● Delivering an experiential home shopping experience with P&G: Together with P&G[3], Shopee introduced its first-ever experiential online Show Me My Home initiative, which allowed shoppers to discover and shop for P&G’s popular household items in a simulated household environment. This brought greater convenience for stay-at-home consumers, while mimicking the offline experience of walking in a store.
Yu closed, “2020 has been a transformative year. It has shown us the importance of technology and its ability to not only connect people and meet their basic needs, but also to entertain and engage. We are just at the beginning of our digital journey and looking ahead, we believe e-commerce will have an even more profound impact on businesses and consumers, creating new ways of living, working, and engaging. As we wrap up the year with the 12.12 Big Christmas Sale, let's continue to look out for one another, uplift those in need, and welcome the new year on a high note.”
12.12 Big Christmas Sale
From November 18 to December 12, users can enjoy free shipping with ₱0 minimum spend, 20% cashback, and ₱1 deals at the Shopee 12.12 Big Christmas Sale.
Key highlights of Shopee 12.12 Big Christmas Sale:
●
Amazing promotions and big rewards with ShopeePay: From December 3 to December 11, shoppers who use ShopeePay can look
forward to free shipping, discount
vouchers, and a chance to win cash prizes.
●
#MyShopeeWish TikTok Challenge: Join the
#MyShopeeWish TikTok Challenge to win prizes. The #MyShopeeWish TikTok
Challenge is from December 7 to 30. Winners will be announced on January 15,
2021 on Shopee’s official social media accounts. For more information, head
over to https://shopee.ph/m/my-shopee-wish.
● Big discounts from leading brands: Shoppers can enjoy up to 50% off from leading brands on Shopee Mall, including L’Oreal Paris, P&G Beauty, Abbott, Unilever Home and Food, Havaianas, Nestle, Huawei, Vivo, Pampers, RB Enfagrow, and Infinix.
Additionally, brands such as Unilever, MASS Appliances, Soundcore by Anker, Platinum Karaoke, Union Appliances, Amazfit, Kyowa, PULUZ, Pedigree, Bio-Science, Organic Skin, Shigetsu, Mikana, Organic Official, INSPI, GSK, Tigernu, MetroSunnies, New Balance, Colgate-Palmolive, Haylou, Alaska, and Fila also offer amazing discounts.
For more information about Shopee 12.12 Big Christmas Sale, visit https://shopee.ph/m/christmas-sale.
Download
Shopee for free on the App Store or Google Play Store.















