Shopee in the pandemic: Helping Filipino entrepreneurs and communities

The pandemic has directly affected livelihoods – from owners of small businesses to individual employees. Last April, the Philippines’ unemployment rate was at an all-time high at 17.7% – translating to 7.3 million Filipinos.  

One of the ways Filipinos coped was by turning to online-selling, with over 75,000 online businesses registered during the pandemic. 

But starting a business isn’t easy, especially if you’re not tech-savvy or even an entrepreneur in the first place.

In response to this, Shopee readily launched programs and assistance to online sellers and helped Filipino entrepreneurs transition easier to the online marketplace.

Shopee’s ecosystem: For the sellers

At the beginning of the lockdown, Shopee launched the P200 million Seller Support Package to help over 300,000 local micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) transition online. The package benefits include lowered commission and operational costs and increased sales and marketing support. 

Education was also a highlight in the Shopee ecosystem. The company has a platform called Shopee Seller Education Hub, where around 6,000 sellers learned all about the basics of selling. For more advanced topics like live streaming, they also launched Seller Masterclasses. 

For sellers who have very little experience with online selling, they also have the Seller Center, which houses all the tools sellers can easily utilize to monitor, maximize, and optimize sales. 

Aside from these, the Shopee app also has popular tools like the integrated mobile wallet Shopeepay and Shopee live, where sellers can interact with their customers in realtime.

With all these tools and options, sellers can optimize their approach to their customers, and rest assured that they are free to try new things in the online marketplace.

Shopee Bayanihan: For the local communities

Shopee Bayanihan is Shopee’s initiative to uplift sectors in need of help, with local communities as beneficiaries. Under this initiative, they raised funds for Filipinos in need during the Enhanced Community Quarantine. 

After this successful campaign, they launched offshoots such as the Shopee Bayanihan: Frontliner Package, a 3-day campaign with Filipino frontliners as the beneficiary, and Shopee Bayanihan: Pamaskong Pambata.  (READ: Give love on Christmas Day: How to donate while enjoying Shopee’s 11.11 Big Christmas Sale)

While many companies are pivoting their approach to their business and operations, Shopee is only growing bigger and strengthening its mission: to support local communities and Filipino entrepreneurs.

Under this global climate, Shopee only digs its feet deeper in its stance to help the economy rise and to provide more jobs for Filipinos.  – Rappler.com