Sari-sari stores, the newest online store catering to country’s products from different regions, have long been a fixture of the everyday lives of Filipinos, providing a hub for communal interaction between customers and merchants, as well as among consumers. It is easily one of the Philippines’ most important spaces, contributing to the economic as well as the social well-being of a community, and ingraining itself into the Filipino consciousness. But the world has become an internet industry, where everything from communication to information to business not only exists, but has become vital to everyday life. E-commerce has emerged from that burgeoning internet industry, answering people’s needs and desires for faster and more reliant services that brings convenient consumerism closer than ever before.
17 Regions, 80 Provinces, 1 Website
Answering a need to find a platform where a sari-sari, or variety, of products can be found, SimpleSoft CEO Erneil DyLim named his project after the iconic Filipino one-stop-shop. In providing a free space where businesses can market their products and where consumers can find what they’re looking for, SariSariStore.Com brings the communal interaction of merchants and customers to the online world. But even with the growing popularity of online retail stores and the variety of products available online, there are still areas where this platform has yet to make a sizeable impact.
Desiring to reach out to small-time business enterprises and undiscovered gems around the country, DyLim sought to provide another platform where these microentrepreneurs have an avenue to commoditize their products on a grander scale. With this idea in mind, a new project was born. Championing merchant empowerment and sustainable economic growth, 1780 by SariSari brings focus and creates demand for Philippine heritage products that have yet to make an impact in the market, highlighting the sheer variety of regional delicacies and crafts available in the Philippines and making these products easily accessible for Filipino families across the country.
Beyond promoting the fruits of traditional Filipino culture, 1780 by SariSari attempts to empower each of its innovative and enterprising merchants by giving their customers the opportunity to fully grasp the history and tradition at the heart of each painstakingly handcrafted product. By highlighting the best that the Philippines has to offer in terms of gastronomy and craftsmanship, 1780 by SariSari looks forward to contributing to the economic growth of the country.
Discovering stories across the archipelago, 1780 brings in products such as non-traditional pili snacks from Bicol and Samar; fruit sauces, fruit jams, and fruit wines from around Visayas and Mindanao; and hand-crafted cloths and bags made of native materials.
In collaboration with a number of Philippine artisans, 1780 by SariSari puts a modern flair to a variety of traditional Filipino products. Owner of hand-crafted cupcakes store Sweet Patti Cakes – Patti Grandidge, exhibits a taste of the Philippines by creating limited edition cupcakes which incorporate Kablon Farms’ chocolate using organically grown cacao. Local designer and fashion influencer Amina Aranaz works in collaboration with one of 1780 by SariSari’s merchants to craft a bag using native Philippine materials, which will be sold exclusively on the site. Aside from promoting food and craft products, 1780 by SariSari is joined by traveler and tourism influencer Ivan Henares who discusses his advocacy towards heritage products and sites around the country.
Initially introduced on the platform are products carefully sourced from five regions in the Philippines that are recognized as having high instances of poverty and political unrest, or were severely affected by the onslaught of Typhoons Glenda and Yolanda. Not just about giving merchants from small or distant areas access to the right buyers, 1780 by SariSari is also building relationships with conflict-stricken and poverty-stricken communities and providing them with more avenues to tell their stories.
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1780 by SariSari is a sub-portal to e-commerce site SariSariStore.Com. Visit their main portal at http://sarisaristore.com/, or check their facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/1780bySariSari to see more of the featured products that are available online.
