Sari- Sari Stores: Micro- retailing Warriors
@markofthesaints
There are about 700,000 sari-saristores scattered across the Philippines today. That’s 90 percent of all retail outlets in the country.
Humble in size yet built to last, sari- sari stores carry at least a dozen product categories: from food and beverage to home care, personal care, alcohol and tobacco, telecoms, medicines, school supplies and more. Majority of them are open everyday, almost round-the-clock, or an average of 15 hours a day.
GoodThinking Research Inc shares its findings on this fixture of neighborhoods in “4S Sari- Sari Store Study.” A full service marketing research firm, GoodThinking studies issues and topics relevant to the current times and to various industries to provide a better understanding of different Filipino markets and consumers.
Running a sari-sari store is serious business. More than half of all store owners rely on it as the family’s main source of income. So they spend most of their time in the stores, track its progress, and manage sales and profits industrially.
Sari- sari stores prove to be profitable and helpful in providing for the family’s needs, according to the study. But beyond the financial rewards, storeowners find enjoyment in running this simple enterprise that connects people in the neighborhood. Their enjoyment leads them to hope for further growth in the business. GoodThinking research identifies six areas that owners wish to learn more about: profit maximization, store expansion, customer loyalty, service improvement, financial assistance, and other business ventures.
There is a great opportunity for brands and companies to connect with sari-sari store owners by addressing their desire to learn more about developing the business. In Naga City, a program to transform women “sari-sari” store owners into better entrepreneurs was launched recently as part of a worldwide campaign for the economic empowerment of women.
A joint project of Coca-Cola Philippines and Hapinoy MicroVentures Foundation, the Sari-Sari Store Training and Access to Resources (STAR) Program, dubbed locally as the Coke-Hapinoy STAR Program, intends to benefit 1,000 women sari-sari store owners and operators.
To date, the program has touched the lives of more than 20,000 women sari-sari store owners and operators in two cities—Manila and Pasay City— and nine provinces—Pampanga, Bulacan, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Palawan, Negros Occidental, Cebu, Misamis Oriental and Davao. At the end of the 2013, the program has expanded to cover 22 cities and provinces nationwide. The STAR Program will aim to reach 100,000 women sari-saristore owners and operators by the year 2020.
Sari-sari stores are part of the Filipino way of life. Supporting the store owners and their business, means nurturing a crucial marketing touch point. The big companies would ultimately see the impact on their bottom line, and the impact for the friendly neighborhood sari-sari store, we see it in the fulfillment of its owners’ hope. - Louie dela Vega (FOCUS)
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