Sari-sari stores remain indispensable
The platform helps local retail stores, including sari-sari stores, roadside and market shops (carinderia) and pharmacies, enhance their service levels and provide them access to a broader range of products and value-adding services.
For typical Filipino families, sari-sari (neighborhood sundry) stores are the go-to establishments to replenish household stocks such as cooking oils, detergents, canned goods, school supplies, medicines, etc.
One of the unique contributions of these thrift stores to the local economy is the micro-credit it offers to monetary-challenged families that can be paid weekly or monthly under the “palista” system.
Amid calls from the Department of Trade and Industry for consumers to buy their supplies from supermarkets and grocery stores to encourage economic activities and amid rising commodity prices, an industry player remains optimistic that these thrift shops will still be the preference of Juan Dela Cruz.
“Not all minimum wage earners can buy piles of supplies and good for one month in groceries because they have other things to pay from their salaries, especially those who only earn enough for the day or the non-conventional workers. You cannot force them to buy in supermarkets,” said Mai Mai Punzalan, chief marketing officer of GrowSari, a tech-enabled B2B (business to business) platform.
The platform helps local retail stores, including sari-sari stores, roadside and market shops (carinderia) and pharmacies, enhance their service levels and provide them access to a broader range of products and value-adding services.
In 2016, GrowSari started as an ordering platform servicing roughly 1,000 sari-sari stores in three cities.
Today, GrowSari powers the management, growth and analytics infrastructure of over 50,000 stores in 100 cities actively ordering on the platform each month.
In addition to providing affordable, on-demand inventory and working capital loans, GrowSari’s platform also generates crucial data and insights into these stores’ operations for manufacturers and distributors to build their strategies and campaigns.
GrowSari has also integrated multiple microservices such as telco load, bills pay, e-commerce, WiFi and other e-services, allowing store owners to maximize their capital in one wallet and quickly expand their business.
Expansion plans
Despite the persisting contagion and economic downturns faced by the country due to the ongoing turmoil between Ukraine and Russia, making most industries in the world tighten belts, GrowSari announced its bold move to transform the country’s small physical retail stores into comprehensive service hubs of their communities.
Using the $77.5 million it raised from its Series C round of funding, GrowSari is set to triple the number of store partners that will benefit from using their platform within two years, with an estimated 300,000 store partners by 2023.
The company’s expansion in Visayas and Mindanao include key cities such as Iloilo, Bacolod, Cebu, Davao and General Santos.
GrowSari’s presence is now in 20 key cities and 400 municipalities nationwide.
“We are proud to share that we are on track in fulfilling our mission of creating a positive socio-economic impact on the lives of more MSME (micro, small and medium enterprise) owners and the communities they serve nationwide,” says GrowSari, chief executive and co-founder Reymund’ ER’ Rollan.
Rollan explains that aside from gaining a nationwide footprint, the expansion to Visayas and Mindanao is also strategic in terms of helping the digital transformation of the small stores they serve.
“As we get farther out into the provinces, many sari-sari store owners are underserved given the challenges of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) distributors to physically reach them. Digital inclusion in these areas has also been slower. So, we see this as a huge opportunity where GrowSari can come in, to make a difference in the lives of small physical retail store owners,” Rollan told reporters.
Backing digital transformation
GrowSari was born when Rollan and his fellow co-founders realized that the small physical retail sector is underrepresented and underserved, mainly because they are technologically marginalized and logistically challenging to organize as a group.
“When we consider the extent of the presence and reach of sari-sari stores, then we can see that they are easily the single largest distribution channel in the country,” explains Siddharta Kongara, co-founder and chief technology officer of GrowSari.
“Moreover, sari-sari stores serve a unique role in the neighborhood. Beyond being a commercial center and go-to of the community in providing easy access to their daily essentials, they are, in fact, their neighborhood’s social hubs,” adds Mr. Kongara.
He stressed that the continuing reality for these small stores is that despite the importance of the sari-sari store to the community, store owners make minimal margins, and few receive formal training on how to run a retail business.
On the other hand, FMCG companies and their main distribution networks struggle to reach these stores given their small basket sizes, distance and lack of road access.
GrowSari bridges this gap by combining goods from multiple suppliers and applying route planning efficiencies Kongara underlined.
Another way that digitalization impacts small store owners is through GrowSari’s new financial services and partner offers — the upcoming launch of the Digital Payments QR Code. The service allows owners to directly and in real-time credit their Growcoins, GrowSari’s in-app currency, which is seen to help make their lives even more manageable.
Moreover, sari-sari stores serve a unique role in the neighborhood. Beyond being a commercial center and go-to of the community in providing easy access to their daily essentials, they are, in fact, their neighborhood’s social hubs.