All in the spirit of Christmas and bayanihan
In July 2020, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) released the Assessment of the Socioeconomic Effects of COVID-19 and Containment Measures on Philippine Enterprises. Among several major findings, it revealed that the containment measures resulted to “half of operating firms experiencing 40-percent reduction in operating hours, around 50-percent loss of employment, and 60-percent reduction in both revenues and production volume.”
To be able to navigate the new normal, various industries were forced to innovate and adapt into a digitalized ecosystem. MSMEs, which comprise 90 percent of business and more than half of employment worldwide, began to fast- track their e- commerce capability and virtual presence — part of which is by representing one’s business in virtual expos.
Also in July, the Association of the Filipino Franchisers Inc. ( AFFI) launched the BUYanihan campaign which underscored a virtual resellers’ expo. It was created alongside the notable song, Pwede Pang Mangarap, performed by Gary Valenciano.
“Through the virtual expo, we give support to entrepreneurs especially the MSMEs in promoting their products in the digital space and, of course, to help them look for resellers. This is actually a win-win situation since we are helping the business owners to sell while enabling interested resellers to have a business, or a sideline,” says AFFI president Jorge Wieneke.
This weekend, the virtual expo is on its third leg of encouraging our kababayans to patronize local businesses. Visitors can expect different food to non-food products from different regions of the country, as the event also tied up with OTOP Philippines.
Not only is BUYanihan Resellers’ Virtual Trade Expo a great place to look for products to resell — with Christmas around the corner, it is also a perfectly safe place to look for amazing yet affordable gifts.
Wieneke says that the online venue will look like a physical expo. “When you go to the website, you will be directed to the main hall, which literally looks like the main hall at World Trade Center. This is where you log in either as an exhibitor or as a participant. Upon ‘entering,’ there will be several booths inside, where the layout is just like the physical expo. Their business names are written on the ‘booth.’ You can navigate inside by just clicking the booth of the business you are interested in, then you will be directed to a page where all of their products are listed. You can either check out from there or talk further with the owner,” he enthuses.