SINGAPORE – Not too long ago, shopping was a communal activity. If you needed something, you put on a decent outfit, went out of the house and visited an actual store to make your purchases.
But whatever benefits that entailed — getting fresh air, sunlight, simple human interaction — now pale in comparison to the ease and convenience of e-commerce. A smorgasbord of material comforts, accessible with just a click of a mouse (or a tap of a phone screen).
One may have legitimate gripes about online shopping, perhaps from a critique of wasteful capitalism, or an environmentalist point of view. But like all new technology, it has both its positives and negatives. E-commerce has brought entrepreneurship to the masses, and opened up new career pathways for youths.
For Ron Lomibao, it all began with a jingle.
While riding the LRT, he happened to notice an advertisement for a “mega Christmas” shopping launch, featuring Jose Mari Chan. “At first, I thought it was a typical ad [for] a Buy Now, Pay Later company until I heard the lyrics from the jingle “free shi-pi-piping.”
The ad Ron saw was for Shopee, a company based in Singapore. It is one of the most popular business-to-consumer e-commerce platforms in the Philippines. As of the second quarter of 2022, Shopee saw around 72 million viewers per month, Statista reported. According to TMO Group, a digital commerce agency, the Philippines generated US$405 million in sales on Shopee in the month of April 2024 alone.
Curious, Ron checked out the Shopee mobile app and browsed through the products for sale.
This led to Ron taking part in Shopee’s first ever Ultimate Case Challenge as a university student in 2022, a business case competition that challenged students to solve real-life problems in the e-commerce and tech space.
The student from San Carlos City, Pangasinan, won the second runner-up spot, and then joined the company’s Manila office as an intern the next year. According to Ron, the company stood out for its commitment to providing direct mentorship for new hires.
“It’s also filled with talented people who can help me sharpen my business acumen, and I’m aligned with our goal of reaching more Filipinos in areas with previously limited access, such as buyers in rural communities.”
Enjoying his internship, where he was part of a team that helped enhance payment capabilities, Ron applied to the company’s Graduate Development Program in the Philippines, and was thrilled when he was accepted.
Ron recounted opportunities like giving a presentation to the company’s Head of Commercial and creating a data-analysis model that his team found helpful. “Moments like those make me feel empowered and in the right direction to grow my career,” he said.
“I quickly realized that being in Shopee meant doing impactful work by solving problems — even at the internship level.”
Empowering Filipino sellers
Now living in Mandaluyong City after attending university in Manila, Ron said that no two days of working at Shopee are alike. “Sometimes my day can be packed with five meetings, other times I need to spend hours doing deep work, analyzing datasets and working on a presentation.”
Lunch is also usually in-house, with employees free to choose from a selection of concessionaires in their pantry, from a potato corner, to coffee, to fried chicken and a selection of home-cooked meat, seafood, and vegetables. Siomai is a personal favorite.
He enjoys going out for a drink with his colleagues on Fridays, and considers them friends.
Ron is part of a group of Filipinos who feel that Shopee has positively impacted their community. In addition to its employment opportunities, it “empowers Filipino sellers” with marketing and offsite solutions to help them maximise their sales and help deliver greater value to their customers.
“I aspire to become a business leader who continuously delivers value to underserved communities through technology,” said Ron, when asked about his long-term ambitions. With technology rapidly changing the way we do business, he may just get his wish.
Turning failure to success
Paula Salonga-Tabije is the founder of ABUBOT_PH, a women’s clothing and apparel store on Shopee. Today, the store boasts over 6 million followers and is among the top-selling fashion sellers on the platform.
Her love of fashion inspired her foray into the business world. “As a personal fashion lover, I personally loved going to tiangge (bazaars/markets selling assorted goods) and getting good quality items at an affordable price.
“Our goal is for the fashion girlies out there to be able to afford mall-quality items. I’m proud to say we’re able to provide this for buyers across the Philippines, with our customers checking out from as far as Sulu and Ilocos.”
But Paula’s success story began with failure. After losing her job in 2018, she started Abubot with just P8,000 (US$140) in capital and a “very tiny room,” which she converted into a stockroom.
The challenges were immense, as it was initially a one-woman show. Fulfilling orders was tough, as she had to do everything herself, from packing, sorting, picking up items, and listing products.
But Paula had an ace up her sleeve. She heard about Shopee from a friend who was selling Divisoria (market with low-priced goods) on the platform, and making good money.
The platform’s features appealed to her. They were able to reach customers nationwide, despite not having a physical store. Most buyers in the Philippines also preferred the Cash On Delivery option, which helped her to build trust among her buyers.
Paula also appreciated the support provided by the platform, such as having integrated logistics partners to pick up orders and deliver them to customers, which allowed her more time for customer service and growing the business. She also highlighted the importance of having a good support team from Shopee to give advice when she needed it.
Overcoming obstacles
Slowly but surely, Paula’s hard work paid off. Three years later in 2021, her husband quit his job to help out in her business because it was growing so rapidly. But Abubot faced ups and downs in its entrepreneurial journey, especially during the pandemic.
The items are priced for resellers, who buy them from the store and then sell the products to other buyers, and Paula noted that resellers became her “returning customers.”
“During the pandemic, we had resellers who reached out to thank us because they were able to keep their [own] businesses thriving, despite being located in Visayas and Mindanao with limited mobility at the time. This was possible because they were able to find their stocks in Abubot on Shopee.”
While she endured challenging times, Paula never gave up on her dream. “When times get tough, I tell myself to keep going because there are families that depend on Abubot now. My family, my team, and my staff are my inspiration to keep going.”
Today she has ambitions to expand her business even further and reach more buyers in the Philippines, as well as giving others the opportunity to have their own business.
And she has advice for others who may have lost their job, like her, and is thinking about stepping into the world of e-commerce.
“Just do it. Sometimes we are consumed by our self doubt, we feel like we are not ready to take risks. Just do it. Get started and believe in yourself. Sipag, diskarte, tiyaga (work hard, be agile and adapt, persevere)… God will provide.” – Rappler.com
Sulaiman Daud is a 2024 #FactsMatter fellow of Rappler. He is a writer and editor at Mothership, Singapore’s youth-focused digital news platform.
