‘Sari-sari’ stores’ e-wallet use surged as of Aug
Electronic wallet usage among sari-sari stores surged by 75 percent between January and August, according to the latest report of Filipino tech startup Packworks.
The Filipino tech startup surveyed more than 2,000 sari-sari store owners within its nationwide network of over 300,000 stores during the reference period.
“Store owners largely attribute this growing adoption to increased consumer demand, as their customers are also turning to e-wallets to buy goods, access funds, and settle bills at their local stores,” Packworks said in a statement on Friday.
Packworks said 25 percent of the respondents posted substantial growth: 20 percent recorded a 100- percent increase in usage, another 20 percent observed a 50-percent rise and 10 percent saw a 10-percent increase.
Citing responses from store owners, Packworks said they use e-wallets for certain business operations: 40 percent for in-store payments, 30 percent for bill payments and 30 percent for cash-in and cash-out transactions.
Respondents said the shift to digital payments has become a “critical source of revenue,” with 13 percent of them stating their e-wallet earnings match their revenue from physical goods.
Among the rest of the respondents, 66 percent said they generate 20 percent of their revenues from e-wallet use, while the remaining 21 percent said that e-wallet earnings comprised 10 percent of their overall revenue.
Furthermore, the report noted that GCash and Maya are the widely used e-wallets, with 85 percent of store owners using GCash for their business transactions, while the remaining 15 percent use Maya.
Packworks’ report said sari-sari stores use up to five e-wallet accounts to meet the rising customer demand and boost their transaction capacity.
“This trend supports the 30 percent of store owners’ interest in upgrading their e-wallets to business accounts to maintain a higher monthly limit of P1 million,” Packworks said.
“The surge in e-wallet use proves that sari-sari stores are rapidly evolving into vital digital hubs for their communities. Aside from simply selling ‘tingi’ physical items, they are now diversifying their product range, offering high-margin, value-added financial services and integrating digital tools, such as our app, to fundamentally improve their operations and function as near-frictionless nano-banks for the neighborhoods they serve,” Packworks chief platform officer Hubert Yap said.
