AI tool boosts ‘sari-sari’ store sales
Sari-sari stores that use artificial intelligence (AI) to manage inventory have seen sales of their best-selling products jump by 79 percent, driven by a tool that helps owners decide which items to stock and when to replenish them.
This was according to Filipino tech startup Packworks, which said mom-and-pop stores using its AI-powered Store Insighting Project (SIP) recorded median sales of high-demand products of P335,818 per store, up from P187,229 within the first two months of using this tool.
Even seasonal and slower-moving products benefited from the recommendations of SIP, Packworks said.
Products that typically sell less frequently posted a 96-percent increase in median gross merchandise value (GMV) sales to P14,429, while seasonal items recorded a 47-percent rise in sales.
Packworks said the trend suggested that “store owners were better able to anticipate purchasing patterns during rainy days, weekends and other high-demand periods.”
“Our findings show that when data is democratized, we give grassroots entrepreneurs the power to chart their own growth,” said Packworks chief data officer Andoy Montiel. “We are not only boosting individual store sales but expanding access to technology.”
Packworks’ AI-powered platform analyzes transaction data and provides recommendations on which products to prioritize, which items are underperforming and when stores should replenish inventory.
The tool is now used by about 300,000 micro retailers.
Stores that used AI grew median sales by 29 percent and transactions by 20 percent, based on analysis of more than 1 million monthly transactions.
